The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-12-02
A DESPERATE TRIO.
How q Young Clerk Became the
Hero Of a Midnight
Tragedy

In the fall of 1865 I was employed as a
clerk in q general store at a cross roads
In southern Indiana. The store. a church
and a blacksmith shop, with two resi-
dences, made up tho buildings, and the
families of the merchant and the black
smith were the only residents. The
country about was thickly settled. how
ever, and trade was always good. Be
fore the merchant engaged me he an
nounced hat ] would have to sleep in
the store o nights, and that unless | had
pluck enough to defend the place against
marauders he did not want me at any
price.
He showed me a shotgun, a revolver
and a spring gun, which were used, or
on hand to be used, to defend the place,
and the windows were protected with
stout blinds and the doors by double
locks. The close of the war had drifted
a bad population into Indiana. The
highways were full of tramps, and there
were hundreds of men who had deter
mined to make q living by some other
means than labor. Several attempts
had been made to rob the store, and it
had come to that pass that no clerk
wanted to sleep there alone.
The merchant seemed satisfied with
answers | gave him, and on a certain
Monday morning / went to work. The
same night a store about four miles
away was broken into and robbed and
the clerk seriously wounded. Two
nights later three horses were stolen in
our neighborhood. AT the end of a
week a farmer who was on his way
home from our store was robbed on the
highway.
If ! had not been a light sleeper from
habit these occurrences would have
tended to prevent too lengthy dreams as
I lay in my little bedroom at the front
Of the second story. The revolver was
always placed under my pillow, and the
shotgun stood within reach. The spring
gun was set about midway of the lower
floor. 1t was a double barreled shotgun,
each barrel containing a big charge Of
buckshot, and the man who kicked the
string and discharged the weapon would
never know what hurt him.
1t did not seem possible that any one
could break into the store without arous-
ing me. There was no door TO my room,
and after the people in the neighborhood
had gone to bed l could hear the slight
est noise in the store. l had looked the
place over for a weak spot and had
failed to find it, but my own confidence
came heal proving my destruction. l
should have told you in describing the
store that just over the spot where we
set the spring gun was an opening
through which we hoisted and lowered
such goods as were stored for a time ON
the second floor. When not in use this
opening was covered by q trap door.
Toward evening on the tenth day Of
my clerbship l hoisted upa lot of pals
and tubs, and had just finished when
trade became so brisk that / was called
to wait upon customers. Later on | saw
that / had left the trap door open, and l
said to myself that / would let it go I'M
til I went to bed. The store had the
only burglar proof safe for miles
around, and it was customary for the
farmer who had a hundred dollars OF 80
to leave it with us. He received IN n
yelope in which to enclose it, and he
could take out or put in as he liked. On
this evening four or five farmers came
in to deposit, and as / afterward figured
up we had about 81 800 in the safe.
There were two strange faces in the
crowd that evening. One belonged to a
roughly dressed, evil eyed man, who an
nounced himself as a drover, and the
other as a professional tramp l gave
the latter a piece Of tobacco and some
crackers and cheese, and he soon went
away, and we were so busy up to 8
o'clock that l did not give the drover
much attention. When we came to shut
ND the store he had gone from my mind
altogether. We counted up the cash,
made some charges in the day book. and
it was about 10 o'clock when the mer-
chant left. | was tired, and ! took a
candle and made the circuit of the store,
set the spring gun and went to bed. /
had to pass within six feet of the trap
door as I went TO my room, but l did not
see it. 1t was q rather chilly night in
October, and we had no fires yet, and a.
I got under the blankets the warmth
was SO grateful that / o fell asleep.
1t was the first night l had gone to bed
without thinking of robbers and o
dering how I should act in case they
came in. I did not know when l fell
asleep. I suddenly found myself half
upright IN bed, and there was an echo in
the store, as if the fall of something had
aroused me. It was o'clock, and 1 had
been asleep almost three hours Leaning
on my elbow I strained my ears to catch
the slightest sound, and after a minute
I heard q movement down stairs. While
~~-'a -~+ srv What it was : SORT of in
a. 49,. - @oSn rveo-~