Rensselaer Republican, Volume 14, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 February 1882 — The Stolen Earl. [ARTICLE]

The Stolen Earl.

The Louden .Standard of December 3 give thefollowing additional particulars about the robberv of the body of the Earl of Crawford: “.There can be no doubt that sometime between Wednesday night and Thursday morning the plan adopted for furnishing con- ■ vinci of the theft had been exeeurea. .So many people pass the vault daily that any interlerence with it would be almost immediately observed. The chapel is practically *a part of Dun Ecbt House, there being an entrance to it from the library. The apparatus necessary for raising the slab aud removing the railing would be conveniently handy, building opera- 1 tious being at present in progress at Dun Eeht. The coffins were opened skillfully, and without tbe least violence. Neither the outer one of oak nor the inner wooden one has been broken, the lids ‘having been simply unscrewed. As the lean shell had been soldered it had to be cut open; bfit this also had been neatly performed, and so the appearance of the vault yesterday did not awaken in the spectator any such feelings as would naturally be associated with the application of force and violence. The object of the thieves seems pretty clear, aud tbe opinion is that they must have been well acquainted with the district, That several persons were engaged iu the robbery is ptetty certain. The slabs were of Caithness stone, very heavy, being six feet,square and several inches thick. Dun Eeht House is about a mile from the road, and so the thieves might carry on their operations unmolested by the public; but the fact of the chapel * being connected with the house makes it a matter of certainty that the theft must have been perpetrated during the night. The deceased Earl being a spare man the thiev.es would be able to carry off the body all the more easily. On Thursday morning a laborer passiug the spot ou Iris way to his work observed that the ground on the top of the entrance to the mausoleum had been disturbed, aud that the slao opposite the first step oi the stairs was on its side, supported by a stick. The man communicated with the servants at the house, but it was decided not to euter the vault until the arrival of the Commissioner aud police officers fro.pi "Aberdeen. Those officials were at once summoned, and when they arrived iu the forenoon they decjded to enter aud examine the mausoleum. For this purpose auother slab had to be lifted, ) and two persons eutered. Tney were ! horrified by the sight that met their i view. Htrewed upon the ground were pieces of wood and sawdust, and the coffius in which the remains of the late Earl had lain were lyiug on the shelf iu a state of wreck. The wooden erection placed in front to protect the coffin had been torn away. The authors of the outrage had then unscrewed the lid of the outer coffin. The others were not treated so respectfully! ~ these they cut with chisels or some sharp tools, and after making an opening in the end large enough t a admit of their doing so., they p ulled tLe remains of noble Earl out by the .eet aud carried them away. The silver mountings of the coffin were untouched, a circumstance which leads to the belief that the main object the robbers had iu view was the ransom which they had hoped to obtain for the body.