iHE BIDDLE TRAGEDY
I
btt Mea Die la a Most Horrible
f - i
Manner.
XOWDS STOOD AROUND THE JAIL
i r- : 1 -
ioroner'5 Inquest Develops the Fact
t That Both the Biddies Attempted
Suicide. -VrV;. . '
! Butler, Pa., Special. The terrible
ke of the Biddies was the sole topic
f conversation here Sunday and cur
pus throngs of people have been defy-
w tits Vfrwinf hon CI T P" nhout the jail
nbrance in vain attempts to get in to
ee the bodies of the dead murderers,
I great deal of sympathy for the boys
& expressed on all sides, and not a few
f the female portion of the crowd ex
ressed a desire to see what manner
f a man Ed, Biddle was, that he could
xcrt such wonderful influence over the
oman. The jail doors were closed all
ay and no one got in but the doctors"
jrho attended the autopsy, and the
coroner's jury. The newspaper report
ers were excluded from the inquest,
,vhich was 'held in the jail, and nothing
ioncrning the deliberations could bo
learned until late in the afternoon. The
testimony of all the officers concerned
in the capture was taken except Rob
Ray , the Butler policeman, who is sick.
The testimony of Dr. R. B. Greer, who
was lone of the doctors who attended
the Biddies, and of Sheriff Thomas R.
Hoon, was also taken,
j The, verdict said that Ed. Biddle
same to his. death by a revolver shot
fired from a 33-calbre revolver by him
felf, and that Jack Biddle met his
fdeatn from a gun-shot wound inflicted
by the officers in the discharge of their
lawful duty. Under tha-instructions of
fCor6ner John L. Jones, an autopsy was
held on both the Biddies Sunday morn
ing.! The evidence secured by the au
tODSV bears out the statements that the
(men intended to kill themselves rather
than be taken alive and that EdV suc
ceeded in his attempt, while Jack fail
ed. though his life was forfeit
ed. Dr. Bricker gave the following
statement afteri the autopsy: "Jack
3iddle was the worst shot of the two
men, although he was in better condi
tion than Ed. when the men were
brought to the jail on Friday night.
He had two gun-shot wounds on, the
right side in the region of the liver,
the bullets passing up and around the
body and doing np damage. These Were
removed on Saturday. A bullet wound
was found in the roof of the mouth,
but it was slight and would not have
caused his death. This wound was in
flicted by himself with the evident in
tention of killing himself. His right
xrm was ' shattered- by five bullet
rounds. The wound that caused his
leath was made by a 41.75 calibre bul
st that passed through the crest of the
Ilium, on the right side, and passed
ack through tho kidney."
f; In all Jack suffered ftom nine
vounds but excepting the one that
penetrated the kidney, none of them
vould have been fatal. Ed's suffering
from his wounds was intense. One
around was made by Ed himself, the
jowder marks being visible on the
Jkin. Death was caused by hemorrh
ige, and the man suffered untold agon
es to the last breath. In the opinion
I the doctors who : held the autopsy,
.here is no 'doubt that he killed bim
jelf. I The pastors in nearly all of the
ithurckes in Butler took occasion Sun
lay to refer -to the sensational capture
mday of Mrs. Kate Soffel and John
m?tPd BiddlB- who djed in the county
ail Saturday night. Rev. Father Walsh,
ector of St Paul's Roman Catholic
ihurch, who ministered to the Biddies
n their dying hours, spoke touching
7 of i them 'to the members of his par
ih, in both masses. He touched brief -
on. statements given out and
Wd it was for every person to decide
5if ft!?!? M t0 the !nnocence. or
,uilt of the. men. When seen at his
J?CZa? & aftern001li Father
Hvl?nw "Be3ldf ethe statements
rivenjout.by the Biddle boys, to th
--SPSS"1"! of Butler coun
ty, both Ed and Jack Biddle made con
.essions to me. Their confessions were
ftplCt0 in every particular
tnd they -will never.be revealed. The
f!S 2P?,!?lU literally rid
ded with bullets and some one should
f htld responsible for Inhuman sc
ions ! in s hooting thexa when entirely
ielpless, nnmned fcnd unable to make
Jh rtiztte flefente or resistant
i Kev. Samuel Cronin Wett, of 4 SL
Jark s Evangelical Lutheran' church,
jriticlsed severely the woman whom he
held responsible for the whole affair!
