Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-10-07
RAFFERTY AT BEDFORD.
An Irish Tourists Experience in a Quaint
 Kentucky Village.

Kentucky Village.
 People in the East will hardly believe it when they are told that Kentucky has county in which only one man was ever killed, but 1t is fact notwithstanding, says Bedford (Ky.) letter to the New York Sun. A number of years ago two intoxi- cated men fought in the town and one was shot to death. That was the only serious crime ever committed in Trimble County.
 Trimble is a real Arcad1a, Bedford, the county-seat, being situated almost midway between two large cities, forty miles from Louisville and sixty miles from Cincinnati, fifteen miles from the nearest railroad. Yet the strife of the outer world has never reached here. Crime of any kind is prac- tlcally unknown. The people are all small farmers and frultgrowers, descendants of Virginians and Marylanders who settled here a hundred years ago, and are scrupu- lously honest. The last lawyer who settled in Bedford came near starving to death, and went to Kansas half-dozen years ago. There is courthouse in this town, but it Is needed only for the preservation of the county records, title deeds and such things. At the last term of the criminal court there was only one case to be tried. and that was on charge of petty larceny. But it was proven that the man was not guilty.
 Every resident Of this county is of pure AIuSuoA UT DCOGCu ucSCcuG. 1ucrO IS uOb a foreign-born person in Trimble. Although so close to both Louisville and Cincinnati, German or Irishman would be curiosity in Bedford. Last spring an Irishman, Mike Raherty, from Louisville, came to Bedford. How he ever got here or why he came no one knows, but soon after his arrival word was circulated that a foreigner had come to town. Rafferty went into the grocery to buy fifteen cents' worth of cheese for din-, ner. The proprietor stared curiously att him, but gave him the cheese, and he sat down in chair to eat it. In a few minutes. crowd of small boys entered, and ranging themselves in a straight line in front of the 1rishman, gazed at him with the most evie dent curiosity. Rafferty thought there must be something the matter with his personal appearance, and asked the proprietor if there was any thing wrong. The latter re- piled in the negative. Mike then wanted t6 know why all the boys were looking at him<
 "Why. don't you underestimate" said the merchant. "As soon as you bought that cheese sent out word that there was an Irishman here. An Irishman don't come to Bedford every day. In fact, it's been ten, years since one was here until you came; You are the first 1rishman those boys ever saw, and of course you are a show to them" !
 Rafferty whistled and then grew indig- nant. de salu ne was neltner heathen Chinee, nor did he belong to museum. He left the store, followed by an increasing crowd of small boys and some rather large ones. At the street corner he met little girl carrying a bucket of water. The weather was warm and he asked her for drink. She looked up, for the first time in her life saw strangers face, shrieked, dropped the bucket of water, and fled in dismay. That was enough for the Irishman. He set out for the nearest railroad station, fifteen miles away, and never stopped tramping until he got there. For over mile crowd followed him at respectable distance. Since then Bedford has not been troubled with strangers.