Rensselaer Republican, Volume 12, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 January 1880 — A Desperate Maniac. [ARTICLE]

A Desperate Maniac.

A man named David Hughes, who was employed as a laborer in Youngstown, got on a spree last week and drank so heavily as to unsettle-his reason. On Sunday, about dark, he went to Struther’s, climbed up to the top of the furnace, where he began to make a wild speech. He said that some of the men had killed his brother, and he wanted revenge. The men were anxious to go to work, but he, at the top of the furnace, bade them desist. There were around him cinder and ore and crowbars, plenty of ammunition, and from his vantage-point he found it easy to carry his end. Every one who attempted to ascend narrowly escaped death, as some missiles were hurled down with violent and vindictive force. Time went on. The furnace needed attention, the fuel was burning out, and yet the maniac held his position. About midnight Marshal Evans was sent for, but hesitated to go out of his bailiwick, but, on being urged, consented. Toward one o’clock this morning he arrived upon the scene and was at his wit’s end to know what to do. The fires of the furnace were fast dying out, but in the darkness the maniac yelled and threatened, complete master of the situation. From the side of the furnace upon which the ascent must be made the Marshal took everybody away with their lights, leaving it dark below, sending all to the other side to attract the attention of the man on top. At the same time he fired a couple of shots from the side of the ascent to frighten the man from guarding the stairway. The strategy was successful, and Hughes was soon on the other side of the platform, talking to the men below But who would make the perilous ascent? The Marshal was willing to lead the way, but did not care alone to encounter the maniac at that dizzy height where a slip was easy and a slip was death. At length James Kennedy, who was there with his father, agreed to accompany the Marshal in the perilous undertaking, and together through the darkness they startea up the stairway. When nearly at the top the mad man heard them, turned and seized a large board. At that moment, but not a moment too soon, tbe Marshal sprang up the intervening stairs, avoided the blow and grappled with the maniac. The two went down on the platform together, on the very edge, but a few inches between them and certain death. Kennedy went in an instant to the assistance of the Marshal, and they were enabled to bold their man until the men below could reach the top. The Marshal then put the hand-cuffs upon him and brought him to Youngstown, lodging him in the lock-up. —Pittsburgh Telegraph.