Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1859-04-09
NUMBER Il.
TOUGH STORIES.

g An Englishman who was travelling on
the Mississippi river told rather tough sto-
ries about London thieves. A Cincinnati
chap named Case, heard these narratives
with silent but expressive humph! and
then remarked that the western thieves beat
the London operatives all hollow. TrvG
1"How 500" inquired the Englishman
with surprise pray. sir. have. you lived
much in the West Pr, 81 q ! .S,ekt
s'Not long. L undertook ito set up in
business in Des Moipes Rapids, q while ago
but the ,rascally people stole nearly every
thing had and at last Welsh, miner ran
off with my wife" - II
.'Good gracious!' = exclaimed the En-
glishman, "and have you never found
her?' .7..IaaGa ! s9
"Never to this day, But that was not
the worst of il - ,.,r~-,sr = r.
Worse. Why what could BE worse
than stealing mans wife"
Stealing his children, I should say"
said the implacable Case, GHi
| I Children !''ra2 W. IA n .yyessP
4, "Yes, a negro who hadn't any Of her own
abducted my youngest daughter, and sloped
anu JOlutu Tue lnulans
..Did you see her r. az 'fa Z e2ht7a
'.See her yes, and she hadn't ten rods
the start of me but she plunged into the
lake and swan off like duck, ana there
wasn't canoe to follow her with"
The Englishman leaned back in his chair
and called for another mug Of ''alf aud
'alf." while Case smoked his cigar and eyed
his credulous friend at the same time most
remorselessly. IL -a4if9t 'iir .5taTs7I
I'll shan't 60 any further West. 1
think" at last observed the excitable John
Bull. fo'z4 's'1' ~" . ~ '' ="
.sI should not advise any one to CO.,
said Case quietly. my brother once lived
there. but he had to leave, although his
lbusicess was the best in the country"
"What business was he in p NJ 97a ssili
A. s.The lumber business. He had a saw
MILL, ~f-ar N NJ, .fq.:-a.l -gas4rae,l
"And they stole the lumber?"
.'Yes, and saw-logs too" "
sSaw logs 2" 4''sF4g9iia8 ~ s,#s 1850
"Yes, whole dozens of the black walnut
logs were carried away in a single night"
els it possible p
"True, upon my honor, sir. He tried
every way to prevent it, and hired men to
watched his logs, but it was all Of no nse----
! They would take them all away as easy as
if there had been no one there. They would
steal them out of the cove and even out of
i the mill house" IsiTo0as. 4 "a 4f 9iT
4 :.sGood graciousv' nW riqfr.a g
.Just to give you an idea how they can
I steal" sending sly wink at the listening
company, ''just to give an idea-did you
ever work in saw mill ?'si17~u dsgL
u Never" r ~ f.rrrg-
SWELL, one day my brother bought an all
: fred fine black walnut-four feet three at
. + the but, and not knot in it, He was de-
termined to keep that log anyhow, and hired
two Scotchmen to watch it all night. Well
they took a small demijohn of whiskey with
them, ,snakedf the log up the hill. built a
| fire and then sat down on the log to play
cards just to keep awake you see Twas
\ monstrous big log, bark two inches thick. -
:; Well, as was saying, they played cards
and drank whiskey all night, and when it
began to get light, went to sleep astraddle
Of the log. About minute after daylight
brother George went over to the mill to see
how they were getting on, and the log was
gone" em .C&..
"What were the Scotchmen doing?"
"Siting ON the barh.'' The thieves had
driven an iron wedge into the butt end,
which pointed down the hill, and hitched a
yoke Of oxen on and pulled it right out Of
the she'll, leaving the Scotchmen there a
straddle Of it, fast asleep. Fact.
;, At the next stopping place John Bull
was seen to vamose.