Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-12-10

escaped CeathL
Erastus Hemmingway and the other
murdered and dying victims of the con.
spiracy were tenderly lifted from the
ground and carried to their homes.
Lucy, with her mother and two chill
dren-a second child, a girl, having
been born to them-reached home In
advance of those who brought her
wounded husband. They had heard
the most terrible rumors, and were tor
tured by the most horrible fears, but
were in ignorance of what had actually
occurred until men came bearing the
bleeding body with its unconscious face
and laid 1t at their feet To those who
can not image the agony of these low
! ing hearts 10 description which the
writer could give would convey any
meaning whatever. Erastus lived until
morning. He was unconscious during
the whole time. and died without a
word or look of recognition of those
about him, while wife and mother and
children poured forth their anguish in
tears and sobs as they watched the
pulsing of the heart grow fainter and
fainter and felt the hands which they
clasped become colder and colder, as the
death-dan1p gathered upon tie brow Of
him they loved.
When he was buried these two lone
and widowed women, the one in the
prime of life, the other bowed aid
broken and gray with years and sorrow,
but more with sorrow than with years,
returned to their desolate home to clasp
two fatherless children TO their breasts,
and weep and moan, living in daily
fear of other attempts at eviction and
otha. fro oadiaS until Sucb time as death
shall come to them, or until the whole
people shall waken from their slumbers,
throw off the fatal spell which binds
them, and demand that justice be done,
and reparation made so far as may be.
Walking down one of the principal
streets of Chicago one day recently
met Ensign, the husband OF Jennie Par
sons. He was not as well dressed as
when last saw him, and his greeting
had less of self confidence and manly
independence than formerly. In truth,
| think he intended to pass without
speaking, but l stopped him and held
out my hand
How do YOU do" / said; land how
is Jennie and the babies?'
They are well, or as well as could
be expected under the circumstances,
was the reply.
/ feared that all was not exactly
right with them. but could not well ap-
pear 10 be inquisitive, | have high
respect for Ensign and his wife, and had
no intention of permitting them to drop
from my list of friends. and I said:
Il am coming out to spend an even
ing with you before long if you viii al
low me- l suppose you are still living
in the same cottage on c. street?'
No." he replied, ''they foreclosed
and took that from US more than a year
ago; after we had more than half paid
for it, too. You see, / was thrown out
of my place by the failure of the COM
pany l was at work for, and could not
keep UP the payments on the house and
lot, and so lost all we had saved since
coming here. together with whar little
we had when we came"
land where are you living now?"
asked.
He hesitated little and then said:
latter we lost our place got another
job at one of the mills, but was sick
with the fever for time, and when /
got up again | could get no steady en-
ploymeni, and we were forced to rent
some rather poor rooms on - street,
fronting on the railroad track. Well
the railroad company claimed the
ground that this building and Others
stood on and wanted possession. so they
ordered US put out without ceremony.
/ came home from a long tramp after
work one day and found Jennie and the
children on tie sidewalk with what few
household goods we had lett, crying
their eyes out with fear and anxiety"
And then what?" / asked, seeing
that he heSitated again.
"Well, i was out of money, and rent
had to be paid in advance, and as we
had nothing TO pay with, and could not
borrow, we moved into an old building
with another family down by the river,
until / can find work and rent a better
place. We don't call it living; it isn't
living, its only just a camping; but what
can fellow do? assure you there are
hundreds of other families in the city
who are equally bad off,
The story .'Driven from Sea to Sea"
is fnished-no, not finished. John
Parsons and Erastus Hemingway are
dead. One sleeps with his crippled
child upon the mountain side; one lies
buried in the valley, side by side with
his neighbors, who fell like him, the
victims OF the rapacious greed of cor
porate conspirators on that fatal morn
ing of May, 1880; but Martha Parsons
and Lucy Hemingway still live. and
living still contend with corporation
for the shelter above their heads and
the heads of orphaned children. With
them battle others whose homes and
farms are in jeopardy from the same
source
Occasionally some settler, driven
from his home, made desperate by
suffering. by wrongs oft
repeated, takes vengeance upon the
author of his woes; and
some man, some tool of the corpora
ton sent to hold possession of the land
from which the settler has been evicted,
is found dead upon the spot where the
wrong was done. Even as YOU read
these lines and wonder if such tn :ngs
are possible. honest settlers. not alone
in California, but in any of dozen diff
ferent States, it may be. are being driven
from their homes, their affairs over
thrown, their household gods DESTROYED,
and their children made orphans.
No, the story is not vet finished; but
SO far as told it is true story. All of
the main incidents have taken place
as related. They are part
Of the history of our country: have oc-
CURED TO our own citizens, beneath the
shadow of our own flag.
Had it been other than a true story
t might have ended with brighter
picture; with the brightest and best of