Herald: -The -Biddies and Mrs. Soffel
a vain : flight from justice and
w sw!m upon them.
The blindness and inf atuaUon of this
Tm?n,ln leaving her beloved husband
aad helpless little children for a gang
of desperadoes la the worst criminal
SERIOUS FIRE
AT NORFOLK.
Many Narrow Escapes and Heavy
Property Loss; - - '
Norfolk, Special.
-A heap of smok
ing ruins is all thkt remains of the
Atlantic Hotel the
massive x Columbia
office v building w
ch - adjoined 7 the
hotel, the Albermarle flats and a block
of stores in the i center; of the dty.
The conflagration,' ono of the greatest
In the history of ' Norfolk, broke but
shortly before 2 o'clock Friday morn
ing, and when finally subdued ; over
half a million dollars' worth of prop
erty had been destroyed. The loss is
said to be fully cohered by insurance.
The flames started, in the Columbia;
which is the large t but one of Nor
folk's office buildin: js.: It was a struc
ture six stories hig x and was built in
1892 by Davis Lowehberg, its owner.
The fire was first discovered at 1:55
O'clock in the morning and .shortly
afterward over 1,0(10 gallons of whis
key stored in the basement of - tho
building exploded with terrific force,
tearing out the front wall. Tho fire
men were driven back by the explos
ion and before they could get a stream
pf water on the flimes the entire
building was afire. Hardly 15 minutes
later the north wall, which was over
100 feet high, fell Tin, completely an
nihilating the home of the Virginia
Club, which adjoir s tho buildng on
the north. .: . , :
From the outset it was . evident that
the immense Atlantic Hotel was doom
ed. J. Hull. Davidson, its owner, per
sonally made the rounds of the rooms
and aided by his assistants,' aroused
every guest in the building. To this is
due the fact that so far as known no
lives were lost, "although about 300
people were asleepUn the hotel when
the alarm was sounded. The little
army of half dressed men and women
refugees from the flames elbowed
their way through . the crowded
streets. In their hands they ; carried
such , small belongings as they were'
able to save In their flight. .The flames
soon spread to the flye-story Albe
marle apartment- house, opposite the
Virginia Club, which was quickly de
stroyed, and then to the entire block
facing the Atlantic, and running from
Plume to Main streets. Within an hour
this block was annihilated.
The origin of thp Are is not known.
The blaze was first discovered in
Brown's cafe, which occupies half ol
the Columbia bui ding, by a police
man who immedis tely sent in the
alarm. The whisk ey which exploded
was in this cafe. All the ; Atlantic
Hotel guests escaped, though J. O.
Ready, of Brooklyn, N. Y., had a close
call. The Watt, Bettew and Clay build
ing was saved, although the stock was
saturated by water. In the Atlantic
Hotel building were the ticket- offi
ces of the Southern, (Baltimore and
Ohio, and Norfolk and Western Rail
ways. The offices af Nottingham. and
Wrenn, wood and coal dealers ; the
Equitable Life Assurance Company;
Dodson's drug - s tore, Vermillion's
liquor store, and. S olomonsky's tailor
ing establishment. In the . Columbia
building were the cjaf es of C. R. Brown
and Neddes; the offices of D. Lowen
berg, the owner, and of numerous real
estate, firms, lawyers, physicians,
architects : and contractors. In the
block destroyed with the Albemarle
wero Johnston's china store; Carey
and iDean, tailors; Hatch and Dean,
furnishers; Mottu, Dewitt and Co.,
brokers; Stephenson and Taylor,
brokers; the Norfolk and Western
freight department and the office of
the ' Virginia, Tenn essee and Georgia
Air. Line.-:t :
The loss will approximate $900,000,
possibly half covered by insurance.
