The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1897-07-08
ONLY THREE GOOD INDIANS
The First Reports of the POISONING ~
Mile Laos Was Exaggerated.

Mile Laos Was Exaggerated.
Last Thursday after the UNION had
gone to press the news Of Indian tror-
bic at the lake was received First re-
ports stated that four Indians were dead.
three were beyond help and several
more were very i'll, all having imbibed
two freely of extracts, liniment, pain
killer and other concoctions which are
considered delicacies by the ''nitchies. "
Marshal O'Connor, of St. Paul.
visited the lake and found the condi-
tion greatly exaggerated. The In
dams had received about 1926, 900 a. few
days before and as is their wont began
to hunt for fire water. The rest of the
story is we'll told by a St. Paul news
paper which secured the facts from
Mr.. O'Connor:
"When the Indians got their money
they Immediately began to spend it for
these impossible beverages. They
couldn't get enough of it, some of them
drinking as much as thirty or forty
bottles of the stuff in day or two. It
is said that most of the Indians trading
with Malone drank more or less. some
OF them whose Innings were calloused
to the fiery titilations of a compound
said to contain more than 80 per cent
of alcohol, even mixing it with lini-
ment of one kind or another, also car
ried in stock by Malone.
Those who INDUCED the most freely
were taken i'll and were speedily in the
throes of terrible agony, which in
three cases ended in death. Another
buck recovered only to find himself
stricken with blindness. When the
Indians began to get over the general
debauch they decided that Malone was
responsible for the death of the three
braves and he Was threatened with
death and with the destruction of his
property. Malone was the only white
man in the vicinity, but he was dead
game He stood his ground, and
when Marshal O'Connor arrived he
was as full of fight as some of his Gus
toners had been of peppermint ex-
tract, and by his determined demeanor
had prevented any demonstration
of hostility by the Indians. His wife
and two children by former marriage
were with him and they were holding
the fort in the store.
The marshal was not altogether GER
tain that a crime had been committed,
but he was certain that legal investi-
cation was demanded, and he deemed
it necessary to prevent trouble to take
Malone off the reservation. He says
that Malone pointed to a big buck who
was eating peanuts with the remark
that he had drunk more than hun
dred bottles of the extracts. Then
remembering that the horrible exam
pie owed him money for last winters
provisions as we'll as extracts, he de-
manded immediate payment. The In
dian shook his head and went on
munching his peanuts. Me de- he
calculated complacently, evidently
very we'll satisfied with the theory that
death resolves all debts.
The marshal held 'pow-wow' with
the Indians and warned them that
they must let the store alone, and
Malone emphasized the warning by ad-
vising them that if they didn't, when
he returned he would blow a few of
them full of holes. Then the officers
started on the return trip with their
prisoner and three Indians who had
enjoyed the delights and suffered the
pains of over-indulgence in extracts,
who were taken along as witnesses.
Mrs. Malone remained in charge of
the store and expressed no fear over
the situation in which she was placed.
On their way across the lake the
the party encountered the storm of
Friday night, and Marshal O'Connor
says that for a time he entertained a
very lively expectation that there
would be vacancy in the Office of
United States marshal for the district
of Minnesota. When they were only
about halfway across the lake the
boiler of the little launch stopped maxi
ing steam and the man in charge was
unable to remedy the difficulty.
While they were in this pedicament
and fully ten miles from shore, the
storm struck the lake with cyclonic
fury.
Mile Laos is shallow lake and it
does not take much of wind to kick
up considerable of a disturbance. In
a moment waves wore running several
feet high and the boat was tossed
about like a cockle-shell. Fortunately
their course was before the wind, and
in remarkably short time they we're
driven to the desired shore, but not
before the Indian witnesses were suf-
e.