Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 July 1883 — The Vigilantes. [ARTICLE]

The Vigilantes.

Four well-known citizens organized themselves into a vigilance committee for the purpose of arresting some burglars that had committed a number of depredations in the vicinity of their residences. They met together and swore themselves on a skull and three Bibles. They got up tlieir pass-words, signs and grips, so that each would recognize the other in the dark under any circumstances. They armed themselves with revolvers, slug shots, bowie knives, brass knuckles and bulls-eye lanterns. The thing worked well, as they were near neighbors, and they talked the thing over every night for a month. One dark night, one of the number heard a noise on the front window. He hastily jumped into his clothing, and ran out of his repr door, jumped over the fence and rapped three times on the basement window of another member’s house. Just then he heard some one say: “Sick him Tige,” and fearing he had been taken for a burglar, made a break for the fence, but not any too soon, as Tige had been on the alert, and succeeded in gettiug a mouthful of pantaloons. Over the fence went the vig-ilante and soon appeared at the door of another member’s house. Here he scratched softly, three times, and, hearing the noise of a clicking revolver, again flew the vigilante, over fences, barns, etc., through alleys, until he reached his own house. With a catlike tread, he sneaked along, up the steps, and had commenced to try the windows and door to see if the burglars had been successful, when three bull dogs darted out and attacked him from all sides. Bang, bang, bang, went some pistols from neighboring windows. The thing was getting hot. The dogs chawed him all over, and soon would have finished the vigilante, but one dog got the other dog by the leg, by mistake, and they got up a fight between themselves, during which time the vig'lante succeeded in getting into the house a badly used-up man. It afterwards transpired that, when he scratched on the back doors of the other- members’ houses, each thought it was burglars. They slid out the front doors, and went for the others, and when they saw the first member prowling around, examining his own windows, they let out their dogs with the above result. The committee disbanded the next dav. — Carl PretzeTs Weekly. '