Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 70, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 November 1916 — Page 7

GOLD

By STEWART EDWARD WHITE

SYNOPSIS Talbot Ward’s challenge to Frank MunIwe to a personal encounter to determine •whether Munroe is fit to make a trip to California in search of gold is accepted. Munroe gets a hammerlock on Ward and wins the bout. Arriving at Chagres, Talbot Ward’s knowledge of Spanish and his firm treatment of the native boatmen help wonderfully. The party enters a tropical forest. They reach Gatun, and, after passing through several villages where Ward always diplomatically handles the natives, they arrive in Panama. 'Ward puts it up to each man to get $220 in one day. Munroe makes J 25 as a laborer. Johnny gambles and gets $220. Ward astounds the party by telling bow, by shrewd business deals in one day 4a the Golden City, he accumulated several thousand dollars. Ward decides that he will not go with the party to the mines, but will stay in flan Francisco, where he thinks more gold is to be found. The party dig their first gold. They are aot much encouraged when told that the value of their first pan is 12 cents. I>on Gaspar, a Spaniard, and his manservant Vasquez join forces with the trio and the gold is divided into five parts. After working like beavers several days the miners decide to take a day off and attend a miners’ meeting in town. For sls a week in gold and a drink of Whisky twice a day Bagsby promises to £ead the party to a rich unexplored mining ocwntry. A hand of Indians come into the camp to trade. They are thankful for blankets. Later the Indians attempt an ambuscade, but are routed by rifle shots. XeSTally Is found with group of traders. Vasquez, left in charge of camp, is found Scalped by the red men. Tank, Buck Barry and Don Gaspar are Sent to town with $35,000 in gold. Barry and Don Gaspar return to camp declaring they have been robbed. Johnny gets into an altercation with Scarface Charlie. Johnny’s splendid nerve attracts Danny Randall, who is seeking honest men in the camp. Scarface Charlie sends Johnny a challenge to meet him at the main saloon. Johnny, with another great display of nerve, drops Scarface Charlie. CHAPTER XXII. The Express Messenger.

JR WEEK later Johnny rode up on /\ a spirited and beautiful horse, /\ proud as could be over his mount. He confided to me that it was one of the express horses, that the first trip would be very soon and that if I desired to send out my own savings I could do so. I was glad to do this, -even though the rates were high, and we easily persuaded Yank of the advisability. One of the express riders was a slight, dark youth whom I had never seen before. In the other I was surprised to recognize Old Hickory Pine. He told me his people had “squatted” not far from Sacramento, but that he had come up into the hills on summons by Danny Randall. The fact impressed me anew as to Randall’s wide knowledge, for the Pines had not been long in the country. The trip went through without incident. Johnny returned four days latter aglow with the joy of that adventurous ride through the dark. Robbers aside, I acknowledge I should not have liked that job. The first half dozen journeys were more or less secret, so that the express service did not become known to the general public. Then the news inevitably leaked out Danny Randall thereupon openly received shipments and gave receipts at the Bella Union. It seemed to me only a matter of time before the express messengers should be waylaid, for the treasure they carried was worth any one’s whije. I *poke to Randall about it one day.

“If Amijo or Murietta or Dick Temple were in this part of the country I’d agree with you,” said he seriously, “but they are not, and there’s nobody In this lot of cheap desperadoes around here that has the nerve. Those three boys have a big reputation as fighters, their horses are good, they constantly vary their route and their times of ®tarting, and Johnny in especial has a foxy head on him.” “The weak point is the place they •change horses,” said I. Randall looked at me quickly, as though surprised. “Why, that’s true,” said he “not a •doubt of it. But I’ve got five armed men there to look after just that And Another thing yon must remember—they know that Danny Randall is runding this show.” Certainly, thought I, Danny at least Appreciates himself. And yet after All, I do not think he in any way exAggerated the terror his name inspired. About this time a party of overland Immigrants, headed by a man named IWoodruflf, were robbed of their cattle. Johnny and his men rounded up the thieves, killing three and placing two •others, Carhart and Malone, under arrest. It was decided to try Carhart and Malone at a miners’ meeting. The meeting took place in the Bella Union, and the place was crowded to the doors. All the roughs in town were on hand, fully armed, swearing, swaggering and brandishing their weapons. They had much to say by way of

threat for they did aot hesitate to ■how their sympathies. As I looked

They Did Not Hesitate to Show Their Sympathies.

