Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1891-02-02
A CALAMITY.
RONOEVERFE RsS ASl1IY THOUSAND DOLLAR
FIRE.
A Remarkable STATE Of Affairs in Peasants County
A Great Bear Hunt il PocahOutas-A Puz-
zsr From Randolph-fatal
Accident

Thursday morning about four o'clock
ire broke out in the lower story OF the
large business house occupied by Rodes,
Whiting il Co., dealers in clothing and
drv goods. at Ronceverte, Greenbrier
county. The fire spread rapidly, owing
to the hour, and the total ABSENCE OF
any extinguishing appliances, and soon
the entire building was in a blaze.
The lire soon caught the Henning
building and Whites drug store, and all
were totally destroyed, with their con-
tents. w. d. Slaven, merchant, had
Just moved his whole stock into the
RodeS, Whiting & Co. building, he hay-
ing been admitted to partnership.
aud his goods shared the general
fate. The loss is estimated at
| from $50, 900 TO $50, 600, on which there
! is $4,000 insurance, of which ROdcs,
| Whiting X Co. have 1000, Williams
N Co. 50. 500 and ii. y. White -, 400.
The origin OF the fire IS unknown at
this writing. The building owned and
occupied by Rodes 4 Whiting was val
ued ut IS, 900, with So, 900 worth of
stock. Miss Henning's building,
valued at $4,000, occupied by
II. y. White as 4 drug store,
with stock of $1,000 and Williams ~
Co. with 81, 600 stock. The upper
stories OF these buildings were occupied
by two families, and also contained
Hunts millinery establishment and Dr..
de VederS Office. 1t is stated that Mrs.
Gardeners house, next to the hotel, is
destroyed, and Hotel Dickson is badly
scorched.
Peasants county has veritable ghost
dance on its hands just now, according
to the st. Mary's Ordcie. Some queer
performances are going on at Mckim
creek, some eightmles above ST. Marys.
The neighborhOOd is considerably
worked up over the affair. Such doins
and COINS on have never been seen In
that neighborhood before. The ghosts
seem to be peculiar. While they have
the power of invisibility. like all ghosts,
yet they undoubtedly have muscle as
well, judging from the manner in which
they prOmiscuouSiy hurl stones about.
Jacob Cunningham house is situated
in an open field some four hundred
yards from any timber or other hiding
place, yet his house has been pelted
with stones, windows broken out, and
lotherwiSe battered by the flying mis-
sies The stones are as liable To come
in the daylight, as in the night time,
which adds another popularity to their
ghostShips. Guards are stationed about
the premises, yet the throwing goes on
lust the same. The whzZing goes on
as the rocks fly back, and the lick
against the building can be heard, vet
il is impossible TO see where they come
from. Some of them start in mid-air,
while others come Up out Of the ground.
Several of the watchers have been
struck by the flying missiles, yet,
strange TO say, no one has been hurt,
in fact they can hardly feel the Jar.
Perhaps the spirit miScalcuated
the distance, and did not have his mis-
Sile matcrialiZcd soon enough. They
always matcraliZe, however, soon
enough TO hit the house a bang, for
some of them have been picked up and
are real stones. One that had passed
through the windows, shiycring it to
atoms and almost buried Itself in the
wall on the opposite side, weighed about
four pounds. Upon examination OF the
premises Il hole of unknown depth was
found IN the ground near the window,
Just the size aud shape Of this rock.
just how it came out of the
ground with such force and turned ia
at the window is 4 mystery, unless the
ghost was curve thrOwer. One man
was standing on guard with his gun,
when he saw a blue streak start from Il
saSSafras bush near by. He Immediate
ly fired in that direction, and before he
could get his gun down he heard d
click at the muzzle, and, upon looking,
found the bullet he had shot battered
and sticking to the muzZle OF the gun.
The ghost had undoubtedly caught the
bullet and hurled it back at him. Sew
eral shots were fred IN rapid success
, sion at the bush, but all with the same
result. Each man found that his own
bullet had come back. \ reward OF
fifty dollars has been offered to anyone
who will ferret out the mystery.
About the first Of December Mr.. Bri-
son Hill, of PocahontaS county. while
hunting saw white deer, and while
: following it he noticed the marks OF
bears claws on large birch tree. On
p closer examination he discovered hole
in the body of the tree, some distance
= from the ground. lie thought these
were pretty good signs of Il bear being
In the tree, and concluded TO get help
and cut the tree, but the big snow Tell
aud he was unable to get back until the
2qd of January, when he with MeSSrs.
= Fat Henry, George Brock aud Sam
Hodge, with axes and guns, went
to try for bruin. On choppng
the tree down, BrIson Hill and Pat
Henry ran to the hollow Of the tree
when an old bear came rushing out at
full speed. She was no sooner in sight
that BriSon and Pat were ready with
their WincheStcrS, each firing at her.
The ball from Pats gun entered her
brain, killing her instantly. A. quick
as thought another bear came rushing
out, but a Winchester being always
loaded, Brson sent ball through its
head. 1t had scarcely died when two
more made their appearance, only to
meet the same fate, making four bears
one very large she and three yearlingS
from one tree. After making sure
that there were no more in the tree the
party returned home with plenty of good
bear meat and four excellent hides for
their trouble.
In Valley district, Preston county, DR..
Jas. A. Cox drew up a petition for II. D..
Carroll, who wanted to resign as Road
Surveyor. Dr. Cox, who understood
the situation and knew that Carroll was
all right. resolved to have some fun at
the fellows expense aud test the popu-
lar mania for signing petition regard
Eitrutturr {
II. c. FRANZHEIM. G.. ED