Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 November 1876 — Attempt to Steal the Remains of Abraham Lincoin. [ARTICLE]

Attempt to Steal the Remains of Abraham Lincoin.

An attempt was made at Springfield, in., on the Uigur of the 7th, trf xteai the body of PresiaenJ Lincoln from the mqpument near that city. i T*»e following parthftitart Of toe outrageous atteiiipt afe given in a special from Springfield to the Chicago Tribune: Somehow or other, no one exactly knows how, J, C. Power, the custodian of the Llnooln monument, became impressed with the idea that there were design! upon the remains, and he communicated his suspicions to Leonard Bwett and Robert Lincoln. Col. Hwett wrote 001. Stewart, of this city, about two weeks ago, requesting him to station a guard at the monument. This waa done; Dut no one came to disturb the corpse. Detective Tyrrell, of the United State! Secret Service, whose headquarters are in Chicago, baring business here, was requested by SWett and Lincoln to see Mr. Power, and to look around town, and watch for auspicious characters. He arrived here three oi four days ago, and at once commenced a vigorous shadowing of several of the email hotels, but he saw no one whom be recognized. This afternoon Mr. Power came into town in a hurry and huuted up Tyrrell and informed him that two very hard-looking cases had been out to the cemetery looking around, and he felt assured thaj they were there for no good purpose. One registered as from Racine and the othar from Kenosha, Wis. Their names are suppressed,, since they have had nothing to do with what occurred later. An effort will, of course, be made to find out who they are; should they prove to be innocent injustice would be done them by telling their names now. Mr. Power, not being used to detective work, could give but meager descriptions of them. The result of the interview with Tyrrell is unknown, but he must have concluded that election night was an excellent one in which to rob the tomb.

This evening’s train brought from Chicago ex-Chief of the Secret Service Elmer Washburn, who, it seems, had been requested by Swett aud Lincoln to come here and aid Tyrrell. About half-past six Washburn, "Tyrrell and three other men went out to Oakwood aud concealed themselves in Memorial Hall, inside the monument. to await developments. One man was posted in the labyrinth in the rear, so called because of the walls running in different directions and making numerous passage-ways, these walls supporting the terrace. His object was to hear the noise made in the vault, if any were made. After patiently waiting for nearly three hours, and when about tired out from standing still, the utmost silence being imperative, he heard a gratingnoise which lasted perhaps five minutes. Then, in a little while, came several successive thuds, as if some one was hammering. The time having arrived for action, Washburn and nis men slipped out of the door, with cocked revolvers in their hands, determined to shoot to kill if ahy resistance was made: Just as they were turning the corner to the left one. of the men accidentally exploded his revolter. The noise was very loud, so still were the surroundings, and, unfortunately, it. was top loud, for, though there were but I<JO feet to go oter, when the officers got to the door of the vault the dastardly villains were gone. They must have had some one watching to give them the signal of danger, or else had come outside for a breath of fresh air, and heard the snapping of the cap and ran into the woods which surround the monument. It is but a short distance, and a man could get within shelter and be unobservable in a quarter of a minute The men at once scattered and went in the direction the thieves had gone, and while dodging around the trees two of them exchanged shots, each- mistaking the other for one of the fugitives. After shooting at each other, thev cried “ Wash,” “ Wash,” indicative of a friend in such an emergency, and then they found out their mistake. The bulleta whizzed close to both, and it was miractu lous that they escaped injury. No traces of the thieves being discovered, the party returned to the catacomb, and there beheld a sight which made them sad. The body, as is known, perhaps, is enclosed in a lead casket. This is sumranded by a cedar case, and the feceptacle of these is a marble sarcophagus. The latter had a double lid, the upper one not being as large as the other.; Both had been pried off with a chisel or an ax, ard somewhat chipped In the opferation. The under iid was laid crosswise on the casket, the head-piece cm the floor, and the upper lid standing Against the wall. The casket itself was pulled out about a foot from the body ,of the sarcophagus, and a small piece nad been taken ofl on the floor, wlere aft ax with the edge full of marble-dust, an ordinary chisel, and a pair of nippers were. The other tools had evidently been taken away, since the lock on the iron-grated door had been sawed off. It should, perhaps, be stated that the sarcophagus was iu the catacomb and not in the crypt, being thus placed iu order that visitors might see it. The damage done is comparatively little. Theofficere, or course, were disappointed at not catching the vandals, but they think it is only a question of $ little time when they will be apprehended. Only one motive can be attributed to these despoilers of the grave, aud that is the hope of a reward for the restoration of the remains.

The Rural New Yorker gives in sub r stance the following method of striking cuttings, which has been found remarkably easv: Take a flower pot about eight inches In diameter, invert .a saucer within it large enough to reßt against the sides half way down, or lower, which is better than using broken crocks or stones. This drainage is necessary where there is no bottom heat. Then , fill to the brim with very coarse sifted sand. Place the pot in a strdng light had saturate thes&nd a few hours with w*tgr, providing a Sr vessel for drainage. Hake .the gs from two to five fncbeslong, retaining more leaves in autumn than earlier, bat stripping them off nearly to the top, and inseit them half an inch in depth, about twenty to the pot- New buds in time will show that roots are formed, when they are to be lifted out with a teaspoon, and set in ssdall pots es <ridh sandy soil, avoiding clayey toil which will become too hard. If too' many leaves are left on the cutting, they will be likely u,drQop - The railroad earnings of the present year in this country all show a handsome increase '' > '