The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1890-10-29
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News comes from Weeping Willow,
Arizona, Of the deaih-ef flaEpfy = EEF-
eies. TIE chsDces' areAfiiSf itheftAs-ier
will MT rcreyugs tts same, thsngisyiiss !.
beartr perftc tctrd one-dfthe kAestlingsni-.
ous inwaifsbusaf lheE fseT Mt dPgDTgf ] /
Edison conli have exceeded him IN orr
yinnliiy. Still, he dies unknown. Re.
pubIiss are uugrAiefnl tisfy are sol for
yetful and psless q man is Pfs;sslefi oris
pushing the sale OF a three-doliAr Shoe
be is apt to be lost sight Of
Mr. 5mFgies is dead, and j seems q
ftiiae 1me iespeak-of his invention
Indeed. he would have died several years
AGO had il not been for bis invention
Nothing exnf more clearly heightened
life. In the first place, we should say
that the late Mr. lsngsics was not a par
ticularly honest man. Notto put any
point on il at all. Harney P. Ruggies was
a horse thief lie followed the vocation
from his eighteenth year till the day OF
his death. but II IS not 70 be concluded \
from this that his taking of was one Of
violence. as he died calmly Of peritonitis,
Ten years ago, when living it Deaf Smith
county. Texas, Mr.. Ruggies was taken
one nieht by the efficient local vigilance !
committee and hung by the neck to a
nesquiie tree. The purifiers Of Deaf
Smith society then rode rapidly away.
Ragpies hung for some few minutes when
the limb broke and he fell to the ground
in an insensible condition. lie recover
ed. however. and made BIS escape, but /
the incident rendered him thoughtful.
lie could not seem to forset it. Even l
after the lacer4tions made by the rope Oh |
his neck bad healed he would frequent
lv speak Of it. The result was that for
six months he did not follow bis profess
sion, bat devoted the time 10 thought /
aal study. Bat little came. Of II, how
ever. until he one day read in a Memphis
paper Of doctor inserting a silver tube
in a child's throat for it TO breathe
through while suffering from diphtheria.
Instantly a great light rushed in on the
mind Of Rusgies. He would have sill
yer tube put in his throat below the roIe
zbae. The next morning. he was in San
Antonio, where he gave a doctor named
Blake 5000 to connect silver tube with
his windpipe When Harvey P. Rug
gies rode out Of San Antonio the next
day all doubt had vanished from his face
and serenity and confidence were in its
place.
Mr.. Ruggies now returned 70 the scene /
Of bis former triumphs, and again took
up his work With a vigor which surpris-
ed both friends and vigilance committee
alik,. lie stole horses right and left and
sold them openly in the nearest market.
After two weeks the committees again
took him in charge They hung him 70
the cross. arm of = telegraph pole, and, as
he mad escaped before, sat down and
waited, bagniling the time with pleasant
stories. When he had hung thirty min.
utes they c 1t him down. He got up from
the ground, shook hands all around
thanked them in a few brief but we'll
chosea words, got on the leaders horse
and rode away. The committee were
dumbfounl led. They we're powerless TO
offer any resistance. They plucked up
courlge however, to mike one more at
tempt week later This time they al
lowed him to hang all night. The only
complain: that Ruggies made when cut
down in the morning was that they had
disturbed him before he had finished his
sleep.
From that time till be was taken i'll
week ago Ruegies history has been one
of continued prosperity. He operated
all over Western Texas, New Mexico and
Arizona. Over one hundred different
committees had him in hand at different
tim.s The usual course was to lynch
him after supper and then retire, the in
tention being to take him down in the
m )rning Ruggiss would help himself
down shortly after midnight, secure q
few good horses and pass TO another
community. a handsome full beard al
ways concealed the silver tube and his
secret was never discovered by the com
mittees. On one occasion the Willing
Workers vigilance committee, of Saints
Rest, \. NJ, kept him suspended two
days, but, though he suffered somewhat
from hunger, that was ALL He accumu
lated fortune during the last ten years
and died worth over half million
Though We may not honor our men OF
genious as we should, the fact remains
that if they are willing to work they NAV
be very successful in financial sense.
Mr.. Ruggies left son, Frederick S, to
carry on the business. This son is al
ready in san Antonio completing the
npraQcorv t,rat.arafso,r