Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 February 1904 — Cyclone Center of Sensations [ARTICLE]

Cyclone Center of Sensations

Town of Race Lawn Again Conies To The Front. Rose Lawn and the region thereabouts has again become the cyclone center of sensational occurrences Besides the neck-yoke affair at Thayer, only two miles away, Bose Lawn itself has had considerable doing lately. One affair resulted from the domestic vagaries of one Lew Otis. It seems that two years ago, being then 23 years old, he took a blushing bride in the person of his stepmother, 65 years old. After two years of more or leas connubial bliss, presumably less, he found that the disparity in their ages was not dimishing every materially, and be therefore left her for the charms of a younger woman. His elderly spouse had him arrested for desertion. Friends of both parties rallied in force armed with pistols and knives and a terrible wrangle ensued, and bloodshed was narrowly averted. An incident of the affair was that Mrs. Susan Otis, a sister-in-law of Lewis, and herself a deserted wife, while going to the trial and prospective ruction was in a runaway and was thrown out against a stump and upon a loaded revolver she carried in her bosom, and with whioh she expected to 1 enforce respect for her evidence 1 at the trial. The weapon was not discharged, but the fall upon i» inflicted grevious injuries upon the lady whioh nearly caused her death, but under the care of an able physician from Chicago she is recovering. As for Otis a fine wai assessed against him, but he took leg bail, and his whereabouts are unknown-

Another period of wild excitement oooured, on last Tuesday afternoon and night. It seems a number of Kentucky gentleman, colonels and honorables, are working on the Oda and other ranches in that vicinity. Also that one of them who worked for Charles T. Otis, of Chicago, and no relation to Lew above mentioned, however and he took offense at something, probably Mr. Otis neglected to raise his hat when he addressedj him. He went to Rose Liwn and worked the telephone to the neighing ranohts and very soon the whole Kentucky contingent bad gathered in, armtd to the teeth, and sweering they would out Otis up. The people of Rose Lawn have a high regard for Mr, Otis, who himself is a very peaceable man and Is never looking for nor prepared for trouble. They rallied in force fully armed, and for a time the town looked like a prospective "far east” battlefield, with the tall Kentuckians representing the Russian side. And the way these Russians rush the Vodka in the saloons was a vindication of their Russian title. But happily the affair passed off with nothing more serious than the pouring down of the Vodka.

These Kentuckians by the way, are playful and ingenious fellows in their lighter moods, as illustrated by the way they have invented to keep their drink score at Taber’s saloon. They go behind the bar and help themselves, and every time they pour out three fingers they fire a bullet hole in the ceiling. They place honor above everything else of course, and by and by, when the ceiling gets so full of bullets that a reasonably drunk colonel oan not shoot into it without danger of plugging into previous bullet holes, they will come Li and pay Taber the prio< of a drink for ever hole, or take their patronage to some other saloon. In that case all Taber will need to do is to meet the courteous Kentuckians intbeir own

spirit, and just have his ceiling replastered and back again they al will come and begin to ran up, or or rather shoot up, a fresbjaooount. •'A Kentucky gentleman sub, knows another gentleman when be meets one sub, even if that other gentleman is a —saloon keepab, “snh" and never harbors resentiment because he owes him a whisky bill, if be does the right thing and rubs the bill out at reasonable intervale.'