The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1846-10-22
RU' BELL THE 4 STRIKER. :
4 soUTH-wEs'rERN sKKTcH.


4 Of Columbia, on tl,e banks Of tho Missssip
'lpl, that time a place Of some local inteIes
4 from the fact Of aruiiian being imprisoned
\ there previous 10 bis trial for fsurdsrinf
q poor laboring man. The victim of. thil
i ferocious murder had called at Stewart'.
l;housel after sunset and begged asledglng 10
4 The night, which was gapied; but after The
man had sought the rsssing-place Pointedos
stto him, Stewart, in a spirit Of brutal sport
set his dogs upon him, and urged ibemior
luntil the poor fellow, afteryainiy attempting
Ito defeHd himself from their attacks, was
LITERALLY torn TO pieces, and then fsng ont o
doors 10 die y 5i.,s Il. t,t5;fsf sl. isitl,
The circumstances.o of this horrible murder
4 may still be fresh in the memory OF, many
but tho details Of the capture Of the mur.
derer have never, We believe, been made
public, And as the perssnages concerned
in the arrest, together with The lnsde in which
| il was performed, afford a fine opporuaity
for exemrlifying some Of The pecdliarities Of
South Western character, we shall give the
relation as we heard il from tie mouth ofone
Of The actors, indeed the principal in the
affair But ts begin at the begnuing.
About.two weeks after leaving Columbia,
we were stsading at the door, Of small
house in the little town of Jonssboro,, on the
Wahita, and consisting Of five or six log
dwellings and cotton shed Of the same
primitive architecture. Nesrwhere we stood
were i've Arkansswyers, as they call them
selves, in earnest conversation, in the course
Of which one of them used phrase, which
though common at the South, was at least
new 10 us. Ii was All he'sgd striker
Now, although curiosity is said to be the
peculiar preroeativo Of woman, VIC must con-
fess that man likewise has no small share of
the same ,icklish propensity; at least we
felt il on that occasion, and stepping forward
said: 5000.
Ny friend, what DO you mean BY a
s,riker?' Il
The man eyed US for moment, and then
replied
Why you see, stranger--but stop bit,
ill take virginny feast''
" A Virginia foasl,'' thought we; (" what
is thati'' s
We soon knew, for afsr diving into the
rccesses of bis capacious pockets, he drew
forth large piece Of chewing tobacco, and
after offering il to us with Hays chawa'"
he Bill off sufficien, to poison a horse, and
rolling il to the side Of bis cheek, COM
menced his explain ,ton afrssh-- s s
Why, you see, stranger--Moses and
Aaron war strikers. George Washington
wal. a striker, General Jackson war astriker,
and sihatlnan thar, pointing to an indyi-l
dual at a short distance off, !" he's d striker,
and no mistake. He aint felt his oats for
nothin,' 1 iell ye.'''s 81 5sa
The definition puzzled us a little, but we
made out enough of tito tounderstand thatal
persons whe perform deeds Of prowess are
4 strikers"
The "man thai, INDICATED as strikef
was a short, lean, muscularaman, dressed ID
the white blanket coat, with black stripes
round the skirt and over the shoulders, 50
common 70 the Sotih He bore in the
bend Of his arm a 3long rife, and at bis side
strained greasy leather pouch forsbullsts,
from which also dcpended.a long hunting
knife in it's sheath. si3
After taking this survey, we turned 10 our
usw avq.a,n'Snoe i slu sa'u- .,,.
Wna. l. sa mas he cone - nave 'ha' e'''ie
gwen nlnE - q, \. .i
@ Done -7waa', M Doils iD'on'ne cap
1lva'e ~ ,plck stewart /, y. 4 /,
ms men was ,he lllah W,'o Psio'mec
ma. eAple', Sanoughl ~, y iooN'.g a'se'.,ill
WIN sfll more interest,", io, '''s ish'e 'ol ''s
aesd spread iaf a',o vloe lnIou e, y ineas Pr M
ml'lve regions, ana,Ne ihmafuly U'shsa ~ !.
cosid near MN "a ae 'he 'nahh1l "a wll,c'' !
was sclleysd' c a lew Gays alsefwaros u W