upon their unexpected numbers and listened to their wild talk I must confess that my heart failed me. Though they had not the advantage in numbers, they knew each other, were prepared to work together, were, in general; desperately courageous and reckless and imbued with the greatest confidence. The decent miners, on the other hand, were practically unknown to each other and, while brave enough and hardy enough, possessed neither the recklessness nor desperation of others. I think our main weakness sprang from the selfish detachment that had prevented us from knowing whom to trust. »

I am not going to describe that most turbulent afternoon. The details are unessential to the main point, which was our decision. Counsel was appointed by the court from among the numerous ex-lawyers. The man who took charge of the defense was from New York and had served some ten years in the profession before the gold fever took him. I happen to know that he was a most solder minded, steady individual, not at nil in sympathy with the rougher elements but, like most of his ilk, he speedily became so intensely interested in plying his profession that he forgot utterly the justice of the case. He defended the lawless element with all the tricks at his command. For that reason Woodruff was prevented from testifying at all, except as to his ownership of the cattle, so that the effect of his pathetic story was lost. Dr. Rankin had no chance to appear. We retired to Randall’s little room to deliberate. Not a man -of the twelve of us had the first doubt as to the guilt of the prisoners. We took a ballot. The result was eleven for acquittal -and one for conviction. I had cast the one vote for conviction. We argued the matter for three hours. “There's no doubt the men are guilly,” said one. “That isn’t the question. The question is, dare we declare it?” “It amounts to announcing our own death sentence,” argued another. "Those fellows would stand together, bat who of the lot would stand by us? Why, we don’t even know for sure who would be with us.”

“This case ought never to have been tried by a jury,” complained a third bitterly. “It ought to have been tried in a miners’ court, and if it hadn’t been for those soft heads who were strong for doing things ‘regularly’ instead of sensibly we’d have had it done that way.” “Well,” said an older man gravely, “I agree to that. I am going t* be governed in my decision not by the merits of the case, but by the fact that I have a family back in the states. I consider my obligations to them greater than to this community." I reasoned with them for a long time, bringing to bear all the arguments I had heard advanced at various times during our discussions in Danny Randall’s back room. At last, seeing I could in no manner shake their resolution, I gave in. After all, I could trot blame them. The case was to them only one of cattle stealing. They had no chance to realize that it was anything more. Without solicitation on my part they agreed to keep secret my opposition to the verdict of acquittal. Our decision was greeted by wild yells and the discharge of pistols on the part of the rough element. The meeting broke up informally and in confusion. It would have been useless for the presiding officer to have attempted to dismiss court. The mob broke through en masse to congratulate the prisoners. Immediately the barkeepers were overwhelmed with work. Here and there I could see a small group of the honest men talking low voiced, with many shakes of (he head. Johnny, Old and Cal, who had attended with his arm slung up, had their heads together in a corner. Danny Randall, who, it will be remembered, had not appeared publicly IS - any way, stood at his customary comer of the bar watching all that was going on. His gamblers were preparing to reopen the suspended games. After conferring together a moment the three express messengers made their way slowly across the room to the bar. I could not see exactly what happened, but heard the sudden reverberations of several pistol shots. The lamps and glasses rattled with the concussion, the white smoke of the discharges eddied and rose. An immediate dead silence fell, except for the sounds made by the movements of

those seeking safe places. Johnny anil his two friends, shoulder to shoulder, backed slowly away toward the door. Johnny and Old presented each two pistols at the group around the bar, while Cal, a revolver in his well hand, swept the muzzle slowly from side to side. Nobody near the bar stirred. The express messengers backed to the door. “Keeps your heads Inside,” warned Johnny clearly. On the words they vanished. Immediately pandemonium broke loose. The men along the bar immediately became very warlike, but none of those who brandished pistols tried to leave the building. From the swing and sway of the crowd and the babel of yells, oaths, threats and explanations I could make nothing. Danny Randall alone of all those in the room held his position unmoved* At last a clear way offered, so I went over to him. 5 - »

