Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania Puns

February 8, 1917. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. 13-year-old Sarah Korson sits in her kitchen, brushing her hair. Suddenly, a man sneaks up behind her. He's holding a revolver. He tickles her under her chin and tells her, "You're a pretty nice girl. And that's awfully nice hair you have." Sarah wants to scream, but the man says he'll shoot her if she does. He pulls a pair of scissors from his pocket, cuts off a lock of Sarah's hair and flees the house.

Later, Sarah tells the police that she didn't get a good look at the man. The only details she can give is that he is of a medium build and was dressed all in black.

The attack on Sarah wasn't unique. By February 23rd, three other girls reported being attacked by a man wielding a pair of scissors. These girls were able to provide a few more details about his appearance: "a physical giant... six feet tall, heavily built and clean-shaven."

The second victim, a teen named Margaret McKeown, was attacked and had her hair cut around Valentine's Day. Two days later, her parents received a letter in the mail. The letter claimed the wrong girl had been attacked and the man who did the job would return. On February 22nd, the stranger came back. He attacked Margaret's 14-year-old sister Anna as she crossed the street. Her hair was cut.

The next day, 14-year-old Nellie McAndrew "was found hysterical in her home" at 9am. Nearly all her hair had been clipped off. Nellie told the police that a man had knocked on her door and asked for something to eat. When he realized she was alone, he pushed his way into the house. While Nellie tried to escape, the man removed scissors from his pocket and cut off her braids.

"Jack the Snipper" struck again the next morning. 13-year-old Florence Irvin had her hair cut off while she slept in bed with her mother. Florence's father told police that nothing was out of order when he went to work at 2am, but just six hours later Florence would wake up to find her hair shorn. There was a note left on her pillow: "Tell the girl next door I'll be back for her next week."

Two more attacks were reported on March 1, 1917. The evening before, a man came through the bedroom window of 22-year-old Barbara Feist. She said he covered her nose with a chloroform-soaked handkerchief and cut off her hair. The newspaper reported that Barbara had received a note from the 'scissor man' on the Monday before the attack. Burglar alarms were installed throughout the Feist home to alert the family in case anyon