MORBID CROWDS AT HOME. ~ Hundreds of Curious Pass Swope House at Independence.

January 17, 1910
MORBID CROWDS AT HOME.

Hundreds of Curious Pass Swope
House at Independence.

Drawn by curiosity, several hundred people passed back and forth in front of the Swope home in Independence yesterday, looking up at the great house which sets well back in a park, in the hope of getting a glimpse of some life about the premises. It was a murky day, the drizzling rain made it gloomier, if possible. The large forest trees, which flank the drive, dripped with moisture. Some of the more curious people went up into the yard, but they did not approach the home, as if in fear of the mysterious things which have happened there.

The officer was on guard as usual and as he has been for the past eight weeks. He has never left the house and he alone opens and shuts the doors to allow ingress and egress. None of the family, so far as known, even greet the most intimate friends at the portals of the home.

Yesterday morning at the Independence churches prayers were sent up during the services held for those bowed down in grief and sorrow, and unmistakable allusion was made in invoking divine care for the family so sorely afflicted. In the sermons no especial allusion was made to the tragedy which has shocked the city as never before.