The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-12-05

through the Southern states. Yet, we
lind 1t here rs dense rs anywhere In
the land, only u little more than two
hundred miles from the national CAPT.
TAI. The women have compilations as
yellow us parchment, and are lit coin
panions for such men rs | have de-
seribed. They chow snuT, smoke bad
tobacco when they u get it, swear
Ike their lords, and arc not avcrsc to Il
scrap Mt any time. Alit,le thing Ikea
iight 10 the death among nlcii and fam
lies does not mean much. Yet, they
are not criminals, except among them
selves, and never modest or insult
strangers.
"Onc night after tho hunt VIC wcro
listening to Mr.. Kyle tell stories OF
these people that would almost make
the blood run cold. But the ono about
Herman Ortmnn sailing tho body Of his
VIE down capped tho climax"
SHE wAsS'r SPILLED"
"only n few days ago." said he, ~ had
the s%tranGcst experience l cver had in
these ar woods. Up on the mountain
yandor, there lived u sang digger by
;he name OF Herman Ortman. lie
didn't come down this way often but
his wife took sick aud then he'd come
ottencr, and we'd always ask him how
she was.
"'Gittin' aiong,' said he. But one
day he came down, and | asked him
how the old woman was.n
"'She's dead said he, and | come
down to get some OF you to go up and
help bury her"
"Whel! did sho dio?" I asked.
1.-Two weeks ago said he.
"iou don't say?' said |. "Grcat
gunsi She must be spilled by this
time"
'"Not by Il burned sight said he. 4
sailed her down. so she'd keep"
"Tl!c next day me and the old woman
vent Up tho mountain to sec what could
10 done. Trac enough, Herman had
told the .ru:l.. There was the. body OF
his wife. with \ Jushcl oi salt or more
sprinkied OVER it. 1t was y terrible
sight; bat wc helped to bury her rs
hest we could, along tho side OF the
mountain, where she had seen such
mighty hard times. Most OF these
sang diGsers' arc pretty hard people;
but this is about the toughest case l
ever hcarn tell OF in this region, and l
reckon 'twouldbc mighty hard to match
it anywhere. When ! can't of the
mountain and told the story to the
ncighbors there was n bitter icelin'
ugin' Ortman, who didn't stand well,
nohow. He didn't stay long artcr this,
when he made himself scarce in the
neighborhood. / don't know rs whether
or no some one would have taken his
napper; but he thought he had better
skin out, and / ruther reckon he done
about right"
MRS. KYLE CONFIRMS IT.
Mrs. Kyle c]orroborated her hus-
hand'sstory, and frequently interrupted
his narrative with some phases OF the
strange and brutal proceeding which
her husband had lett out"
81 reckon he thought he was sailing
down hog meat" said she very indig-
nantly, but what more can You 'spcct OF
such 4 brute"
incredible as this story may seem.
Mr.. Kyle stands ready to s~ubstantiate
every word OF it, rs does Eli Loutz, who
lives farther up the mountain, and
with whom we afterwards stayed. There
are other people living in that wild re-
gion where dosolation and game join
hands i'll strange coinpanionship who
also rear witness to the awful tale. -Four
days OF this association was enough for
lis. II cost us twelve dollars to have
our five deer and wild turkeys taken
out OF the woods to 4 point seven miles
distant where We could ship them
home. We all breathcl 4 sigh oil relief
when We struck wen comparative civil
cation again; but congratulated our
selves on taking plenty OF game.
VIOLATED OUR GAME LAWS.
"Oncc at Beverly, 4 few miles away
from Elkins, we soon reached Morgan
town on our way home. Here the
authorities took US out OF bed at 70
o'clock at night, arraigncd lis on the
charge OF having game in II possession
killed on the soil OF West Virginia,
which VIC intended to ship out OF the
state, which not even q citizen is
allowed TO do. We were fined $25 10,
but allowed 10 take our turkeys home.
They cost 4 good deal OF money, but we
10 not bcgrudgc the price. taking into
account IL strange experiences. The
story about the 'sang-digger' sailing
down his wife struck us hardest. An
other about Eli Loutz, where he
camped, and his iourteen-ycar-old son
hanging his own brother to keep him
from being n witness against his son,
who had killed his cousin in the pres
ence OF the brother he had gotten rid
OF, ONE second