The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1891-12-19
A FIGHT TO THE DEATH.
A FIERCE AND BLOODY KNIFE DUEL
nv A MOUNTAIN TOWN.

nv A MOUNTAIN TOWN.
II Was the Culmination Of Long stand
ing Feud, and Was prccipitated by "a
Cur g-sanguinary Results Of I'm
bridied Terooity.
It was Saturday and Grading day"
and the little mountain town was filed
with scores Of both white and colored
people from up and down the valley.
There was considerable drinking, but
everybody seemed good natured to me.
1 could not see the slightest sign Of un-
easiness, but by and by the captain came
to me as l stood in front Of the postoffice
and said
Looks mighty like thar was gwine
to be bloodshed yere"
"Why, everybody seems peaceful and
serene, so far as l can see."
"Yo' doan' know these folks See that
yere gatherin over by the harness shopi
That's the jackson crowd, See that
other gatherin over by the drug store:
That's the Berry crowd. They're iist
eyin each other like two bulldogs, and a
leetle mo whislSyll bring ON a fout"
"ls there any feeling between the two
crowds?' I asked.
powerful bad. I dun goes clar back
to the wah. The Jacksons was Union
and the Berrys was Confed. Thar was
houseburnin and robbin and shootin,
and they doan forget. It's the fust time
the two crowds hev bin in town together
fur more'n a var, and 1 dom like the
looks Of things
Cant the officers Of the law keep
them quiet?"
"Oficers Of the law! Why, man. il
them crowds were to break loose fifty
officers Of the law couldn't prevent blood
shed"
The leaders Of the respective factions
were men who must have been mere boys
when the war broke out Each had
about a dozen adherents, who were all
more or less closely related.
now THE FIGHT STARTED.
They did not seem at all anxious for a
conflict and might have gone their ways
without blow but for the action Of u
dog He was a mean looking cur an1
belonged to the JacEsous In wander.
ing around he got into the Berry crowd
and one Of the men sliced about six
inches Of his tail off. The dog rushed
back to his master, while the Berry
crowd Knocked his yolps Of pain and
fright.
All of sudden Steve jackson stepped
to the middle Of the street, flung down
his hat and shouted:
"Tom Berry, eff yo' hain't n coward.
come out we're and fight mel'
The challenge was instantly accepted
and within sixty seconds a ring was
formed and 800 people were looking on.
The men were pretty evenly matched as
to height and weight and age 1t was
not to be a battle with fists, but with
long, keen hunting knives, and you could
tell at a glance that it was to be a fight
to the death At first there was much
jostling and moving about, accompanied
by shouts Of encouragement to the men,
but after few moments it was quiet
painfully quiet, l think there were at
least thirty women among the onlookers
and fully that number Of boys and girls
from ten to eighteen years of age.
BOTH DUELIsTs KILLED.
1t was the first and only time l even
saw men fight with knives, and it was q
horrible thing to see. As soon as theil
friends fell back they rushed upon each
other with the greatest fury. Each
griped the other with his left hand and
stabbed and thrust, and each was
wounded four or five times before they
broke loose. Not a person in the crowd
spoke above a whisper Every eye fol.
lowed the men as they feinted and
lodged like prize fighters, and men and
women shivered and gasped for breath
as one or the other of the knives drank
blood.
The road was dry, but without dust
Presently it was dyed with blood. The
men slipped a little now and then as
they lodged about. Blood ran off theil
finger tips, down their legs. trembled
like a leaf. felt horrible disgust, and
yet could not move away felt ]
must see the end.
When the fight had lasted a quarter OF
an hour, and one man had eight stab;
and the other nine they suddenly
clinched each other, as at first. Neither
uttered a cheer, curse or groan.
They stood square up to each other
and hacked and cut and thrust until
both sank down from sheer weakness
jackson died within ten minutes; Berry
lived about thirty. The one had thirty
y three wounds, the other twenty-eight
AS they were picked up by their friends
and carried into the drug store to breathe
their last, the hogs running about the
village came and disputed with the
dozen dogs over possession of the blood
pools.-Detroit Free Press.