The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-07-23
A DOUGHTY wooDsMAN.
How He Treated the EmbIems or
whigstsm and Democracy.

At one time, says The PHILADELPHIA
Times, when the railroad was pushfao
its way west along the blue Juniata. 4
gang of troublesome Irish nayvies fol-
lowed in its wake, doing the road work.
Among them was one who was bully
and fighter. On Saturday nights at the
country tayerns, when discussion ran
high and the tap was flowing. this Irish
man would fling down the gauntlet to
the whole crowd and even to the
county. But as he had cleaned out the
camp where he worked among his
rough consorts for long time his
taunts were borne unchallenged. One
day, however, Aleck Power came down
| to New Bloomfield from the woods with
his AK on his shoulder-for the old
woodsmen were very proud of their
axes and generally bore them with them
and in the evening dropped in, as was
! the custom, to the tavern 1t was the
occasion all had been looking for, as
the crowd knew Aleck and saw that he
had just been moistening the whistle
enough to stand fooling frora no one.
The Irish swashbuckler came in as
usual in the evening also, and before
many drinks had been exchanged threw
out the usual challenge. Power heard
it once or twice, then laying his ak in
one corner got up, crossed to where the
Milesian was, told him there was one
man in the neighborhood he couldn't
lick, and, giving him time to prepare
without attacking him treacherously,
hauled off and struck him blow that
knocked him clean out of the room
through a door into the street, where
he was picked up and carried away for
dead. The challenge was never thrown
out again to Aleck Power. He re-
mained during his palmiest days the
unrivaled "best man. in Perry county.
The other occasion of Aleck daring
strength, as well as the queer caprice
that seized him when in liquor, is au-
thentic, l believe. 1t occurred in the
height of the Clay-Polk campaign of
1874. Ali who recall that great politi-
cal canvass can remember how intense
was the excitement in this state, and
nowhere was it more fervid than in Per-
ry county. Clay was the ideal of the
Wings. "Polk-Dallas-S and the
tariff of 40" was the war-cry of the
jackson Democrats. In New Bloom
field each patty had political head
quarters, and in front of these there
rose, like the mast of some great adj
miral," the hickory pole of the Jack
sonians and the tall pine shaft of the
ardent and hopeful wings. To the part
isans on either side these two poles at
some little distance from each other
on the main thoroughfare, represented
all that was sacred symbolically ~ the
campaign. In the vicinity of each the
rallies were usually held, and often out
of these arose campaign brawls and
threats by the best men in one party OF
physical violence 10 those of the other
if the respective poles were harmed.
These things had no doubt came TO
Aleck Powers ears up in the woods.
One Saturday afternoon Aleck came
down to town, his ak on his shoulder,
its bright edge cleaning in the sun.
More than the usual crowd OF loungers
were around that day, as in the evening
whig rally-the party to which Power
belonged-was to be held. Everybody
knew Alcck. AS he walked down the
main street some few not Hrf.at that he
had been imbibing, rs there was an I'M
usual glitter of deviltry in his keen gray
eyes. He sauntered down until he came
opposite the whig pole. BY this time
quite little crowd had gathered. Aleck
surveyed the pole from top to bottom,
as he would look ut some forest oak,
then splitting on his hands and grasp
ing his ak at the handle he raised Il
above him in a rhythmical circle pc
culiar to the skilled woodsman, ana
then lowered it and turned and looked
] at the crowd.
No one spoke, but all looked at the
audacious axman in perfect astonisn
ment. He went through the operation
of raising his AK and glancng at the
crowd three times. then. bringing his as
down with terrific force into the butt
of the pole, in dozen or so herculean
strokes cut through it, and the emplem
of the Perry wings fell with q tremen-
dous crash in the main street Should
ering his ak, Power walked few rous
further down to where the democratle
pole was Here he stopped, and, splt
ting on his hands again, went throaSa
similar pantoinime before the hickory
! shaft of the Polk-Dallas men, but no1
single man in all the large crowd then
gathered ventured to remonstfa'e.
J Eyeing the pole the third and last time
J he brought the ak to the roots 0f !. y
he had done with its rival, and WIN !,
few swinging blows 1t tottered and iell' n.
!, Power then swung his AK across nn
shoulder, walked down the main stree'
past the whole crowd, saying not
word, and sauntered leisurely out q
town. There was no question Of WIG
was cock-of-the-walk in Perry county
: for many days after, and Aleck Power
sincular freak is often recalled by ths