Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1885-04-11
A REAL LIFE NOVEL.
az HAS NEITHER MCRDERED NOR A
MURDERER.
A Mystery of the PENNSYLVANIA Lumber
Woods Unexpectedly Solved.

Capt. c. Cutter, of Clarion Mills, Pa,
purchased ticket for Omaha, and as he
did so said
THAT ticket" said he, sis for a man
who for twenty years has believed him
self to be a murderer fleeing from JUS I
tice. and whose friends, on the other
hand, have for twenty years thought he
was the victim of the man whom he him.
self believed he had murdered. Hia
name is Alexander Baer, and it was only
few weeks ago that he found out that
he was not murderer.
t'Baer worked for me in 1863. He |
was paying attention to a girl named
Hathaway, and I think they were en-
gagged to be married. She was a ser.
want at the lumbermen's boarding house.
In the fall Of that year a good-looking
young Scotchman by the name of Gray
Cameron came to my mills to work.
He belonged somewhere in Steuben
county, New York. He soon cut Aleck
Baer out with the Hathaway girl, and
bitter enemies. They worked in the
same logging camp.
zone day in the winter of 1861 Cam
eron came to the settlement with a
bloody face. He said that he and Baer
had got into a quarrel over the Hatha-
way girl and had come to blows. Baer
had knocked him senseless with club,
and when he came to he was unable to
fnd his rival. Baer@had not appeared
in the settlement, and was not seen again
about any Of the camps. AS Baer had
nearly 5000 due him from our company
and had left 800 in his trunk at the
boarding house, his disappearance had
an air of mystery about it that puzzled
US. The suspicion was pretty general
that in the fight between him and Cam
eron, the Scotchman had killed his rival
and, fearful of the consequences, had
secreted lis body. Cameron was aware
of these suspicious, and offered to pay
for the fullest investigation of the affair
and all the expenses of search for the
whereabouts of the missing lumberman.
He employed an officer to follow every
possible clue he could find that might
lead to the clearing up of the mystery,
! but nothing could be learned.
<s'When the ice broke up in the spring,
some boys who were fishing for suckers
| in the north branch of the river were at
tracted by peculiar looking object that
came along with some ice, and they
drew it into the shore with a pike POLE
| On dragging it out they saw that it was
the alf-clothed body of a man. They
! hurried to the lumber camp and told the
men at work there what they had found.
The flesh was entirely missing from the
face and head of the dead man, and rec
ognition of the features was impossible.
There were remnants of plaid coat, or
jacket, on the body. Alexander Baer
was the only one in the region who had
worn such coat. The plaid was made
by broad stripes of green and black.
An inquest was held, at which the re-
mains were declared to be those of the
missing lumberman. The finding of
the dead body aroused anew the suspi-
GINS that he had been killed by Cam
eron. The verdict of the Coroner's jury
was that the man had come to his death
in a manner unkn own.
s'Baer's friends demanded the arrest
Of Cameron. A warrant was issued, and
Cameron ran away. Every one then be-
lieved he was guilty Of Baer's murder.
He was pursued and captured. but while
he was being taken to the county seat he
escaped from the officer and was never
recaptured. st was believed that he en-
listed in the army, and soldier in the
Sixty-seventh Pennsylvania Regiment
sent home the news in 1865 that he had
seen the dead body of Cameron among
those who had died in Libby prison. Al
all events, nothing else was ever heard
of the alleged murderer, and the Incl
dents connected with the tragedy were
gradually forgotten. =
"a few days ago q stranger appeared
at the Clarion Mills and asked for me
To my great surprise he told me he wa
. The missing Alexander Baer, and he suo
ceeded in establishing his identity he
vond a doubt. He told singular story
He said that Cameron's version of thei
fight was true. When he knocked Cam
eron senseless with the club, he became
| frightened and tried to revive him. IFai!
ing II this, he believed he had killed hi
rival, and, without thought Of anv
thing else, fed from the place to escap
the consequences OF his crime He me
o. the edge Of the camp man name.
Perry, who was in the habit q making
occasional visits TO the lumber region
for the purpose Of buying up waste al,
rags Of all kinds. The man was yer
drunk. Knowing that If he was adver
tlsed his conspicuous plaid coat woul