Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1896-05-08
INr1AN JOHNS NERVE.


he was called, who died near rlonista,
Pennsylvania, the other day" said G.
=. McDcrmott, western Pennsylva-
MIA lumber operator, twas one of the
last of tho old-tlme Allegheny river
pilots, the men who guided the i'm
mcnse pine raf;s fsdn the headwaters
to Piltsburg in the days before the Llg
steam mills and the railroads came in-
10 the Wilderness and made rafting a
thing of the plst. Ile-wes an Indian
.or the Cornplanter family, and must
have been we'll On toward a hundred
years old. They tell hundreds OF tales
Of Indian Jnhh . exploits as rats,
man, a calling that was attended with
constant danger aud great hardship.
l remember very well one act of his
that showed the coOlness and bravery
OF the man.
sit was in the days when the lower
Pennsylvania OIL districts were sup.
piled with nitro-glycerine from the
isolated factories III the woods Of
Warren and Mexican counties. The
explosive wasn't manufactured else
where in the region then TO any ex-
tent. The nitro-g'ycerine was run
down the Allegheny in stiletto shaped
boats thirty feet long and four feet
wide. Each boat carried about To-
Geo pounds Of the siuG, aud each boat
Was manned by two men. They ran
swiftly in the current, ard the weight
OF their Carg'. wAs 50 great that in
case OF "A collision between Cuc OF
these beats aud ether craft IN he
river the chances we're about ten TO
ano that it would Lc followed hy
horrible Consequences, ard every
thing else on tie river gave thcm a
wide berth.
The meu who ran these nitro give
crime boats had strict orders to tie up
wherever night overlook them, and
rot TO rGn mjautc after dark.
These Eten, as may we'll be imagined,
were absolutely withoAt fear, and
managed their dtath hearing craft
with a nouchalaDce and iudcpenGc
that WIS a source OF perpetual terror
TO the crews OF ordinary heats, ia
raftnien and TO the citizens Of the
towns past which thcy ra", or near
which they tied up.
"Ou one occasion tho crew Of nj.
tro-glyrcrinc huat were ovcftakcn by
darkness at a lonely spot, where there
was nothing hut deep woods on either
side. Thr E'sht. was cold, and it is
presumed that the men were hungry,
The men were Jake Berry and Dick
Spooner, better Known as s'Devil Dick,
from bis rerkle sneSs in handling nj
tro-glyccIinc while battling It in wag
ons to the mills or in uEluaAing it. 1t
is known that.thcee were ldc 80 n be-
cause they had siarttd d dawn the river
with a boat load of HitrO-g glycCrinr
which they never delivered at its des-
tlnalion, and they were not seen in
the oil regions again. 1t is supposed
tudi WiACi bVihS O'N'N N"NSh - '-''"
ness, they decided to Keep on until
they got near to brady's Bend village
before they led up. or this | am
positiYe, anyAUw---t was dark ght.
/ know this, because | WAS passen-
ger on orc of my raftS, whch IndiYn
John was plotting, and We were max
ing for Brads's Bend ourselves fer he
night. We were nearing the place.
and the raft WAS being gradually
pulled ashore, when we heard spme
nne shout out OF the darkness not far
a5tern:
'Look cut, there, you fellows!
jump
"Then we heard two splashes in the
water. We didn't know what It
meant. We couldn't see anything be-
h nd us, and the men on the rafl sept
pu ling for shore. Then cut of e
darkness au object bore down ulon ui
di~ls, -fraped the hl1d end OF tt c
raft, and came gently on down, Gid
ing nois'essly alung the side OF the
raft. Then one Of the men yelled
~ torpedo boat
"For a moment We were Al terror
stricken, but quickly saw that alldan-
ger to us from the Loaf was past.
Everything was plain TO us now. The
boat had been abandoned by its crew
when they discovered us ahead in the
darkness and expected the collision
that would have rent us 10 atans
But Indian John thought quicker and
Iurlher ahead than VIC did. Like d
flash he thought IL out that II the bnat
went on down the river with its cargo
OF destruction it would surely come IL
contact with something annat OF
ashore with consequences herrible tC
Dyspepsia Cured.
"My mother and my sisters-ln-lav
we're troubled with dyspepsia and have
taken several kinds Of medicine, hu
found no relief until they began using