Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1885-06-29

DgADwoop Jan. II. 1885.
of pneumonia VIII bury him here and await
your orders.
TON FELTON,.
This dispatch was transmitted by the opera
tor. FELTON, standing by and watching every
motion until the young man closed his key
and placed tho paper on spike at his lett
hand. Then the old miner buttoned his coat |
about him, and stepped out into the street |
again. The night was bitterly cold, and a. |
the operator followed the man to the door and |
looked out for moment, he noticed that he |
started away i'm the direction of the little |
saloon and hotel where Byron had been stop |
ping.
The Mystery Of Tom Feltons Death.
The next morning Tom Feiton's dead body
was found not more than three hundred
feet from the telegraph Office his long hair
| and beard matted with snow and ice, aud his
| limbs frozen stiff. At first 1t was thought
| that he might have succumbed to the cold,
but ON examination it was found that there
were two bullet holes In his back. Who
| killed Tom FELTON,, or what it was done for,
has never been known, and probably never
| will be. lie had had a varied experience on
the border, had been in nearly every mining
camp from the Black Hills to the coast and
| was what was considered a hard man yet he
bad many good qualities, and his friends
| made loud threats of vengeance against his
| WHICH WOulu nave Detn cdTTltu
out, no doubt, ii the guilty man could ever
| have been located.
The next day furious blizzard swept over
| all this section, carrying down the telegraph
wires, suspending all kinds of bnsiness, and
even cutting Off the stage communication
with the railroads north and south of here.
When the doctor called at the saloon In the
course Of the forenoon and went up stairs to
the little room where Byron lay, he was sur
prised to notice decided Improvement i'm
| the condition of his patient He made a new
prescription, gave some direction as to treat
ment, and going down stairs to inquire what
had become Of FELTON,, who had agreed to
stay with the sick man until he came again,
heard for the first time of the murder that
had been committed. One OF the other
hangers on about the place was pressed into
Byron soon showed such cheering signs Of
mending that all began to hope that he would
recover. This he did. In less than two
weeks, FELTON, in the meantime having been
buried and all but forgotten by his rough
associates of former days. Byron was able
. to get about little, and in month more he
, was in better health than he was before he
, was taken sick.
The wires were down during the great
storm for several days. Two or three times
: they were repaired, but breaks occurred at
other places, and 1t was not until the blizzard
! had entirely subsidized that things were got
, | into working order again. Then among the
delayed messages that came one day was
this:
, Boston, Jan. IA.
. | Tom FELTON,. Deadwood:
VIII see that all bills are paid. Mark the
: grave. VIII be there some time In spring
ii. OSBORNE.
As Tom FELTON, was dead the operator,
whose frequent service in communicating
: | news of deaths and burials of Eastern gold
! hunters had made him hardened, and who
0 had forgotten about the message which he
1 had sent to some one I'm Boston named Byron,
made up his mind that there was no use in
| trying to deliver this message, and he
promptly enclosed il to the sender by mail
explaining that the person 10 whom it was
1 addressed was dead and buried. Letters com.
ing TO FELTON, soon after were forwarded tC
the dead letter Office without particular no
tice being taken OF them, and in the course
, of time even the telegraph and postal au.
! thorities had no occasion TO remember the
Q dead miner and adventurer. Young Byron
$ got work as soon as he was strong enough,
, and of late he has been making desperate
effort to pay OIL the huge doctors bill which
ran up during his illness.
The Dead Come to Life,
Tuesday, June 10, two weeks ago, when the
stage came to Deadwood from Sidney, among
the passengers alighting were a benevolent
a looking old gentleman and slender young
| lady of such grace and beauty that the big
8 crowd which usually gathers when the stage
comes i'm followed her with their eyes until
she and her escort disappeared within the
hotel. Even then some of tho men made ex-
cuses to get into the house. The gentleman
; registered as ii. Osborne and daughter, Bos-
ton, Mass, and, after making several inquir-
, | les, lie and his fair companion were shown 10
] adjoining rooms. The next day Mr.. Osborne
) and his daughter set out on their errand.
lnquiring first as to the personality and fate
OF Tom FELTON,, they soon learned all the par
ticulars Of his unhappy death that were
! subject that was evidently nearest their
hearts. The hotel-keeper could give them no
! information about Henry L. Byron. He had
been in the camp, and might have died there,
but he had not heard Of it. Directing the
stranger to the city marshal, the hotel
T keeper turned to other people demanding at
tention, and Mr.. Osborne and daughter sal
lied forth in search OF the marshal When
they found that dignitary and the usual
questions had been put to him he hitched up
his trousers and replied:
Yes, know all about that young man.
He was sick down here for four or five
weeks, and everybody thought he was a
goner, but he pulled through, and he amt
any deader'n am"
"Oh, but the one we are searching for is
dead, said the girl, with an appealing look.
"We received telegram announcing his
death, and IL must be-"
swell, that's all right, num-" continued
the marshal, eyeing her heavy mourning cos
tune curiously, and just beginning to won
der If he was not on the point of discovering
something rather more interesting than
usually fell to his lot "that's all right, but
the man I'm talking about didn't die at all,
and I'll take you to him If you say the word.
Hes up here at one of the stamp mills, and
I'll introduce you."
The three got into the marshal's wagon
and drove rapidly TO the spot indicated, tho
cid gentleman looking pale and excited and
the girl flushed and anxious. Getting out of
the vehicle, Mr.. Osborne saw the man for
whom he was looking, and in helping his
daughter oet he purposely kept her head
| &verted. Then, holding her close to him he
warned her that she must be prepared for a
shock that Harry was already coming to-
ward them, and that there had been some
great mistake. The girl, with her eyes
| streaming with tears, tore herself from her
father, and, running toward young
Byron, who was approaching in the company
! u the marshal, she threw herself Ia his arms