The buildings burned were: Atlantic
Hotel, for whiqh, With Its site, C M.
Randolph, who. is associated with R.
Lancaster, recently paid $310000. Co
lumbia building, which cast $50,000.
Everything in the building's offices
was destroyed; lot is .over $100,000.
Albemarle apartment house, owned
by George L. Arps valued at about
$25.000;-the Johnston China Company,
occupied the ground floor and lost
'$10,000. -Building owned by C. W.
Sams, valued at $12,000. ; Mottu, De
witt and Company bankers and brok
ers' occupied V two fipors of this build
ing and lost 'valuable papers; Building
owned by Mrs. Sarar Allmond, occu
pied by Stephenson and Taylor, real
estate and other tenantsr loss $10,000 ;
buildings occupied j by Hatch and
Dean, men's furnishings, $15,000; L.
B. Carey, merchant tailor,' $10,000; L.
G. Blye, florist, and three-buildings oa
Plume street An the rear of the Vir
ginia Club, 20,000. ..:..
- Military Appropriations. L
Washington. Special. The military.
Appropriation iill baa been practically
completed by the house committee on
military affairs ana Chairman Hull
will report it as' soon as he ; returns
from a(trlp to Iowa,
khlch he is about
to take. The bill carries approximately
$91,000,000. which is abJt $10,000,000.
below the estimates jind about $26,600,
000 below the appro priation . last year.
FOUR ACRES BURNED
In the Heart of Jhe City ' of Water.
biiry, Conn. : i : i
NO LlVCS ARE REPORT E& AS LOST.
Flames -Held Complete Swax Over
the City For tten HoursProperty .
: Loss Over $3,000,000, v wj .
Waterbury, Conn.; Special.T-The sun
rose Monday morning oh a blackened
and smoldering mass;, of ruins that
marked the main business section, of
the city. ' There 'Is a' very strong sus
picion that the. fire which completely
destroyed the ScoviUe House, .burning
thousands of dollars' ; worth of furn
iture, apartments, and personal effects
and imperilling- many lives, was f the
work of an incendiary.; The fire origi
nated in the pool and billard room In
the basement of the house on the fur
ther side from theburned district. The
room was locked, and.' no one ,was sup-
posed to be there, fto fire "was kept in
the room, all heat befgf supplied from
a boiler. In another part of the building
Manager Truman' said f 'atthe police
station while the fire was still raging,
'that W had' no t' the: slightest doubt It:
was of incendi ary origin No one 4
could be. found to explain its origin
and the authorities have been quietly
investigating." The fire came so close
on the heels of the big conflagration
that thousands of spectators who wit
nessed itvwere thrown into a more
complete panic; ; than the ; original fire
caused. The fire had only begun to die
out along : Bank; Grand . and South
Main streets at,4o6kwhen:flames
leaped upward as by magic, and peo
ple feared the city was doomed after
all The call was rung in promptly,
and the engines that hurried to the
scene turned their attention mainly to
preventing the spread of the flames. It
was evident that the hotel was doomed
and If the fire had reached thadjacent
buildings there would have been very
little hope of saying the center of the
city. The fire burned far into the day
and was not extinguished until even
ing. The loss on the hotel will reach
$150,000. j
For ten hours Sunday night and
Monday the flames, fanned by . a high
wind, held sway over the business por
tion of this city, causing a loss that
will exceed $3,000,000. ; The best por
tion of the city, forming & triangle
bounded on the north by Exchange
Place, on the west by Bank street, on
the south by Grand street and on the
east by South Main street, was almost
wiped out.
