Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1890-03-26

not be for some time.
Meanwhile the letter went on to say,
the settlers could be assured that in no
case should they be the losers. as, if it
should eventually be determined that
the land which Trey occupied was
road. the company pledged itself to
tran fer it to the occupants on pay
ment of the Government price. and at
tention was called to the accompanying
circular, copies OF which. the letter
said, " ere being issued and distributed
all over the State for the purpose OF
Undue ng people to take up land at he
Slough. This circular also contained
pledge that if found to be within the
grant of ongress to the TO d. the COM
pa v wouli transfer the land to who
ever had improved it. Immediately on
payment of the Government pr.ce.
Tbs letter. taken in connection with
the circu as, which were scattered
freely among the settlers. if it did not
remove all feeling of fear from the
m nds of Erastus and few others, d
serve to allay the general alarm, which
was before on the i crease, and improve
ments went on as usual.
! TIE circulars Of ie company sent to
other portions of the State had the de-
sired effect, and very soon other fami-
lies began to come in in considerable
numbers. all taking up claim and re-
lying upon the printed pl -dges of the
company that in no case should the land
cost more than the price asked by Gov
eminent for w Id lands.
SO time sped on.
And now those who came first to the
Slough began to reap abundantly of the
fruit of their labor and perseverance,
The work of tlrning a veri; able desert
into garden had been accomplished.
1t had been done, too, without capital,
and by m n who were forced to support
themselves and their families while the
transformation was being made.
Orchards and vineyards were loaded
with fruit. Olives and apples, peaches,
plums, apricots, pears, pine-apples, lem
Ons, pomegranates, nectarines-all the
semi-tropical fruit, and some which
grow nowhere else outside of the tropics
i themselves, were to be found in full
bearing upon the irrigated lands of the
settlers at Mussel Slough.
Green fields grew broader and green
er. Little fiocks and herds of cattle
and sheep were to be seen feeding on
the rich vegetation which came with
the water that overspread the land
from the system of irr eating bitches;
and as the result of all this. new and
pretty cottages were taking the place OF
the wretched huts in which nearly all
had been forced to live during the first
years of their residence; and it was in
che midst of this prosperity, when want
persevering toll, and they were rejo c.
ing over troubles past. and the thought
that for the rest of their days they
could take life easy, that the stroke
came viii, h turned all tiieir Joy into
mourning, and changed the current of
their blood from the peaceful flow Of
quiet happy hearts to a seething flood
in hearts made hot with fear and
hatred.
This was no rumor from an unknown
source that lea .hed their ears, awaking
doubt in some and + dcule in others.
1t was not the faint murmuring of a
distant sto IN that might never reach
them, but the sudden rush of the whirl-
wind; the flash of the lightning. the
falling of the thunderbolt from sunny
sky. It came as q notice f. ON the rail-
road company to each settler, inform
ing him that he was trespasser on the
lands of the company, and must imme-
to pay the value of the lands occupied
by him, which had been carefully APP
pra sed, so the notice read, by COM
petant judges, whose estimate of the
value of each quarter-section accom-
panied the notice.
This appraisement ranged from ten
to thirty-iive dollars per acre; that of
Erastus Hemmingway being thirty dol
lars per acre, or Il to al of four thousand
eight hundred dol ars, which he was
asked to pay to the railroad company
for the land he had redeemed from the
desert; OF failing therein was ordered
to at once vacate the premises.
The excitement which.the receipt of
these notices caused can be imagined.
Threats of vengeance upon the officers
of the company were both loud and fire.
quent, and had they been present, there
Is no question as to what Their fate
would have been. Death in some form
would unqu 'stonably have been melted
out to them.
But they We're careful not to be pres
ept.
} They had deliberately laid, and were
now executing, a plan to rob these peo-
pie of their homes, and they were too
cunning to come within reach of their
victims while the first hot flush of right
0ous anger was upon them.
With the power which their immense
wealth, the gift of Congress. gave them.
they did not fear the courts or the State
authorities,
They already controlled these, and
were prepared to bride or threaten, as
they deemed most likely to accomplish
| their ends. any official who stood in the
way of their plans for wholesale rob-
berry
The leaders in the plot stood nigh in
social and political circles.
The settlers had small means of max
I ing the outrage upon their rights
! known, and their cause was, indeed
| desperate. and it is small wonder. when
, in every dive Ing at the Slough were
) women whose eyes were red with weep
ing, that there should be men whose
lips uttered curses, and whose muscles