OCR Text |
Show 00 Body of a Woman Taken From Resting Place by Black Hand Erie, Pa , Feb. 9. Body snatching that may equal tho daring grave robbery rob-bery which stirred the country moro than a quarter of a" century ago, when tho body of A. T Stewart, New York's pioneer merchant, was stolen, has stirred this section as nothing has done since the senational kidnaplugs in this vicinity a few yenrs ago. The mausoleum of the late Congressman Con-gressman W. L. Scott, in Erie county, was desecrated some time between Monday and yesterday afternoon and the body of Mrs McCollum, a sister-in-law of the late Mir. Scott, was taken. The police believe tho body Is being be-ing held for ransom by the Black Hand society and that tho vandals nlso Intended to carry away the bodies bod-ies of the millionaire and his wife. Tho discovery of the crime was made by two women. When the women, wom-en, while walking in the cemetery, found broken chains and open doors in the mausoleum, they notified Mrs. Charles H. Strong, wbo is a daughter of Mr. Scott, and the wife of Charles H. Stroar, president of the Erie & Pittsburg railroad and owner of the Erie Dispatch, a morning newspaper. x The caskets were sealed in a wall, and a chisel had been used in breaking break-ing the seals before the metallic box could be carried away. This casket was the first on tho . lower tier at the north side of the mausoleum and directly opposite It on the second tier is the casket contain-' ing the body of Mrs. Scott, the wife of the millionaire who built the mausoleum. mau-soleum. The seat on the nlcho containing j the casket of Mrs Scott was also broken and when the tomb was examined exam-ined it was found that this casket was half way out, ready to bo carried . away. The remains of the million-1 aire were lying noxt to those of his wife, but his casket was not disturbed, j A number of palms stored In the mau- 1 soleum had been "DroKen down and 1 two other caskets wcie broken Into, but no attempt was made to carry either of them away. That the casket and the body was ( carried away In a wagon is indicated j by tracks in the snow about the mau- j soleums. The footprints showed six , men were concerned j The local police have notified the j police and morgue officials of cities , I within several hundred miles of this j place, but still maintain that the body I is held here for a ransom. Every j railroad and freight station is picket- j ad and' every avenue of outlet is j guarded. . 1 An Italian settlement near the cem-I cem-I etery has become an object of scru-I scru-I tiny by the police and every dwell- . ling is being searched from cellar to j garret. 1 The idea that the body of Mrs. Mc- Collum is being held for ransom, by 1 designing persons, is substantiated by an incident of two years ago, when the Strong family was stormed with 1 : Black Hand letters demanding $10,000 ! with the alternative of having their iuramcr home west of this city blown to atoms Some of the perpetrators , were subsequently apprehended and are now in a western penitentiary I serving sentences. Mrs. McCollum was a member of a prominent family of Philadelphia and . , her maiden name was Tracy. I William L. Scott, who built tho mau- , soleum over twenty years ago, was n ( close personal friend of the late Pres-' I ident Grover Cleveland and was ono of the leaders of the Democracy In the House of Representatives when Cleveland was serving his first term. Grover Cleveland was one of the pull- bearers at his funeral J Mrs, McCollum died In Philadelphia ' nearly twenty years ago. She was the wife of J. A. McCollum and daughter daugh-ter of John A. Tracy of this cll. The body was brought here and placed In , the Scott vault, which is located about , the middle of the cemetery and hid- t den from view from the street. On ' account of tho old weather recently, few perfcons have visited the cemetery ' and th robbers were free to work with llttl fear of being delected. |