The first fire which started in the
big store of the Reld & Hughes Dry
Goods Company, on Bank street, was
not considered under control until
about $3,000,000 worth of property had
been destroyed. About the time the.
firemen supposed they had' the flames
under control a second fire brokerout
In the ScoviUe House, the city's' lead
ing hotel, remodelled by the late Judge
E. C. Lewis, a few years ago at an. ex
pense of about $75,000, and the " estab
lishment was completely wrecked. The'
occupants Of the hotel were forced to
seek the street in their night clothes.
With the ringing of a second alarm the
entice city was thrown into a panic.
There was a fierce r gale blowing and
sparks from the burning -hotel . wero
driven in lurid showers over s a great
area. The occupants of buildings lo
cated in the path of the wind prepared
to leave. Although the Waterbury fire
department was re-inforced from near
by cities, it was-for.; a 'time impossible
to stay the progress , of the flames."
The fire ; in its 'entirety ' burned over;
f our acres of the city's best -business
section. Among the, prominent build-;
ihgs totally destroyed are the clock oc-f
dupied by the1' Reld & Hughes Dry
Goods ; Company, the plant of , iThe
Waterbury American, the Masonic
Temple, ' the ScoviUe and Franklin
Houses, the W. L. Douglass Shoe Com-;
pany, thef Johnson block, the Salvation
Army Workingm en's Home, and scores
of other buildings. In all. about ij.00
of the most proinlnent business houses
are burned out
; ' , . abo Frozen to Death.
" Yokahoma, By Cable. Details of the
loss of about 200 Japanese soldiers, who
were frozen to death, have been Teciv
ed here. It seems thata command, of
210 men; practicing winter marching,
were caught in a blizzard on the north
ern end of the Island of Honda and lost
their road. ' " ' - - - -7
!
Statistics Taken Fron Report of the
, Commissioner of Labor !
I
The chapter., of the forthcoming an
nual report of Hon. H. B. Varner, Com
missioner of Labor and Printing, Ide
;voted to the cotton and woolen milling
Interests of the State has been com
pleted, and makes a highly gratifying
showing for the development the Old
North State is achieving. In orde
that the milling interests may be pre
sented in their entirety both the gen
eral summary and the statements f by
counties are presented here, as stated
in this chapter of the report. Here are
the ' summaries : . . v;' ; ' :
, COTTON AND WOOLEN MILLS.
, The cotton mill industry continues to
increase each "year. The statistics j in
this chapter, as given in Tables Nos. 1
and 2, are for the year ending June 30,
1901, and therefore do not include mjlls
commencing operations after that date.
Table No. 3, however, gives a complete
list, Including new'and proposed' mjlls
to date. '".;. - .: . ..
The 276 mills, from which Tables
Nos. 1 and 2, are compiled, operate
1,680,483 spindles, 36,052 looms "and
3,905 machines, using 75,182 horse
power. '' ; ; -'; . 7 ' . l'. -.
Average wages per day of engineer,
$1.58; firemen, 88c. Highest average
wages per day men, $2.19; women
$1.06. Lowest average wages per day
men, 35c; women, 28c. Average wages
. of children, 27c. ; -
Total number of employes, 44,544,1 of
which 18,171 are men, 18,377 women,
and 7,996 children under fourteen years
of age, 3,857 boys, and 4,139 girls. ;
7 . The number of hours worked' per day
vary from ten (In some of the knitting
mills) to twelve and a half; 81 per cent
of adults and 62 per cent of the chil
dren read and write. j
There are nine new mills in course of
construction or completed since June
30, 1901, making total number of mills
25. " ' ".! -
In the following list of counties there
are instances where more than one mill
is reported as one when they are under
the same management.
