The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1897-10-22
A%~SS$Sexs
! A CROSBYVILLE FIRE. !
! by GEORGE HDE. !
On THE evening of the alarm of fire

Il
Lets see--I spent two or three years
in Crosbyyille, of and en-" he began,
land this must have happened in the
fall of 81 or in the spring of,'52. re-
member that l left Crosbyville just
about the time Of the presidential
campaign, and that was-wcll, it must
have been about June, '52. No matter;
the date doesn't make any difference.
"In order that you may understand
this story better I'll have to go back a
little. The first time l ever visited In
Crosbyyille / was invited out to shoot
ing match We didn't shoot at glass
balls or live pigeons in those days. We
usually put a white square of paper
uD against a tree and blaZed away at
it with rifles, and, although our fire
arms were Of defective bore, lean assure
YOU that some Of the best shooting l
ever saw was at those Oldtime matches
out il the woods. However, that has
nothing TO do with the story.
Zone CT my friends invited me to go
to tho shooting match, and after 1 got
out there l was asked to enter the con-
test. Well, l went in and l happened
to get rifle that sighted just right for
me, and | won. A man who had been
introduced TO me as Capt. Jaynes made
the next highest score. It seemed to
me that the other contestants took
tA.,r defeat good-naturedly, but On the
way home my friend told me to look
out for this Capt. Jaynes. He was hot
headed Kcntucizian, and it seems that
this was the first time he had been de
fcated ii a year or $50, and it worried
him good deal. My friend told me
that he had taken a dislike to me and
would probably try to pick a quarrel
with me at tie first opportunity.
well, that same afternoon I invited
al the men who had been at the shoot
ing match to come over to the tavern.
It was customary for the winner of the
match to stand treat to the others.
Capt. Jaynes cane in rather late, while
we were all sitting around and talking.
1 arose and asked him to join the party.
He bowed very coldly, and said that he
was not in the habit of drinking with
strangers. Well, l was pretty hot
blooded in my younger days. I said:
Very well, captain; withdraw the in
vitation. | made the mistake of sup
posing that you would feel at home in
a company of gentlemen I knew what
to expect when l said that. He started
to draw knife, but before he could lift
it l had hold Of him. They pulled us
apart and tried to quiet him, but he
went away raving mad. They all said he
would kill me the first time we met, but
he must have cooled down when he had
time to think it over. 1 saw him often
after that-passed him on the street.
He never made a move, but I knew that
he hated me and would be glad of a
chance to do me an injury.
"The captains house was right on the
bank Of the Green river, and stood near
his mill. 1t was an old-fashioned two
story house, very broad and well built,
and thickly surrounded by trees. 1t
was considered the best house in Cros-
byville. The captain was the wealthiest
and one Of the most prominent citizens
had two children-a boy of IA or SO, and
young lady named Elizabeth. She was
very beautiful girl-very charming.
| had met her several times, but. of
course, l had never become well ac-
quainted with her on account of my
standing feud with her father.
"Well, to make long story short,
the whole town was aroused by an
alarm of fire one night, and when we
turned out the Jaynes' mill was one
mass of flames. It was an old-style
structure, with a framework of heavy
logs, and it made fearful blaze. The
wind was blowing the flames toward
the house. Everyone saw that it was
of no use to try to save the mill, SO we
turned in to save the house-got up
on the roof and passed buckets, and
Put out wet blankets to catch the
sparks, but it was no use. The men
were driven off the roof, and the water
dried as fast as it was thrown on. All at
once one whole side of the house seemed
to spring into flame. There was a
general shout, and everybody retreated
to safe distance. The members of the
family and the neighbors had been re-
moving the household goods. Just as
the house caught fire and all the men
were getting out Of it as fast as they
could heard Elizabeth Jaynes cry out:
The canary!' Then she ran back into
the house, with everyone calling to her
to stop. | didn't hesitate moment, but
ran after her. She ran through the
terrific heat and dense smoke right up
the stairway, and 1 followed. caught
her by the arm at the top of the stairs
and told her to come back She was
hysterical and excited She said she
wouldn't leave until she got the bird
In spite of all could do she pulled away
from me and ran into the front room
her bedroom, believe-and felt he1
way to where the bird cage was hang
ing. Gentlemen, it was never any hot.
ter in any bake oven than it was in that
room. AS soon as she got the bird cage
l dragged her back through the hall
The smoke was not so thick now be-
cause the fire had got free draugh1
through the house and was making a
fearful roar and was spreading rapidly
When we reached the stairway the
Whole lower end of it was ablaze.
dragged the girl away to the front win.
dow, but by that time the whole verands
was on fire. The crowd outside saw us
and shouted something-I couldn't tel
what. | saw that there was no escape
over that burning veranda. When the
people outside began to shout the CIR
tainted. threw her across my shout
der and started for the rear of the house
because | knew that was my only sal