Comes Too Late

Prosecuting Attorney John P. Kirk has in his possession the following wri.tten statement made by Mrs. Jacob Straub, of Wayne, formerly Miss Lizzie Finch, with regard to the recent murder of James Richards: "William Larkins, Ed Lyons and Rupert Jones are the murderers of James Richards. At 9 p. m. on Jan. 30, 1SS7, Larkins and Jones left Larkins' house, where I was staying, and returned at 3 o'cloek the next morning. Larkins wore felts and rubbers and Jones a pair of Larkins's rubber boots. Jones told me that they went to the home of Richards and tried to scare him, going f rom one window to the other with a dark lantern. Finding that they could. not aecomplish . anything in this way, they tried to break the door in with a rail or something of that kind. When Richards fought them back they shot thro'ugh the door with a 32-caliber revolver. Then Richards seemed to give up and they broke open the door and entered. Richards was in the corner of the room where the fire was. He fought them with a pitchfork and they fought him with the thing used in breaking down the door. During the battle the old man arot Lyons cornered and would have killed him had not Larkins shot him with a 44-caiiber revolver. Then Richards told them where the money was, and while Larkins and Lyons were lïghting him Jones got the sack that held ii. "Then they hurried away and Jones dropped the sack soniewhere between :he house and the rig. The dark lantern was cut to pieces by Jo.ies and placed under the kitchen of Larkins's louse, he going through the woodshed in get to the kitchen. Larkins sold the boots Jones wore to a rag peddler. and those Larkins wore were burned up. The amoimt of money taken was 70, of which Larkins a nú Lons gbt !20 each, Jones keeping $10 of which ne told them nothing." When shown this statement Larkins and Lyons promptly denied its truth and claimed the Finch woman was simply tryinpr to get even with Jones for deserting her.