Alamance Seventeen , cotton, . one
woolen and two knitting mills, operat
ing 95,598 spindles, 4,811 looms and 99
machines, manufactures i ginghams,
plaids, oolored cottons, domestic, chjevi
ots, shirtings, stripes, jeans, blankets,
warps, yarns and hosiery. y;y
Alexander Two cotton mills, operat
ing 2,700 spindles, 120 j looms and 48
machines, manufactures brown shirt
ing. " " ' t-
Anson One cotton, one knitting and
one "silk milloperating 21,704 spindles
'and 60 machines, manufactures yarns,
underwear and tran and floss silk, j
Beaufort One knitting milloperat
ing 64 machines, manufactures hosiery.
Buncombe One 1 cotton and ( one
woolen mill, operating 8,658 spindles
and 455 looms, manufactures colored
cottons and woolen goods. - i
Burke One cotton and one knitting
mill, operating '4,000 spindles and j, 28
machinesmanufactures cotton y:irns
and hosiery. . . : !
Cabarrus Nine cotton mills, operat
ing ,93,588 spindles and 3,274 - looms,
manufactures -sheeting, ginghams, do
mestics, eac :' , i
Caldwell Four cotton and ; one
woolen mill, operating 24,280 spindles
and 515 looms, manufacture plaids,
yarns and7 woolen goods. , ;
Catawba Eight cotton, one knitting
and two woolen mills, operating 4172U
spindles 201 looms and 150 machines,
riianufacture yarns, hosiery and woolen
goods. ;
Chatham Two cotton7 mills, operat
ing 8,704 spindles, manufacture yarns.
, Chowan One cotton mill, operating
6,272 spindles, manufactures yarn3.
Cleveland Ten cotton, three knit
ting and one woolen mill, operating
42,074 spindles, 380 looms and 51 ma
chines, manufacture sheetings, warps,
yarns, twine, hosiery - and . woolen
goods. ; . : ::'''
Craven-One knitting mill, operating
184 machines, manufactures hosiery.
Cumberland Seven cotton, one knit
ting; ono woolen and one silk mill, op
erating 59,566 spindles, 1,170 looms and
45 machines, manufacture plaids, sheet
ings shirtings, cottonades, bagswarps,
yarns, hosiery, wooleji goods and silk.
Davidson Two cotton mills, operat
ing 17,778 spindles and. 604 looms man
ufacture domestics; watps etcv- .
DaVfenc6ltoif f mill operating
20,000s spindles and 640 looms,; manu
factures yarns, etc.: . . '
Durham-r-5ix cotton and one knitting
mill; operating 83,924 splndlesr ' 2.258
looms and 200 machines manufactures
sheetings, chambrays, . muslins; white
goods, rope, bags, twine and hosiery.;
Edgecombe Two cotton and two
'knitting mills, operating 17,500 spin
dles 200 looms and 126 machines,
manufacture warps, yarns, hosiery and
underwear. ;" ' ' - -" ' ' "
Forsyth Two .cotton two .woolen
A FINE RECORD.
, . - : . . . ii
and six knitting mills, operating 16,
782 spindles, 428 looms, and 118 ma
chines, manufacture yarns, cassimeres,
sheetings, shirtings, woolen goods and
hosiery.
Franklin Two cotton mills, operat
ing 6,920 spindles, manufacture warps
and yarns. ,
v Gaston Twenty-six cotton mills, op
erating 203,776 v spindles and 4,64
looms, manufacture shirtings, plaids
sheetings, warps . and yarns.
Guilford Seven cotton and one car
pet mill, operating 43,200 spindles and
1,886 looms, v manufacture, plaidr
checks, yarns, twine and carpets.
Halifax Two cotton, seven knitting
and one silk mill, operating 21,652 spin
dies, 800 looms and 450 machines, man
ufacture cotton goods, underwear .ho-
siery and silk.
Haywood One woolen mill, operat
ing 264 spindles, 8 looms and 4 ma
chines, manufacture jeans, flannels
cassimeres and yarns.
