Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-27

/ to reign supreme. In tins very room where
| Postmaster Cheney is now sorting the let
tcrs so quietly, the SLAYER of Alexander
| Hamilton limited at his purposes and sought
to gain recruits for his bold flibustering
expedition.
| There are some DARK legends connected
with this old inn which cause old residents
| who are familiar with them to draw close
| together and sink their voices nearly to a
! whisper when they rehearse them for the
! hundredth time for the benefit of some cur
| ious stranger There are tales strongly re-
minding one of the Bender horrors in Kan
sas-of q dangerous period, long after the
genial Shoies had been gathered to his
fathers, and had been
Succeeded by an Unlocking Fellow
named Gargey, during which more than one
| traveller believed to have money in his
saddlebags, entered its portals only to add
one more to the long list of mysterious dis
appearances 1t was during that time, in
October, 1870, that a drover named Job
Maxby, who always travelled on horseback
accompanied by gigantic Newfoundland
dog, and who subsequently settled down in
this neighborhood, put up for the night at
the Eagle Tavern.
While warming his unbooted legs by the
barrOom fire preparatory to retiring, his
hosts 7-year-old son exclaimed admiringly
to his father as he gazed upon the stout
drOver's manly proportions:
"What nice fat legs for candlesp'
This strange remark, together with
the silencing frowns and mysterious
winks which it elected from the
boys parents, made 8 deep impression on
the drover's mind, and he was not sorry
that when shown to his room his Newfound-
land dog persisted in following him, and
ensconced himself under table, whence he
defied with savage growls, all attempts to
dislodge him, Boniface being at length fain
to retire and leave him master of the field.
The Dog Gives Timely Warning.
And when the landlord had gone the dog
still appeared very uneasy, walking about
the room shifting at everything and whin-
ing as if he strongly mistrusted that all was
not well. He seemed particularly suspi-
cious of the bed. Whenever his master ap-
preached it he would seize his garments in
his teeth and endeayor to draw him
away. With n view TO testing the
suspicious aroused by the dogs actions, the
drover seized heavy billet of wood from
the open fireplace and cast it with all his
strength upon the center of the couch. In
stantly the mattress disappeared from sight
through a hole in the floor communicating
with the cellar below, and at the same time
the traveller could hear the exultant cries of
the landlord and his family at the thought
that they had bagged their game.
Not a moment was to be lost. Throwing
open the window, Maxby saw that it was
comparatively but a short distance to the
ground, the stories of the old-fashioned inn
being very low. Without hesitating an in
slant, he 1eaped out, followed by his faith
full dog, hearing meanwhile the curses, i'm
precautions and hurrying footsteps of the
wretches who had conspired against his life
and against that of how many other trav-
elers God only knows. Reaching the stable
he fortunately found it unlocked.
Both Pursued and Pursuer Escape.
Throwing himself upon the back of his
horse he galloped away in the moonlight
just as his would-be murderers issued from the
house in pursuit; but seeing they had come
too late they also devoted their energies to
flight, and though Maxby rode as fast as his
horse could carry him from house to house
giving the alarm, yet before the people could
turn out en- masse the wretches had made
good their escape. What finally became of
them was never known, their fate being en-
veloped in mystery as dense as that sur
rounding the end of the notorious Bender
family, who perpetrated similar deeds in
Kansas few years ago.
A thorough investigation of the old inn
was made, and many skulls and heaps of
bones unearthed in the cellar. As
there were also found facilities for
the manufacture of candles on a
large scale, and as Gargey had been famous
for superior quality Of that article which
he had been in the habit of selling to his
the significance of the above
remark of his little boy, that
Maxby's legs were nice and fat for candles,
will be readily understood.
The Next Landlord Little Better.
After Gargey came landlord named
Widter, and soon aftcrward young farmer,
who was returning home on the opposite
bank of the river from a visit to his sweet
heart about y o'clock one June night, saw
a boat put off from the neighborhood of the
Eagle tavern rowed by man who, when he
reached the middle of the stream, lifted
large and seemingly heavy bag from the
bottom of his craft and lowered it noiselessly |
into the water where it Immediately sank !
from view. That same night wealthy |
Hebrew peddler. known to have a great |
deal of money on his person, mysteriously |
from Widter's, where he had |
taken lodging.
Some inquiry was made, but the landlord |
stated that the peddler had left his house |
before. daylight in order to reach the next |
IL
orally believed that Widter had murdered |
the Hebrew, nothing could ever be proven |
against him. Removing to the city of Al |
legheny, he built there out of his ill-gotten |
gains hotel that was considered magnif- |
cent at that period.
For a time he fiourished' like green bay |
tree. Then everything went wrong. His |
only daughter, beautiful and accomplished |
girl of II years, went to the bad. His sons |
became loafers and desperadoes. All three |
of them served terms of imprisonment for \
various crimes, and one was hanged in a |
Southern State for stabbing a man in a |
drunken brawl
The Climax of His Retribution.
Widter's fine hotel was DESTROYED by fire. |
His wife eloped with his barkeeper and was |
never heard of afterward. Unable to |
endure this accumulation of trouble he HIM |
self took to drink, soon dissipated all his |
property, became shabby, shipshod drunk |
ard, and finally died in the Allegheny |
county poor house, another striking illustra- |
tion of the truth OF the homely old adage that |
Whatever comes over the DEVILS back is |
sure to pass out under his armpit"
As Postmaster Cheney and sat together
discussing these things in what was once the |
barroom of this interesting old hostelry, my
eye rested on a quaint old Dutch clock |
standing in one corner. 1t was one of 4
those curious old timepieces which tell not |
only the hours and minutes, but the phases |
Of the sun, moon and stars, and a great
many other things besides.
"You are looking at the old clock" said |
.he postmaster, following my glance. "It |
has been here ever since the house was built,
having been inherited by Captain Sholes, |
h. h,,:I