Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-12-09
QUEER KARACTER.
Paper Number One.

pie. otherwise Calleu, aCCOTuluB W IlOutlh
vocabulary, "cranks" Wheeling has It's
due proportion, as shown by the endeavors
made here in times gone by to get up
Greenback party. But tins article has no
reference to politics.
Ananias in ancient days, took the baked
dough for giving the truth the drOpsy, but
a Wheeling citizen now lives who makes
the specially of Ananias an infringement
on his patent He lives in the Eighth
ward, and not in the memory OF living man
has anyone seen the ghost of a smile on his
face while relating some Of his adventures.
Should an auditor doing their recital be-
tray to the slightest extent any lncredu-
iousness, it would be the strongest possible
proviCatiOn for the narrator 10 take OH ms
coat and wage war upon the one who, 10y
look or word. would impugn his veraCity.
He tells the following incidents OF his
early manhood, with much gusto, but great
sOlemnity:
When was young man, there were
mighty few houses around Wheeling.
Where the Second ward market house now
stands, was regular cranberry swamp.
Ny father had farm out near Elm Grove,
and right across the creek was a watermelon
patch belonging to crOSS-gralncd larIner
who had couple of big bulldogs, and
would shoot on minutes warning any
day in summer, the hands were working
in the harvest field and they got mighty
dry, and says to EN-, boys, I'm going over
to steal couple of melons. Well,
twisted f off off a couple of forty
Founders and had one under each arm
when heard the dogs barkin'. | started
like - for the creek, and just as got
half way over the ice broke from under Inc,
and if it hadn't been for those two melons
which acted like tlOaterS, I'd been drowned
sure as thunder"
For any of his auditors to have expressed
doubt about the creek being frozen over at
that season of the year would have made
the old man his undying enemy, even if 1t
hadn't provoked fight.
Another improbable story Of his was to
the effect that in those days he started out
on one occasion for hunt and tracked
deer over the peninsula down to the
waters edge on the Ohio river
near where the Top Mill now stands. Il
saw the buck had swan for the island, and
Jumped into skif, found the marks on
the other side, and tracked the game into
q coal bank on The Island went into the
bank, fastened rope aaround
the bucks horns. and got couple
of miners to pull him out Just as he
reached daylight / sent a couple Of slugs
into the beast and gave the horns to the
boys, but kept the meat"
Where is that coal bank now?
People who haven't any idea OF the
great amount of territory traverscd by Cald-
wells Run will read the following anec-
dote with surprise, which is solemnly re-
lated by the individual in question.
Il once had cottage on Caldwelrs run
and one morning before breakfast while |
was getting ready to go to the mill looked
out of the window and saw big crane feed
ing on the bank. got my rifle and fired
at but missed the bird. Then got excited
and forgot everything. stole out and FOL
lowed that crane for sir WcekS up Caldwells
run and fred forty times day at that
crane which travelled like q coal bank mule
on the down grade from the Belmont mill:
My wife thought had been murdered, and
put an advertisement in the REGISTsR offer
ing a reward for me. That was some fifty
years ago and I'll bet any man five dollars
to quarter that cranes living yet.
And SO the old man tells his yarns believ-
ing in them implicitly. Isn't good deal
of our local history evolved from such i'm,
aginations? Some western Border
stories and De Hass' revelations are almost
as startling as the verbal recitals OF this one
of Wheeling's queer karacters" which il
sample of some more to be brought out by
the writer.
But before closing with the peCuliarities
Of this victim of an inverted mind let me
tell of one of his latter day eccentricitieS
1t was but few months since he told some
Eighth ward sportsmen that he had been
out Caldwelrs run and had seen III ''Bru-
ner's buckwheat field any quantity OF
pheasants. The Nimrods could hardly
wait until morning and before dawn they
started out on their long tramp. Arriving
at Burners they hunted in vain for his
buckwhcat field. Failing TO find it they
went to Burners house and asked him
where the field of grain was.
II never planted no buckvheat,' said
Bruner.
Angry, footsore and with vengeful feel
ings in their threats they sought out their
informant and accused him in no unstinted
terms of deceiving them.
There was no loOphole to creep out OF
and the imaginative crank was forced to ad-
nit that he thought Bruner had q buck,
wheat field, because he saw him last spring
buying two sacks of that species OF Hour
at the LaBelle store.