“What’s happened?” I shouted at him through the din. Danny shrugged his shoulders. 1 “They killed Carliart and Malone,” 'Danny replied curtly. Although for the moment held in check by the resolute front presented by these three boys, the rough element showed that it considered it had won a great victory and was now entitled to run the town. Members of the gang selected what goods they needed at any of the stores, makL-jg no pretense of payment. They swaggered boldly about the streets at all times, Infested the better places, such as the

The White Smoke of the Discharge Eddied and Rose.

Bella Union, elbowed aside Insolently any inoffensive citizen who might be in their way and generally conducted themselves as though they owned the place. Robberies grew more frequent The freighters were held up in broad daylight; rumors of returning miners being relieved of their dust drifted up from the lower Country; mysterious disappearances increased In number. Hardly an attempt was made to conceal the fact that the organized gang that conducted these operations had Its headquarters at Italian Bar. Strange men rode up In broad daylight, covered with red dust, to confer with Morton or one of the other resident blackguards. Mysteriously every desperado In the place began to lay fifty, dollar octagonal slugs on thee gaming tables, product of some lower country atrocity.

The camp soon had a concrete Illustration of the opinion the roughs held of themselves. It was reported quietly among a few of us that several of our number had been “marked” by the desperadoes. Two of these were Joe Thompson, who had acted as counsel for the prosecution In the late trial, and Tom Cleveland, who had presided, and presided well, over the court Thompson kept one of the stores, while Cleveland was proprietor of the butcher shop. No overt threats were made, but we understood that somehow these men were to be put out of the way. Of course they were at once warned. (To be continued. \

Our Jitney Offer—This and sc. DON’T MISS THIS. Cut out this slip, enclose with five cents to Foley & Co., 2835 Sheffield Ave., Chicago, 111., writing your name and address clearly. You will receive in return a trial package containing Foley’s Honey and Tar Compound for coughs, colds and croup; Foley Kidney Pills, and Foley Cathartic Tablets. —Adv. Subscribe for The Democrat.

Buy a “Buick” A REAL AUTOMOBILE AT A REASONABLE PRICE. FOURS $665. LIGHT SIK M F. O. B. Detroit. Completely Equipped with SelfStarter, Electric Lights, OneMan Top, Etc. I have taken the agency for Jasper county for this popular and time-tested make of car and solicit an opportunity to demonstrate before you purchase any other make. Have a Light Six on exhibition at the Main (Shafer) Oarage. Call in and see it. Andrew Ropp OFFICE AT CENTRAL OARAGE

HISTORIC SCENES IN OLD NEW ENGLAND

Old Hadley, a beautiful New England town, situated upon the east bank of the Connecticut River soma twenty miles north of Springfield, Mass., was a center of great activity during the stirring days of King Philip’s Indian wars. On Sept. I, It>?s, while at worship in the village meeting house, the inhabitants of Old Hadley were surprised by an attaek upon their settlement by a horde of Indians. Abandoning worship, they seized their arms and rushed out to defend their homes, but the suddenness of the attack found them utterly demoralized. When the confusion was at ita height there suddenly appeared in their midst an unknown man of grave and elderly bearing, who at once took command, of the situation, issued orders, rallied the defenders and in short order routed the redskins from the town. Then, as suddenly as he had appeared, did the stranger effect his removal from the scene, and his identity for many years remained a comparative mystery. It was later established that the deliverer of Hadley was General William Goffe, one of the three living regicides of Charles I. and for whose head a liberal bounty was offered. After years of pursuit from place to place he found safe hiding under the hospitable roof of Pastor John Russel of the Old Hadley congregation. It is believed that after his spectacular deliverance of the Hadley sfttlers he remained still undiscovered in the Russel household until his death some five years later. A beautiful state road winding up the Connecticut valley takes thousands of autoists each year directly by the spot where General Goffe rallied the inhabitants of Old Hadley to the defense of their home*.

