The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1874-02-20
LOcdt Correspondence.
PORTAGE. Feb. is. 1874.

, Il last
promised that if anything of moment
should occur / would let you know Well
here at Portage "nothin' much" has hap
penod since my last, and TO tell the truth
Mr. Editor, we have, Gin nine cases out of
ten, about as quiet and orderly town for
the stze of it, as you would find in day s
travel in IN omnibus. Occasionally some
pOiy1cOgS from abroad enter our town uHbe-
6aOlc1'St TO the police, and we don't know
what to make of them until they have, per-
haps, ''cut UP mullen in our Every midst, -
and then we serve them just as his Honor,
Mayor Kinch, of the city of Altoona, some
times does, we hunt them out of town with
the police; and then it gets into some of the
city dailies" that something has happened
ut Portage, and the Portagians get the dis
credit of the misdoings of itinerant poly
woGs.
In continuation, Mr Editor of the same
train of thought, see how our neighboring
town (Sonman) has been dgOnized of late
by the widely circulated slander, that her
sacred soil was, on a recent occasion, desc
crated-yea, reddened-with the--blond
of brace of ''Pittsburg bruisers'' who came
all the way there to fight 'prize fight and
that then and there, with ''malice prepense,
they fit anG fl for tiCelre minuteS-ttCeire min
uteS-yea, and some seconds OF time. Now
. do not know that any of the enterprising
Getty dailies'' on either side of MS had their
special reporters the ground, but some
how or other they all got this ,cdy of the sto
ry, and Sonman has had the suffering to do.
l know SOnman, and L know very well thai
she wonldn't permit pre-arranged ''prize-
+ fight to take place on her soil. | EnOlc and
knew all the time that she wouldn't. Now,
this whole prize-hght story amounts to about
this: On the day indicated chap by the
name Of Burns (nOt Burk) and another by
the name OF Smith, both temporary residents
I of this neighbOrhood-the one learning the
trade of a blacksmith and the other that of
. 4 cOai-digger-and who had previously had
little Notwithstanding, accidentally met
( lat or near Sonman, and embraced each
other, and the ground being slippery and
/ both being young and unaccustomed TO SUch
. demonstrations of affection, they fell to the
ground, and being seen by two boys who
were returning from n grounding hunt,
they (the boys, not the ground-hogS,) went
/ 10 the telegraph office and told the operator
/ that two men were lighting up there be-
/ hind, hat pine stump" and that they looked
/ like city chaps Hence the story that they
were from Pittsburg, because Pittsburg hap
/ pens to he a little bigger than Sonman. And
! that was the great prze-fght at Sonman, in
/ the county OF Cambria.
The last freeze but one or two-which was
freezing when | wrote you last-enablcd our
! enterpriSng ice men 10 garner sufficient of
/ that indispensable summer luxury to keep
them cool during the coming heated term,
/ with some to spare, if il should he needed.
Our ice houses, in fact, have nearly all been
! filled
| Mr.. J. w. Gillespie is improving his pro-
| perty here by extending his house some
/ twenty-four feet on Railroad street-or rath-
I er, should say, building a.ne1C additiOn..t to
his house, (but I always do spoil a thing
when l go to tell it-defective education
you knOw.) This dddeRdd (aha | got it
that timeD will make Mr.. G. house large
and COmmOdious. and being in healthy
part of the town, it will be just the thing
for hotel.
/ A want long felt by our citizens and citi-
zeneses has been supplied by the locating in
our town of DIR. Dickson, formerly of Pitts
burg. The Doctor is not omlv a first class
} DnNSlclan. Is atfa al, re
man, and | hope he will IN, = with merited
success IN the practice of his profession
provided Of course that such a hope does not
I imply a desire 10 see sickness PREVAILING
With sorrow l record the death of Mr.
Elisha Myers, which sad event occurred at
the residence Of his grandson, Mr.. John
Wart, at Sonman, on Sunday morning last.
Always kind, courteous and agreeable, the
old mans death is sincerely regretted bv all
who knew him. Although upward Ofeighty
years of age. until within short time he
continued to work at his trade-that of a
blaCkSmlth-a and 1t was after only 4 few
days illness that he succumbed to the fell
destroyer. Peace 10 his ashes and comsula-
tOn TO his mourning relatives.
BY The record of the death of M. Myers 1
have revived in my recollection another
event Some weeks ago the mortal remains
of man were found dead in waste house
near Cresson, in this county. These remains
Were rjelced by some who Unidentified them
as those of Thomas O'ReillV, or, aS he is
more familiarlv known, Tommy the Chunk
and Esq. Sharbaugh, of the Summit, be-
ing notified, empanneled 4 jury, who actu-
ally returned a verdict against Mr.. O'Rcilly,
or, in other words, found that he, the afOre-
said Thomas O'Reilly, was found dead, etc
and this, too, III the face of the fact that
some of Mr.. O'Reilly's relatives were sent
for, and, appearing, said enlphdtjc0Hy that
those were not the remains OF their relative
and this verdict il L am correctly inform
ed, was cup for confirmation at Argument
Court last week.
Now, Mr.. O'Reilly being Hytng in this !
neghborhOod, your correspondent just re-
solved himself into an Investigating com I
mittee with authority to send for persons I
and papers, and had personal interview /
with the aforesaid iiCjRg man who was found /
dead, with the following result:
Committee-I see by the papers, Mr.. OReiI- :
ly, that you were found dead III a waste house /
near Cresson, some days ago.
O'R.-It's "a lie, sir.
Com.-But Mr.. O'ReiIly, there was an inquest
held upon your lfeless remains and
Ccm.-BGt, Mr.. O'Roiliy, Jack Quoyie. and .
Jimmy Furren, aud some others of your old I
acquaintanceS say positively that your tIieIess ,
body, that then and there lay before
O'R.-H-l TO their sowls!' hat do l care /
Com.-i3ut, my dear sir, the jury empaneled /
officer in township, has found that IL ICdS you.
O'R.-Bad cess TO them! what do care what
Com.-There must be some mistake about
O'R-Mistake hi !-what do you mean, man?
II it was me that found dead, and if Jack
Quayl did san it was me, and il SIarnaush old
hold an Inquest, how could it he me ana ne TO
the fore now here present! All! blathcr on
Jack Quayle, and Sharhaugh, and the " hole set
of them-aHd YOU. zoo, for that matter. If get
to see the Court up at Ebensburg, d-n the cent
ever they'll get for holding an inquest on me.
And your committee, being satisfied that
nothing further could be elected from that
source, retired, leaving Mr.. O'Reilly look
ing rs hale and hearty as If he had never
been found dead in his life. ii. BUB.
JoHSsTOwS, Feb. Il, 1874.
DEAR FRFEMAN-MiSs Lena Luckhar I
daughter of Mr.. Louis Luckhardt, jeweler, /
of this place, is performing wonders on the
piano in various cities of the United States.
She has been il Cincinnati, PIItSburg, Phil
adelphia New York and Brooklyn, where
she has been honOrably mentioned in all the
leading papers as performer OF unsurpass-
ed merit. Even critics in music have ex-
toIled her ability. Miss LHckhardt is a
most amiable lady of a most worthy family,
and it affords great pleasure to learn
that her musical talents are highly appreci-
ated by those who are competent to judge
curb matters She has been offered a :