Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1889-02-14


we came out he drove off. No one could
identify the dead man, and, after an in :
quest, he was buried in a corner of the
village graveyard.
The papers had a good deal to say
about the adventure, and )f course gave
away my invention. Tbs next man who
came would BE- inform d, and would take
care to avoid it. l must, therefore. have
recourse TO something else. / sent off TO
st. Louis for bear trap, and as soon as
IL arrived we planted II in front of the
stable door. IL was monster trap, in
tended to hold anything which got its foot
between the jaws, and we had 20 use
levers TO bear down the springs Not one
of our neighbors nor one of the day work
ers on the farm knew of the arrival of
| this trap; but all knew that the hickory
spring had heen done away with in the
stable. We pretended to believe that the
one lesson would keep the fellows away
for months to come. One day, about
three weeks after the burial of the horse
thief, a man who had come along aud
hired TO US TO dig ditch 10 drain a pond
made an excuse to visit the horse barn.
| was asleep at the time; but the hired
man reported that his actions were sus
picious, He probably wanted to see if
Any further pitfalls had been prepared,
and he was doubtless gratiied when he
found the way TO the gray holses clear
of danger.
One of the jaws of the trap when set
was toward the house. l fastened the
bell string TO this, and whenever the jaws
sprang the bell would
SOUND AN ALARM
as before. The ditch-digger slept in a
room on the outer side of the house, and
we did not set the trap until he was 10
bed. On the third day after his inspec-
tion of the stables, he announced that he
must go to the village in the evening TO
make some purchases. VS. set the trap
at 8 O'Clock and at 1890 tue bell rang.
We were waiting for it, and we we're out
in two or three minutes. The bear-trap
had its victim and its victim was our
ditch digger. OF all the bowling, yelling,
cursing and praying you ever heard mix
ed together this fellows utterances took
the cake. He was caught by the right
leg, and such was the pain that he was al
most crazy. He had unlocked one of the
big padlocks on the door and had a bunch
of about fifty keys with him. The sud
den surprise and the pain broke him in
two and even before we got him out of
the trap he confessed that he came to
work for us with the sole idea of stealing
the gray horses. He was sent TO jail, and
when his trial came on he was sent to
prison for three years. That was not his
full punishment, however. His leg was
so injured in the trap that it had TO be
amputated to save his life.
The papers gave my bear trap away,
as a matter of course, and | must now
look for some other defence. The thieves
would hereafter keep clear OF the stable
door. October had now come, and the
long nights were the glory of the horse
thief There was an underground stable
to the horse barn, and the doors of this
were never locked as We were not afraid
of our Cows being taken. The only doors
to the barn proper were a pair of big
doors and the stable door. The big doors
were so well fastened on the inside that
no one could open them. All attem pts
| had been made BY the small door.
now figured that the next caller would
enter the stable below and ascend to the
horses above through one of the hay
| boxes running down for the COWS. There
10 contain the largest aperture above.
! Once up stairs the thief cOuld lead the
| horses from the sable TO the mann floor
and then out of the big doors. One
ascending by the hay box would pass
under a beam out on the main floor. To
this beam fastened two poles eight feet
! long in an upright position and SIX feet
apart. then sawed off two-inch plank
to the right length, bored a hole in the
other end. and with the help of the hired
man and rope and pulley, hoisted 1t up
and slipped it over the poles. W. ar
ranged 1t TO have a fall of seven feet,
and increased its weight by fastening a
block of stone at either end. When
drawn up by the rope and pulley we
ran the rope through a ring in the to)r,
attached wire, and ran this wire to a
| catch. A pressure of a pound ol the
wire released the catch and let the plank
down with a smash.
We were uudisturbed for about four
weeks after the sentence of the bear trap
victim. Then stranger who said he
was drover from Cincinnati, called one
day TO look at some of our stock. We
we're stall feeding three or four steers,
and the drover was shown to the under
ground stable. was watching all his
movements, and / saw that he gave the
empty stall ana the big hay box particu-
lar attention. He had heard OF our
adventures, aud when | gave him to
understand that we feared no danger
except by the small door he had twinkle
in his eyes. He praised the arrangement
of the stables, and thereby made an excuse
for stepping on the edge of the maIger
and looking up the hsy 0ox. He could
see thai one climbing up there would
come out on the main floor, but he could
not see what bad in store for any one
who tried il. On that plight everything
was in readiness: but il was five nights
before the victim appeared. had q
string running from the plank to the
bell in my chamber, ou, this alarm
was not needed. II was, / believe,
the 9Th Of October. The weather had
been threatening all day, and at dark
drizz'e set H. Abou, 8 o'clock
in the evening something disturbed the
hens, and the hired MAI went out to in
vsstigate the trouble. He heard some
body calling from the barn and We vent
ont 70 discover that We had q prisoner
under the plank. u Jas not the drover