Henderson One knitting mill, opera-
and knit goods. . ' '
V Hertford One knitting mill, operat
ing 20 machines, manufacture hosiery
Iredell Three cotton mills, '. operat
ing 17,840 spindles and : 3,600 : looms
manufacture shirtings, sheetings and
yarns. ::; .7' " .'.t. --' '
Johnston Two cotton mills,, operat- -ing
10,000spindles, manufacture yarns.
Lenoir One cotton and one knitting
mill, operating 10,000spindles and 120
machines manufacture yarns .and ho-
Lincoln Nine cotton and one woolen;
mill, operating 38,280 spindles, manu
facture warps and yarns, cassimeres
and blankets. k
Mecklenburg Seventeen cotton and
one knitting mill, operating 425,242
spindles, 2,026 looms and 220 machines
manufacture: ginghams, sheetings,
white goods, hosiery 7 towels? back- ,
bands, warps and yarns.'. '
Montgomery Two cotton mills Vper-'
yarns andspun wool. 17 . ' . -
Moore Four cotton mills, operating
16,912 spindles and 258 looms, manu
facture yarns. 7
Nash One cotton mill, operating 26,
000 spindles, manufacture warps and
yarns :;- -'..'C-' X:'v i-'fi -
New Hanover Two cotton mills, op
erating 17,736 spindles and 856 looms,
manufacture shirtings, towels, etc.,
Orange Two cotton and one knitting;
mill, operating 15,000 spindles and 30
machines, manufacture cotton warps,
skeins and hosiery,
Pasquotank One cotton and one
knitting mill, operating 10,000 spindles
and 121 machines, manufacture yarno. y
'and hosiery.
Person One cotton mill, operating
5,000 spindles, manufacture yarns.
Pitt One knitting mill, operating 32
machines manufacture ribbed under
wear. 77 , ' ' "' ' :': " '
Polk One knitting mill, operating 7S
machines, manufacture hosiery. '
Randolph Twelve cotton and bne
knitting mill, operating 50,093 spindles,
2,020 looms and 451 machines, manu
facture; 'colored cottons, shirtings,
plaids sheetings, cottonades, bags, ho
siery, warps and yarns.
Richmond Nine cotton mills, opera
ting 62.252 swindles 1.628 lfms nnil KS
-a f " jr - f -ft -
machines, manufacture cheviots, plaids,
shirtings, warps and yarns.
Rockingham Seven cotton and on
woolen mill, operating 102,682 spindles,
and 2,135 looms, manufacture plaids,
checks, sheetings, colored, cottons, .
blankets and woolen goods. ;
Rowan Five cotton and one knitting
mill, operating 57,168 spindles, '74
loome and 50 machines, manufacture
ginghams, sheetings, cheviots,' hosiery. f.
warps and yarns. v " '.
t Rutherford Four cotton mills, oper
ating 102,240 spindles, 2,476 looms and
tuu maenmes, manuiacture eneeungs,
print goods, warps and yarns , 7
Scotland Three cotton mills, operat
ing" 20,000 spindles, manufacture yarns. '
Stanly Four, cotton: and two knit
ting mills, operating 41,194 spindles
and 300 machines, manufacture yarns; '
7 Surry Four cotton and : two woolen,
mills operating 11,638 spindles. Hi
looms and two machines." manufacture
blankets flannels, jeans, warps an&
yarns. ; ' - .;
Union Two cotton mnia, ijatln
J3,320 spindles m
mill, operating 175303; :xplndlc3, t; XZ .
sheetings yarns and nnderxrearZv 7 &
Wake-Flye. cotton'andtwknlttlhg
mills operating 40,490 " spindles, '754
looms and 30 machines, manufacture
ginghams, colored goods, yams and
hosiery. !:7v -7:7-" 7:? r ' ;-7v ;., .
.; Wayne Two cotton mills, operating
9,600 spindles and 70 looms, manufac
ture sheetings and yarns.
Wilson One cotton mill, opcratinix
U,CS0 spindles, manuf actao jarrj.-..