The Anaconda standard., 1890-02-25

For MS wisr should forget,
And its perfume i!nEsrs hn;n, AMI SSS': sweet,
G"rgc Horton ia Terds SGting-.
A STORY OF KENTUCKY LIFE.
Told Nv One who Lived ,n the Dark and
Bloody Ground.
II was the day following the killing of
Alvis Turner, the hoy leader of what was
known as "thc Turner faction" and
.sJeu' Birch of the opposing Sow,lers
party practically the close of a fcud that
had made many widows in Bell county.
Kentucky. Everybody was talking of the
bloody affair. which followed close on the
kidnapping of ''(;crcral'' Sowtlers. and in
which uurtlcro,is work WAS done with
shotguns and rifles throwing explosive
balls. Riding out of pincvillc with "Bill'
Lavinc. a youthful Sowslcrs partisan. who
enjoyed the reputation of having killed IL
MAN or tw" ON his own account ana who
was strongly suspected of having engaged
i'm the busi,whs,cking and assassination of
"Jack" Turner, J., says writer
i'm thc New York Tribune, was
rcgalcd with history of the
tiuhtiup and with an oddly tangled
mountain version of the mosaic law which
WAS the excuse for il. Lavinc's tongue
was wagging At n lively rate as the result
Of numerous drinks from a bottle of whisky
peculiar to- that locality. and he explained
at lergth how the man that slew another
must. in mountain Justice, bc slaiir by the
relatives and friends of the victim. each
a.
of one family or party had been cNterini-
mated. lie believed i'm this method of atl-
tIsting differences, and argument was fu-
tile. l attempted to reason by hypothesis.
and said: "SuI'pos" as We ride along here
we should meet your brother, and suppose
l,c should lpc drunk and. without procova-
zion. attack me-" Smiling with satisfac-
ticn at having such ~ brother. MIR. Iavinc
s,smplaccntly answered.: ''That'd he just
like Jim. but I wouldn't let him do you
any hurt
"But." persisted, ''suprosc ho should
Suppose i'm sclf-sicfcnsc 4 should he com
PEELED to shoot him..
There was dangerous glitter in In
''Then shore ! would kill you.'' The ar
gument came tn am abrupt close, and
nothing further was said for sew. sew
had been getting i'm its work, however.
and even the supposition that l had i'm
brother was enough to excite his rage.
He broke the silence 10y declaring saw
agely. as he drew his pistol to emphasize
you or anyi".iy else. Hoods ihicker'm
water. Ihems my principirs: lost
was perfectly safe 50 far as i was con
ccrned. and tried To change the subject.
but his skin WAS too full of bad liquor for
he fairly rcvelcl in blooti-c,,r,iling stories
and thlrats until, as the best way out Of
sSs .Ss, in Sa ki IirSa @ 'nS Sd ,iss
friends were hunting him. intending
~ avcngc my death. asked him IL he
serssi. "N". any man .,ha, tries 10 Kill me
I'll kill him." was tho reply. 'and they
amt no law that could tech me-"
was. n" Law that hc knew Of to
punish man who avenged the muir
heard of any such law i'm the no,,mti"us."
He briefly summed UP his views of mah-
slaughter. and those of the people with
whom lac lived and associated, and gave
Them in concise form as follows: IL is
perfectly proper To kill anyone who in
b,rcs you. or who has injured or killed
your relative. and il il equally just and
proper tn kill tho man who attempts "a
avengc any injury you have inflicted upon
provisional. IL you should Ike slow i'm
taking advantage of your right. and the
either man should kill you. he will feel
Justified, and the only thing remaining IL
for your mourning friends and relatives
Ia avcngc YOU properly by taking IL up
your account. An additional charm Of
this simple arrangement is that the ietho,l
of revenge or retaliation Is not restricted.
Some foolish people do their killing on
more mctho~lical and I,ainstaking noun
taincer when engaged i'm u vendetta can
accomplish the death of his enemy with
much more ease and greater safety to
himself Icy sitting behind u tree. up i'm
the ivy of the hillside until his intended
game pAsscs his WAY To the
nearest moon shine still. or ..wet grocery
IL il sometimes convenient for the assas -
sin "a move at night. with ~ few of his
ter him in the dark. hut this method il not
popular. owing to the chance that exists
of a victim being warned of the attack and
prepared for the coming of the attacking
party.
Lavine's views ars correctly given here,
hut his expectation that there would be 1,
blOCsiy vengeance exactcd for the murder
OF "Jcm" Burch has never been realized
The famous Turncr-Sowsler,, feud prac.
tically ended with the killing of Alvi.
Tnrncr by Burch, who shot at almost
the same instant by .'Jeir'' Kink. both cx
piring while they fell. There would hav.
been more killing, however, but for tn.
missionary work of the English syndicate
which IL developing the mineral resources
Of that part of Kentucky. The continued
Sighting and the great amount of blood
shed had given the territory between
Cumberland Gap and Pincvillc. known as
the "Yallcr crick" country, so had
a reputation that workmcn and miners
could not be induced to set le there
The English company tried To civ.
ilize the inhabitants 10y assisting in build
ing churches and schools, but this had ~.
appreciabic effect, and was, besides. very
SLOW. The next best thing was to get rid
Of the objectionable people. and this was
accomplished by buying their property
The company had no use for farms, but II