The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1892-07-28
WITH THE SHERIFf'S POSSE.
Exciting Adventures Of Two Sentinel
Men Monday.
How it Feels to be in Sheriff's Posse
There is More Fun in the Antici-
patton than the Neutrality-suspicious.
Thrilling Adventures of Man-Hun-
tiers Monday-Very Hard Work.

| There is More Fun in the Ant1ci-
patton than the Realization-Some
| Thrilling Adventures of Man-Hun-
tiers Monday-Very Hard Work.
| Gentle reader, were you ever sum-
| moned on a sheriff's posse?
If not you have missed one of the
most exhilarating sensations that
| ever stirred the human bosom, and
fired it with hopes of heroism.
There was excitement in THE SEN
| TINEL office Monday when the tall,
warlike form of the sheriff of Forsyth
county strobe in and with that quiet,
subdued dignity that characterizes
one who fears the face of no living
man, remarked that he wanted
these newspaper men to know how
| this thing felt, and forthwith sum-
moned the local man and the tele-
! graph editor to serve on his posse,
| which was to rendezvous at the court
| house at O'Clock, and from thence
proceed to the hauntS of the deSper-
ado, DeGraff, and swooping down up
on him like the wolf on the fold, capt
| ure him dead or alive.
Visions of foaming horses and Win
chesters possessed the brain of the
SENTINEL men as the sheriff left: of
hot pursuit through forest paths; of
shots given and returned.
Thoughts of his younger days came
trooping into the mind of the tele-
graph editor, crowned with the halo
of childhoods's innocency. He thought
of the day that the paternal hand
~udely hauled him out of the wood
shed, and divorced him from Dead
wood Dick, the Dare Devil of the Da-
kotas." just on the eve of Deadwood
Dicks fight with the sheriff's posse.
The disappointment incident upon
the failure of finishing the fight, in
creased by memories of a dose of pa
rental discipline, came back forcibly.
But here was chance to see the ac-
tion of real Sheriff's posse. to be in
it, to hear the crack of WincheSterS,
to feel, perchance, the whiZ of the
enemy'S bullet speed past. With
| emotions like these did the telegraph
editors bosom heaye.
The local man was no less eXuber-
ant. This is the way he served up a
local notice of young John Jones' hap
py~ recovery from fever, which the
proof-reader luckily prevented from
going into the paper:n
MIR. John DeGraff Jones. the pop
ular young desperate of our towns
man, Col. Joseph Jones, has just re-
CONeTeu IEOH severe encounter
with Sheriff leagues posse"
Promptly at o'clock post meridian,
THE SENTINEL men fastened to rem
devious at the court house. They
found that about twenty-five other
men had preceded them there and
| were rendeZvouSing conSpiciously in
the main hall of the court house.
THE SENTINEL men haSted to the
front door of the court house to select
NIL of Il hA6 in6
horses out of those which were left.
To their surprise all the hitching
posts were found empty, and upon in
quiry it was learned from one of the
rendeZyousing men that this posse
was to be foot posse. This was a
little discouraging, but the SENT
MEL men Solaced themselves with the
fact that they were to be armed with
a Winchester apiece, and hurriedly
rendeZvoused into the Sheriff'S office
to get loaded. The Sheriff himself
was not rendeZvouSing in his office.
but there was quite a number of sub
sheriffs, from whom the representa-
tiveS of THE SENTINEL learned that
there were no WincheSterS to be fur
missed but every member of the posse
was expected to furnish his own arms.
The SENTINEL men then sadly left
the rendezvous and went out to bOr-
row ammunition and arms. Securing
a SiX-ShoOter apiece, they returned to
the court house and rendeZvOuSed
there for three-quarterS of an hour
more before the start.
After several delays, caused by the
hysterical demands of several wives
of several members of the posse for
the said members to return home and
protect their innocent babes and chill
drenuinsteadOf trying to make widows
of their wives, orphans of their chill
dren and fools of themselves, the pro-
cesSion started.
Alas 1t was not commanded by the
Sheriff. To the great disappointment
of the posse as whole and individu-
ally, it was learned that the Sheriff
had to stay and keeporder in the court
room. His inspiring presence and
able councils were not to cheer the
men on their desperate game.
The posse was divided up into
squads of from two to four men each.
The start was effected favOrably,
and all the squads were soon securing
the woods, except one which deemed
it necessary to stand guard at the
barroom of the hotel Zinzendorf, lest
it perchance should be jeopardiZed by
a raid of DeGraff's.
The two SENTINEL men not having
any definite instructions kept their
eyes on two men with shot guns. The
two men with shot guns not having
any definite instructions kept their
eyes on the two SENTINEL men. Soon
| the two men with shot guns and the
| two SENTINEL men met for the pur-
pose of mutually obtaining each 9TH
erS instructions.
| Each finding that none of the 9TH
ers knew Mr.. P. DeGraff personally nor
| where his lair was, the four decided to
/ start out together and stir him up.
The woods west and southwest of the
city were thoroughly searched. A
great many excellent hiding places
were explored, and it really surprised
| the man-hunters that DeGraff was
| not in some of them. so dark, gloomy
and securely inviting to murderer
they appeared.
| The party was on the tiptoe of ex-
| pectancy once. The four had just
| passed two of the special deputies.
| They started into thicket after they
passed, but hearing rustling of
| leaves, hurriedly withdrew and eject
| ing forcible expression of their duty
| to their wives and children continued
on a less dangerous path. The two
men with shot guns and the two SEN
TINEL men, however, with weapons
ready, crept carefully forward-te the
| place Nof danger. The rustling of
| leaves continued. The place was
dark and the four men smelt danger.
They were on their mettle. They
were eager for the fray. Suddenly
something leapt forward toward them
with a most gigantic jump. Two shot
guns and two pistols belched forth
| upon the evening air and the thing
| that jumped so far forward bit the