DATES FROM 1865

National Thanksgiving Day Is Comparatively New in Country’s History. IT is just 51 years since the last Thursday in November was adopted by the president of the United States as the day set apart from all others of the year to be observed by the people of the nation as Thanksgiving day. It was the first Thanksgiving celebrated after the close of the Civil war, and the proclamation by President Johnson a few weeks prior, appointing such a date, was issued because it was a generally understood fact that Lincoln had planned, during the dark days at the end of the struggle, to have some one day In November reserved yearly by all states In the Union. Throughout the war the celebration had occurred only here and there in scattered communities. And always before, In the various states which did celebrate the day, it was purely a sectional affair, for which the governor issued a proclamation upon his own initiative. November, 1865, witnessed the beginning of the holiday as a national Institution. Since that date the governors of all states and territories, upon receiving the president’s proclamation, publish their own, naming the day in formal fashion. It Is an American festival day, unique in more than one respect, but most perhaps because it is the only religious festival celebrated in this country upon the recommendation of the government. Idea Borrowed From the Dutch.

It had a tangled beginning. A score of origins are claimed. And one is rather at sea in selecting his particular belief. In the congressional library it was a happy chance which discovered these various sources and their grave and gay histories outlined in a chain of sketches. In the middle states the day is observed more as a religious matter than as a holiday, but in New England it is a festival, a domestic feast day and the chief of all holidays. Americans like to believe that Thanksgiving day is purely and simply American, and it is, but as instituted in New England the idea was borrowed from the Dutch, among whom the Pilgrims had dwelt for ten years after leaving British soil and before emigrating to America. The Hollanders had been accustomed to celebrating October 3 both religiously and socially, in honor of their deliverance from the Spaniards, and when the first harvest in the new home of the English emigrants had yielded well it seemed the natural thing to rejoice in a period of public thanksgiving. Some deserted Indian huts stored with corn had furnished the nucleus of that harvest, and an Indian chief who had once been in England and consequently trusted Englishmen gave the Pilgrims Instruction as to the planting of the grain and the procuring of game as well. Upon this first harvest rested the wellbeing of the little colony, so many of whose members had perished In that first fierce winter which followed the landing of the Mayflower in December, 1620. The hardiest, who survived, were humbly grateful for the rich harvest in October, which followed the neighborly native’s suggestions and Governor Bradford ordered a three-day feast and celebration as recognition of such plenitude. The Indians who had first extended the hand of. welcome to the pale faces there

OLD HADLEY where a regicide of Charles I appeared from nowhere and saved the panic stricken settlers

were invited to attend and bring their friends. New Thanksgiving Foods.*, In Holland the settlers had partaken of Spanish stew as the common dish of the Thanksgiving day, bat In a new country, with new foods to use, geese, turkeys, water fowl and docks were eaten. Bread made of barley and corn took the place of wheat bread, as a necessity, and codfish had its first inning as a matter of both history and gastronomy among white people. The guests of the forest brought deer as a friendly contribution toward the feast. And this is presumed by many persons to be the first real Thanksgiving day in America. Yet, since there was no special religious service upon this occasion, recognised authorities disclaim this theory of the origin.

