On Monday, June 14th, Mr. Gibson's little sister was sent up-stairs to get
ready for school, and on going to the window she was frightened by seeing
a man looking through the crevices of an upper window in Herriges house,
which window was in the second story. This window was closely barred with
pieces of plank from top to bottom.
The man was mumbling and singing and making strange and singular noises.
The little girl came running down stairs in the utmost terror exclaiming:
"Oh, mother! mother! there is a man up in that room! I saw him poke his
nose through the boards just like a dog!"
Being busy, Mrs. Gibson did not go up at this moment to verify the child's
statement, but when she did find time she went up. By that time the man
had withdrawn his nose from the window, but shortly afterwards she caught
a glimpse of something that she thought was the hand of a human being,
covered with filth, resting against the space between the bars.
At this moment Mrs. Gibson saw Mrs. Herriges, John's mother, in the yard,
and called to the prisoner, saying:
"What are you there for? Why don't you pull off the boards and get out?"
The man made some response; but in such indistinct tones of voice that
Mrs. Gibson could not understand what he said. It was enough to convince
her however, that there was a human being confined in the room.
Mrs. Gibson hoped by thus continually talking to the prisoner to get the
mother to say something about it, but the old woman did not notice her at
all, but after doing something about the yard went into the house.
On Tuesday morning at about 3 o'clock, Mr. Gibson was awakened by noises
at the same window. He at once arose and dressed himself and called his
mother up and told her he heard some one at Herriges window. These noises
were mumbling and singing and a strange noise as though some one were
clapping his hands together.
At this time Mr. Gibson got out upon his own shed which leans down toward
Herriges fence, and would have got up to the prisoner's window to tear off
the bars and get the man out but his mother would not allow him to do it.
It is not more than eleven or twelve feet from Mr. Gibson's window to the
window of the little cage like room in which John Herriges was confined,
so when Mr. Gibson got down to the edge of the shed he was not more than
about three or four feet from the prisoner's window.
Listening a while he could shortly distinguish words being uttered by the
prisoner. Among them were these:
"Murdering! Murdering! George! George! they want to get me out of the
way."
Mr. Gibson then spoke to him saying:
"Why don't you try and get out of there?"
The prisoner instantly replied:
"I'll promote you! I'll promote you!"
Mr. Gibson remained upon the shed from three o'clock until seven in the
morning, while his mother stood at the window.
Being fully satisfied that there was a poor miserable man kept confined in
the little room of Herriges house, deprived of his liberty, and not only
that but that he was kept in a filthy condition to judge from the horrible
stench that issued from the window, the watcher resolved to report the
fact to the authorities.