Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1893-05-05
PLAYING THE HORSE FIDDLE.
The Noise That Scared a Texas Town an
Resulted In u Lynching.

So
The apocryphal leaves in Valambrosa
were never us numerous as the stories with
which Colonel William G. Sterrett's men,
ory is stocked. They seem to ooze out of
him at all times and upon all occasions
without further effort on his part than the
mere r%ecounting of them.
Speaking of noises" remarked the colo
mel, reminds me of a thing that occurred
down in Henderson county in my state
once. Right near Maxwell was q wild sort
of place, inhabited with about 400, 600, 900
black wolves, and the edge of it was pretty
thickly settled. Astranger going to one Of
the settlers houses never could sleep be.
causes the wolves made such a noise, but
the natives never minded 'em a bit, and
even their dogs stopped taking any notice
Of 'em.
Suddenly the people began to get wor.
ried. Sounds began to come out of that
wilderness such as no human ear had ever
listened to before. The howls of the wolves
were as the voices OF the cherubim and the
seraphim alongside of it. Every night it
continued growing worse and worse, until
1t became downright soul terrifying. Grown
folks would get white and the children's
teeth would chatter, while all the cattle
o come up around the houses and try
to get comfort from bein near folks.
pretty soon the people concluded it was
a bengal tiger or Il lion that had got out O.
some circus and they made up their minds
to IL it down so they could get some sleep
again. Soa big party raided the woods and
sent in the dogs. Pretty soon back came
the dogs with theireyes bigger'n brighter'n
electric lights and their hair all standingup
n their tails between their legs, and they
didn'ts stop when their masters called 'em,
but kept right on for home hard as they
could go. Tic people concluded the thing,
whatever it was, must be something pretty
terrible when a Texas dog wouldn't tackle
it, SO they drew off their forces.
That only made the noise at night more
Internal than ever. 1t was in~describable.
All the souls in torment seemed to bemoan
ing and crying and shrieking and carrying
on together. At last a fellow came along
who said he had been in Africa, and that
the noise was nothing in the world but the
night song of an ostrich. The people felt
sort o. ashamed that they had been fright.
ened by anything that wore feathers, Sc
they made up their minds to start in after
it again and let nothing stop 'em. So one
night about 100 of 'em armed to the teeth
went forth determined on victory. The
dogs went in and came out again just as
they did before, but their masters went on.
AS they began to get near the place the
sounds came from they were all pretty near
scared to death, but they were afraid tc
turn back less the thing, ostrich or what.
ever it was, might run after 'em and catch
'em. So on they went, gentlemen, and
pretty soon they came to a little cabin in 8
gully, and there they found a-sitting out in
front of it an old fellow named Jim Bolts
a-sawing away for dear life and trying to
play Maryland, My Maryland on a big
boss fiddle"
"What did they do with him? Why,
they hung him of course. "-Washington
Post,