Rather, they point to July 30, 1623, when Miles Standish returned from a voyage with sadly needed provisions and the glad tidings that a ship was nearing the shore. When this ship, the Anne, had anchored, and relatives and friends necessarily left behind in Holland because the Mayflower could not accommodate all those seeking religious freedom in the new world, had joined the little colony at Plymouth, the colonists were so overjoyed that a public service of prayer and thanksgiving was considered meet This, holding both religious and social elements, is in the minds of New Englanders, the basis of the national celebration today. Long Time Between Celebrations. But two centuries and a half elapsed before the nation as a unit followed the early example. Local celebrations throughout Massachusetts became common meanwhile, and in 1630 a public Thanksgiving day was held in Boston by the Bay colony, though the first written record of such a day still remaining in the colonial records of the Bay state credits February 22, 1631. This had been appointed as a fast day by Governor Winthrop on account of the severe reverses with which the colony had met. The weather had been unusually cold the entire winter, game was scarce and the Lyon, which had been dispatched to England for food, was given up as lost on the high seas. The children had come to digging mussels out of the frozen ground as help in sustaining life, and finally five kernels of corn were given out as the daily ration of each colonist. The fast day appointed then was not merely for abstinence from food, for that was practically imperative anyway, but it was to be a special day of supplication for food and greater comfort A day or two before the appointed time the long-looked-for Lyon came sailing into the harbor laden with provisions and the fast day became a feast day instead.

REAL CAUSES FOR GRATITUDE

Thankfulness for the Vaster Blessings of Life Bhouid Be the Duty of AIL To give thanks for the more particular benefits, valuable in a small way in our own lives, would seem to me dispensable, and of proportionately little value; but to show gratitude and appreciation for the vaster blessings with which the life of each one of us Is enriched, this. It would seem to me, la indispensable. We are usually down on our knees, thankful if some project of our own succeeds, if something we desire for ourselves or for our friends comes to pass; but high noons and sunsets.

stars and great rivers, cities glittering In the night, plains and valleys silent under the moon, dawn across the sea, the mantle of the storm and fringes ot the rain, and a world made new each day, and that large companionship of joy and sorrow and hope shared with men and women whose lives merely brush ours In passing, and in whoso faces we may perhaps not look again— l for these, these royal gifts, what grab* ltude of high and noble living do wa offer?—From the Delineator.

A VERY DESIRABLE PROPERTY

On River Jvtroet for Sale at it Bargain. \ Desirable and well locajed residence lots or properties in Rensselaer at a reasonable price, or what heretofore hds been considered a reasonable price, are becoming very - scarce. The extensive building operations on the west side of the river during the past two years has practically exhausted most of the well located lots and has made this section of the city the desirable residence district by reason of Its cleanliness, Its ample drainage and the high class of residences that have been erected there. It 19 entirely free from the smoke nuisance of some other parts of the city and it is a quiet, peaceful neighborhood, where most of the residents own the property they occupy.

The Improvement of South street from Washington to Kannal avenue Is opening up a small section containing a number of quite desirable lots and It Is probable that within a year or two both sides of that street will be completely built up. This street Is to be macadamed and have cement curb and gutter, contract having already been let. The writer has for sale the former John Bill property fronting on River street and located on the corner of River and Odell streets, seventy-five feet on River street and running west 300 feet to South street. There Is a good substantial house now on the east seventy-five feet with private sewer, fine shade and one of the very best and prettiest locations In the city. River street Is the widest and one of the best improved streets In Rensselaer, while OdeU street on the north side of this property Is also macadamed. This property can be bought at the present time for much less than it is worth, taking into consideration its splendid location and Its advantages otherwise. We will sell this property entire or either seventy-five foot lot separately as desired. If you want to secure one of the most desirable properties in Rensselaer at a reasonable price, come and see this at once. Possession can be given March 1. F. E. BABCOCK.

Stopped Children’s Croup Cough. Three weeks ago two of my children began choking and coughing, and I saw they were having an attack of croup,” writes Billie Mayberry, Eckert, Ga. "I got a bottle of Foley’s Honey and Tar and gave them a dose before bedtime. Next morning their cough and all sign of croup was gone.”—Adv. Sale bills printed while you wait at The Democrat office.