Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-01-10
MURDERED FOR A LARK.
Virginian YaSabOnd Enjoys the sport OIL

A Virginian Tagabond Enjoys the Sport Of
Staying a Negro-A Lively Town.
GRAHAM, Va, December, 20.-A month
ago. at nightfsll, people in the little hamlet
OF Falls Mills held their breath for a mo
ment after they heard the sharp report Of
a pistol. for Wade Taber and his cousiu
See, full Of bad wbiskey and original sin.
had borrowed a revolver for the purpose 81
killing a "nappyhead' for fun. Three
minutes later an aged darby hurst into the
public house, the picture Of terror wideyed
and GREATNESS, TO reporttbat Hiram Fuller
had done been killed at de fod.' Hiram
had been a natty, dudish little fellow, who
wore q white collar and sPorted a cane
among grimy miners and s%loVenly farmer
BOYS of the section, and, while greatly ven
Grated among those OF his own color on &C.
count Of his d~istinguishe appearance, he
was 10 f~avorite with that class OF white
men who are called trash by the negroes,
and includes all but the old slave owners,
whom they denominate as quality. But
all this time Hiram had been lying stark
and still with bullet in in his brain, put
there By q chance shot from Wade Iabers
borrowed pistol, at q distance OF thirty
Yards through the falling darkness. One
hand grasped his slender cane and the
other remained in his trousers pocket. He
had died without q witch OF a muscle or
the culver OF 8 nerve.
Almost before the news Of the murder
had reached the village, the Tabers had re-
turned 10 the grocery for more whiskey,
still apparently impressed with an idea
that they had had a very successful lark
Later. as rumors Of arrest and threats OF
lynchipg began to be heard, they went 10
their homes, some few hundred yards dis
tant, and to bed, where they were arrested
an hour later.
A searching inquest failed to develop the
slightest suggestion Of q motive other than
the fun of shooting o map" At q gu6se.
ouent investigation before q Justice the
killing vss proved by the evidence and ad-
missions of the accused parties, and much
corro5orative testimony. Efforts to or.
ganize lynching parties have been made
and would have probably proved successful
but for "A heavy guard kept at the county
iail. Thetrial of ths case has Just been
postponed till the mex term otthe County
Court. Mr. Henry Graham and Mr.. Coul-
linz will conduc. the defence on the theory
that the Tsbers had no intention OF killing
the negro, but, in firing their pistol to
brighten him and his companions, the shoi
accidentally took etiec:.
Falls. Hills ia O suburb of the mining
town Of Pocahoutas, where the death rate
for the last three years has been heavier
than in Leadyl.ie in its early history. A
large urecentage OF the white miners o!
the place are from Pennsylvania, and there
is ample evidence TO show that the spirit
Of the Molly Maguires has not been entirely
broken. superintendent and mine bosses
have been warned, fired at, and driven
away repeatedly. Vengeance has found
methods as mysterious, and agents as
deadly as ever were set to work IN the
Middle Ages. Died from wounds inflicted
BY some party unknown has been the YER
dict o. the Inquest, when an inquest was
necessary. The graveyard which
was started blythe great firedamp explosion
two years ago has had many q silent settler
since. Last years virulent form Of typhoid
induced by bad water and insufficient
drainage. carried of o score of persons,
among them some OF the most pushing
business men Of the place.
Notwithstanding all this, it is one OF the
busiest and most prosperous mining places
in the country. About one halt OF The coal
Is cooked on the ground for steel furnaces
in Virginia, while immense quantities OF
Shipping coal is sent 10 Newport News for
the coastwise and sea tradc The parties
Southwest Virginia Improve.
Company are PhilsdelphianS, and
they struck q bonanza when they bought
the lands they are operating wirha thirteen
foo. vein of the finest bi;uminous coal at
an average OF 81 an Ycre. The attention
capitalists was drawn to the section By
an article published in the Cliuch Valley
News, o local paper, and copied IN North
ern journals. The coal output, averaging
more than a thousand tons, has been to
some extent limited by the wan OF tran
sportatiou over the Norfolk and Western
Railway. i notable enterprise IS the
promised early completion Of the Cripple
Creek!Railroad, which willfIrnl5h coal aud
transportation to thirteen prosperous iron
furnaces along its line ID the upper valley
Now River.