Operator Hears Tragedy in a Farmhonse.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLII, Issue 20, 19 May 1909, Page 43

Operator Hears Tragedy in a Farmhonse.

This tragedy is excelled in horror by the t.t e which is told of an operator ia a little Illinois town who. through some means which never have been ascertained, found her exchange connected one ■ight with a telephone ia a lonely farmhouse about twelve miles on - of tow-:, sad was the impotent auditor to an awful drama. She heard a sound of muffled cries and several revolver shots fired in quick succession. Then all was silent. The alarmed operator, knowing the solitary situation of the farmhouse. at once notified the authorities. The sheriff with a posse rode out to the place, but could not get admittance. The house was dark and silent and. fearing, they knew not what, the officers of the law broke down the door and entered. The first thing they encountered was the bodv of the farmer, his throat cut and a razor clasped in his hand. He was long past hitman ail. and the officers proceeded to investigate the other nx>ms. In an upper bedroom they discovered the bodies of the farmer's wife and his two children. They had all been shot dead. No explanation ever was given or ever can be given of this fourfold crime. That the farmer in a homicidal frenzy had first slaughtered his family and then taken his own life seemed a foregone conclusion, but there was no living witness to tell of what led up to the tragedy, and lays might have elapsed before the discovery if it had not been for the strange message of the telephone.