“Marshall Schmitt received a letter today from Robert Kress, of Buena Vista, stating that he brought a man to this city Tuesday night whom he has every reason to believe was the man who threw muriatic acid in the face of Captain Hoobler1, near Vanceburg, Tuesday evening.”
“It was about two o’clock Wednesday morning when they reached own and the man was taken to the Junction Hotel. He said he wanted to take the early train. Kress runs a hack between Portsmouth and Buena Vista, and it was about eleven o’clock when the man came to his house and asked him if he would bring him to Portsmouth. He was a stranger to Kress, but from the description given of the acid thrower he is pretty confident this was the guilty man. He did not talk any on the way up and seemed to be very much excited over something.”
“Kress describes the man as about five feet, nine inches tall, weighs about 175 pounds, was dressed in light clothes, with light-colored mackintosh and slouch hat. He had smooth face and was of sandy complexion. Policeman Ingles saw the man, but did not talk to him. He left the Junction Hotel, taking the early N&W.”
“Captain Hoobler, the victim of the acid fiend, died Wednesday noon. Both eyes were put out by the acid. His skull was also crushed by the fiend striking him over the head with a beer bottle before throwing the acid. While it is not known to a certainty who the murderer is, people have a pretty good idea, and it will go hard with him if captured. Captain Hoobler was a prominent railroad contractor.”2
- Thomas Benton Hoobler
- Acid Thrower From Vanceburg Thought to Have Come to Portsmouth. (1897, November 6). Portsmouth Times, 1.
