THE DECATUR TRAGEDY. 

Floyd Smith Arrested as Accessory Before the Fact to the Murder of Henry Morris and Wife

MASKED MEN WAYLAY HIS CAPTORS AND RESCUE HIM

Special Dispatch to The Detroit Free Press

DOWAGIAC, December 18. — It is rumored that a man named Smith, a tenant of M. D. Matteson’s, was arrested at Decatur last night, charged with the murder of Henry Morris and wife some months since. When passing through a piece of woods a gang of eight or ten men, masked and armed, stopped the officers, told Smith to get out and run, and with revolvers drawn threatened the officers with instant death if they should interfere or try to stop him, and that Smith consequently escaped.

FROM DECATUR.  Special Dispatch to The Detroit Free Press.

DECATUR, December 18. — Complaint was made on the 16th by Uriel Huntley, a former employe of Henry Morris, against Floyd Smith as accessory before the fact to the murder of Henry Morris and wife. Constable Botsford, with the assistance of a young man named Scott Smith, made the arrest at Floyd Smith’s house, near this place, last evening about 8 o’clock. When they, with their prisoner, were about 100 rods from the house they were met by fifteen or twenty masked men, who stopped the horse, and two of them seized Botsford, two held Scott Smith and two took charge of Floyd Smith.

Scott Smith escaped; Botsford was carried about forty rods, thrown into his cutter and ordered to “get.” No other words were spoken by the rescuers. Floyd Smith has not been seen since. These facts are from the officer himself. The general opinion here is that the rescue was effected by persons intending to force a confession from Floyd Smith, who has been under suspicion for some weeks. Some think the rescue was by friends of the prisoner and Matteson, but this is extremely improbable.