Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1891-08-13
A CAVE IN THE WOODS.
A NEATLY CONSTRUCTED DWELLING
WITHOUT A TENANT.

I - NCfN IL SOANOi nOS CG ONGIliN~
WITHOUT A TENANT.
of a Sneak Thief-Evidenees That SHOW
the Builder to Have Been Skillfu
observation-disclosures of the Hut.
Saxton's swamp has its head in tn,
woods between Islip and Brentwood
Whortleberries are plentiful in the vicin
ity. George L. Benjamin and Alexan
der Combs were roaming caEelessly
about in the vicinity and made discov
cry that interested the town not little
They saw smoke curling up as if out o
the ground and began an investigation
They found a fire and kettle over it IL
which beans, potatoes and chicken were
simmering There was no one visible IL
the vicinity.
The boys went to Bay Shore and spread
the news, and a score or more of meI
| went to the woods to see the surprising
sight. They concluded in advance that
| the swamp was thieves den, and some
of the men carried guns, others revolvers
and few hayforks. They found the
simmering pot and the fire almost ont.
For the fun of the thing the men began
playing robber, and several shots were
fired as part of the pantomime. They had
reason to conclude later that this was a
mistake, for it served as signal to the
| occupant of cave in the woods to make
himself scarce. A man with a pitch
fork kept jabbing it into the earth and
detected hollow spot.
A little digging threw a large sheet
iron tray up from under the leaves and
left exposed hole about two feet square.
1t had wooden sides leveled so that the
tray set in snugly. Over the tray were
leaves, grass and brush, in keeping with
the surroundings. Through a hole in
the tray was run a piece of telegraph
wire, and at each end of the wire was
fastened nicely rounded stick which
served as a handle to lift up the tray on
the outside and pull it down on the in
side. The hole in the earth was four
feet deep and eight feet long under the
ground, forming an alleyway.
CONTENTS OF THE CAVE.
The earth had been carefully cut out
and must have been carted away, as no
evidence of it could be found in the
vicinity. There could not have been less
than several wagon loads of it. At the
end of the alleyway there was a depres-
sion of two feet, running distance of
six feet and being five feet wide. The
e. III
bedroom. 1t had bunk on each side
filed with leaves and grass and both had
been slept in. The walls were lined with
logs, and the ceiling, so to speak, was
covered with muslin.
There were two closets and several
brackets and a fireplace at one end, with
capped pipe running up to the top,
which could be raised for use and lower
ed at will, to prevent detection. Five
tin gutter pipes were so arranged as to
admit light and air and enable the Oc
cupant to observe what was going ON
about him in the woods. On one side of
the passage post was driven down and
into it a staple had been bolted, to which
was attached trace chain. 1t was
mystery what use could have been made
of this, and the belief is that it was used
to keep some person prisoner at some
time.
The cavern had undoubtedly been in
habited up to within few hours, and if
the men who went out tosee a sight had
not made fools of themselves instead of
watching the hole in the ground they
would undoubtedly have discovered the
tenant of the queer abode and perhaps
made an important discovery.
A tub in the farthest west corner of
the cavern contained salt pork, and sliced
chicken meat had been put into the brine
to pickle. A silver spoon was found
marked ''The Austral." 1t was prob
ably stolen from the Austral hotel, at
Brentwood. Among other things were a
muslin shirt, a flannel shirt and pair
of lawn tennis shoes, which are supposed
to be the ones stolen from Mr.. William
M. Van Anden's house.
EVIDENCES OF ROBBERY.
No evidence was found that the cave
dweller committed the robbery in the
house of Mr.. Glib. A copy of the Bay
Shore Journal was pinned up against the
wall with mark drawn around an ad-
vertisement offering $3.50 reward for the
arrest of the butcher who killed John H.
Wallis COW and carried away part of
the meat. Fastened to the paper was a
slip giving an account of the robbery in
Mr.. Van Anden's house. Copies of city
papers were strewn about. The cave, it
could be seen, had been occupied for
considerable time. 1t was constructed
by good mechanic.
1t may be interesting to state that soon
after Mr.. Wallis COW had been killed by a
thief, who was in need of meat, hog
was killed in pen on the premises of Mr..
Marvin and the hams carried away. A
few nights later a dozen chickens We're
stolen from Justice Clock. The thief cut
their heads off and threw them on the
Justices back stoop.
A colored man known as ''Long Steve"
otherwise Stephen Green, was arrested
for stealing Mr.. Marvin's hog and Incl
dentally he was suspected of committing
the other crimes. Theproof against him
did not positively establish his guilt, al
though boy who lived with him accused
him, but he had so bad a reputation that
Justice Clock came to the conclusion that
the public welfare required him to be in
carcerated, and he was copmitted to the
county jail at Riverhead.
Notwithstanding there have been no
robberies since Green was deprived of
his hberty-a circumstance which was
thought pretty clearly to establish his
guilt-the people are now wondering
whether, after all, the dweller in the cave
was not the real culprit. He was not
Green, that is certain.-Brooklyn Eagle.
Climate and Morals.
The world is tolerably well mapped
out as to diseases. The colored charts
4. L IL