Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-03-13
REPORT OF THE
nm County Grand jury on Fesee>cu''nE'
ttuiiubnvo Mirrorl


Hiu County Grand Jrry ON feSee>''
tIIillsboro Mirrorl az
10 tho Hon. 10. Abbott, Judge: We,
the grand jury, beg leavs spe vn have
report TO your honor thnt we nasJ
csr.n,IIv and thoroughly investigated
the subject of fence-cuttiig, 30 '"i ~
II nppertains to Hill county
orr attention has been particularly
called 10 the subject by two letters; one
dated February II 1884, and addressed
from Abbott and Massey IN TINS
county. and signed "Fence-CutteIsi
Inc other dated February y, lss', ana
addressed from Itaska and HllisDoio
of this county. The former vas Irst
unfinished in the Galveston News anu
subsequently In the Fort Worth "a
zEI'rF. The latter was signed 'Iastur,v :,
and Stocsmcn Of Hill county, Texas
aud published originally IN the fort
Worth GAZETTE.
From the purport OF these two let
ters IL might be inferred mat lhere 81,
isted In this county AN organization Oh
feuce-rutters; aud also all organization
of pusture and stUcBmen for the puf-
pose of retaliating against farmers.
We have to shy chat We ARE sallshed
from our Investigations that lhere u
no such organization IN TINS county,
cnmposed of farmers on the one mana,
or of pasture or stOckmen ON the DINER
we believe that both letters originated
with individuals solely for the purpose
of mischief and TO alarm the tinild'
Weshould pass such letters by without
notice. were il not for the incJ mat
this publication might leave the I'M
preston both abroad and partially nj
home. that property and perhaps per
son were INSECURE In our county;
while we believe that no such cpudl'
ton of things exist, certainly, as the
result of any organization in the couh-
~, and particularly ~ no fences nave
been cut in the neighborhood ri Alb
bolt aud Massey, Itaska HiilSboro,
whence the letters purporl 10 emenale
We liud that on the eart side OF the
cross tluIbers, no pasture lencc OF any
size, with the exception OF TWO or
three, have been cut and we believe
these instances OF cutting are referabIc
to local, indeed to personal prejudice
though there IL one pasture fence ON
the east side OF some 1000 acres I'M
der wine fence and several of less siHe.
IL IL true that ON the west side of the
between the johnston
county line and Fort Graham, there
have been several pasture aud farm
fences cut.
We, however, can not trnCe II posi-
lively ~ the work Of an organization Of
formed or existing In our
though we have reasons to be-
lieve that individuals in the county
have knowledge Of, and perhaps con
nection with the perpetrators OF the
cutting.
We think that in this county the in
tcresl OF farmers and stOckmen are
and we can only advise the
good citizens of Hill county To he vigi
liant 10 detect, and determined to bring
tO Justice fcnce-cutter5, whether they
be from among farmers or pasturcmon,
1r whoever they may be, for all must
know that the violators of law do not
furnish the witnesses for their own de-
lection.
We regret that such letters M are re- !
ferred to In this report should be given |
to- the people by respectable newspa-
pets. They are Of an inceudiary char
ncter; they excite or alarm many and |
the peaceable and industrious. |
They declare 10 those abroad that the !
county il in IA disturbed condit on.
While we esteem the freedom OF the |
press Of paramount importance, still
we think that veritable and RESPONSE
ole names should be demanded by the |
papers to all such communications.
J. NJ. HOLT, Foreman.
TAN BRooks, VIM GRAY,
u w. RlCH ARDS, w. II. Upton,
j. ID WApnGN, w. Nj. BELL,
q. q. Oar, JAS. MCGUIRE,
A. A. MooRE, J. L.. WHITE,
w. Il. HUNT,
or the Grand Jury.
Galveston News and Fort Worth
GAZETTE please copy.