Lincoln County advocate. (Canton, Dakota Territory, [S.D.]) 1876-1877, 1877-01-17
AsTONIsHED DARKfEs.

whole Family, and Produced Small
Earthquake.
p. From the Atlanta (Ga.) Constitution.
Near West End, and in a secluded
and romantic spot, appropriately
named by the people around, !" Hells
Half Acre." there resides one Hamp..
ton Hall. Hampton is venerable and
industrious darkey, and is the author
Of plan to stop stealing, as efficacious
as it is novel. Some such plan was
badly needed about the. time that
Hampton put his into successful oper.
alton. Among the inhabitants Of
!" Hell's Half Acre" the tenure of prop
erty is rather precarious and uncertain.
The people are mostly negroes, and of
migratory disposition. They are
hard to find in the day time, but come
to the surface in large numbers at
night, and earn their living by picking
up whatever is lying around loose. VS.
Chickens are unknown in "HelPs
Half Acre." and but little attention j.
paid to the culture of pigs. The wise
and sober class of the population invest
their earnings in property, that is not
capable of transportation, and thus en-
Joy comparative safety from the visi-
tations of their neighbors. Some four
weeks since, Hampton concluded that
the fence around his humble cot needed
repairing, and with that view pur'
chased a number of chestnut posts.
These were placed in his yard, where
they remained all right until q few
mornings ago, when, upon counting
them, Hamp. discovered that they
counted one short. The morning after
another was missing. Hamp did moi
bear his loss without repining. On the
contrary, he loaded his old gun full Of
powder and buckshot and laid in wait
But this did no good; the posts con
tinued to disappear, until Hamp. was
10 full of anxiety and wrath that he fel
sick. While he lay upon his sick bed
q plan suggested itself to him whereby
he could astonish the thieves, il
he did nothing else, and with fendish
malignity he proceeded to pu'
it into instantaneous execution
He bored hole into the largest
and most tempting of the remaining
logs, and into this he poured hall
pound of extra fine powder. A plug
was securely fitted in, and the now
smiling Hamp sat down on his bach
steps to await developments. The tral
was set at 7 o'clock in the afternoon
The development occurred at s, anc
came from the negro cottage next door
The first thing Hamp heard was dull
explosion, followed by series of Yell
and a peculiar smell, as if there were
some scorched niggers around in the
neighborhood. The first thing he saw
was q badly used up cat, which came
flying through the window like sho
from cannon, followed closely by thu
fragm ents of two ash cakes, severa
bricks and quantity of SCOT. Thu
clamor from the house increased, an(
upon going to the door to investigate
Hamp. found the old woman, with hal
the skin blown off her right cheek
praying in one corner, while the OLE
man was engaged in pounding a badly
blistered boy with the remnants of
ruined chair, and threading to kill hin
for putting them peppers between hi
: toes while he was asleep and touchin}
"dem off," 1t was a badly mixed vi
affair. The old woman wanted som,
hide and considerable hair. The DO,
wanted more hide and a pair of eye
brows. The old man, who was ASLEEP
with his feet to the fire when the acct
dent happened, wanted several shoe
and a pair of toe-nails. The furnitur
was piled about promiscuously, and tn
whole room looked as if the lightnin
had struck j..
The wrath of Hampton was fulle,
: yesterday morning when he led thre
scorched and well-bandaged darkies be
| fore Justice Wright, and charged then
with stealing his logs. The magistrate
heart was softened by the dismal az
: pearance of the woman, Alice Ga,is
man, and he turned her loose. Tn
man, JAS. franklin, and boy, Wm
Wilson, were committed to Jail.
Hamp. has got him some more log
and put them also in the back ya1c
They lie there securely, for none Of tn
inhabitants of "Hell's Half Acre" ca
be induced to come within a hundre
. yards of them.