Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-09-14

Inc boys around Ghermany1lle ar
telling good one on prominent citi
zen Of that town. For some time pas
he and his neighbors have been suffer
ing from the depredations of chicken
thieves. The raids were frequent, and
In consequence. many of the roost
were totally depopulated. After put
ting up with the matter until long af
the aforesaid p. C. last Saturday nigh
determined to lay for the thieves. So
| after fortifying himself with Win
chester rifle, breech-loading shot gun,
and a pint of sold rye,,' he quietly Sc.
cured an advantageous position near
the chicken house door, and proceed
ed to wait. 1t was cloudy, murky
night, and the indications were for
rain; every once in a while an occa-
sional drop gave warning of a coming
storm, but the watcher continued his
lonely vigil. How long he watched he
couldn't tell, but after a while he fell
asleep; whether it was the lateness OF
the hour. the effects of the "old rye, y
or the gloomy silence of the night, that
soothed him to rest, he can not say;
but certain it is, he fell sound asleep.
How long he slept he knew not; but at
length, he awoke, ard with start.
The few stars that had been visible in
the evening were now hidden behind
dense, dark clouds, and the muttering
thunder plainly told that the storm was
at hand. The darkness was intense;
be gave Jump and grasped for the
bottle, but his fingers only clasped the
air; the flask wasgone, and SO were the
guns! A little more investigation al
SO disclosed the fact that there wasn't
a single chicken left in the coop. 1t
was case of '.whole hog"-chickens,
liquor and guns were all gone, and the
p. C. is thinking he was lucky they
did't take the house and lot, too!
Sometime during the year 1877 there
died in this city widow lady by the
name of Roberts. She was in poor
circumstances, and two children, boy
and girl were left without a home;
the probate court appointed a guar
dian, and the girl, Ella, was bound to
Jas. T. johnson, at that time conduct
ing saloon and variety show at Gran
iteville; the boy, c. H. Roberts, was at
the same time adopted by Josiah Will
liams, also of Graniteville. A short
time afterwards johnson left Granite
vile, taking his ward with him, and the
brother and sister were separated.
They were young at the time and soon
lost all trace of each other. As the
years sped by, however, and they
reached the years of discretion the boy
began to inquire as to the whereabouts
of his long absent sister. He could
secure no information, however, until
a few weeks ago, when he learned that
she had became circus rider and was
ON the road with some show. The
sister, in the meantime, had BEEN APP
prised that her brother still lived with
his guardian somewhere in this COM
munity. This season she was married
TO Mr.. Potter, and herself and hus-
band joined the Reynolds Railroad
show. When she afterwards learned
that Ironton was on their route, she
determined to make inquiry for the
brother whom she had not seen for Ov-
err sixteen years. On the arrival OF the
circus in town last Friday, she made
inquiry at several places, but did not
succeed in locating him. That night.
however, the brother at Graniteville,
by some means or other, heard of the
fact, but when he reached town the cir
Gus had gone. He departed Sunday
for Poplar Bluff, where he met his
long absent sister, and to each other
they related the stories of their lives;
their experience had been varied but
none more strange than this union af-
ter so many years of separation.