The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-02-23
More Abou. Our Famous Axle. >,

1 $3.50
membered as "Axie'' Yoder. the founder
Of the village of Summit Mills, in this
county, died in 1853. in the seventy-fifth
year OF his age. His memory has been
rescued from oblivion by the Intervention
of two able writers, born and reared in
the same neighborhOOd in which he lived
and ilOurished and deeayed. Mr.. Welt
ley's narrative in the last issue of the
HERALD exhibits the man as he was in
the midst Of his labors and his usefulness,
giving both facts and dates. Dr. Liven-
good, who is quite hunOrist, as well as
fascinating writer, in an article repub-
lished in a local paper, shows that
the man, with all his strength and force
Of character, had his weak side, like the
rest of US. Axie's weakness, especially
during his early life, was credulity, which
may be accounted for by his surround
ings, so we'll described by the Doctor.
His memory was stored with and pre- oc-
cupied by the old fables imported from
across the ocean. As late as 1870, when
was boy OF thirteen, and he was in the
full maturity of his powers, was present
at a long discussion between him and my
father on the subject Of the supernatural
They were relatives, and the best Of
friends, brought up under the same inilu-
ences; but, while the one was free from
superstition, the other seemed to be ready
to credit anything that snacked of the
mlrvelous, including, as 1 well remem-
ber, the tales about the Erd Geister,
Earth Spirits) in connection with buried
treasures. Whether my father ever sue
eeede1 in knocking the nonsense out of
his head / am unable to say, bat, six
years after, according to Mr. Welfey,
Axle headed a syndicate engaged in the
quest Of mtgerdls, in which, as far as we
know, no magic was employed Il is in
evidence that he worked upon the farm
until 1910, when he entered upon his ap-
premiership, and cid not marry and set
tie down finally 10 his life work until ton
years after. In that interval he must
have acquired a great stock of expert
ence, and one Of his experiences that the
world has not forgotten to this day, is the
supposed true story of his search for
Braddoek's money chests in the wilds OF
Pine Run. Mr.. Welfley claims that his
client was too intelligent man TO engage
in such a business. We belong to the
nineteenth century and are proud of its
achievements, but at the same time we
can not forget that this century has seen
the rise aud progress Of Mormonism, Spir-
itism and Bryanism, among whose adj
vocates there are many who, in other re-
spects, appear to be perfectly rational.
Beyond anything that creeps or flies
there is nothing so persistent or danger
Gus as the genus humbug Yet the world
loves to be humbUgged, and multitudes
stand waiting 10 embrace the first fake
that comes along. There were rumors Of
buried treasure. An army had passed
that way, said to have carried among its
assets so much money that they all got
tired Juggling it along. They might have
bought government bonds. but for some
reason they preferred 10 invest in real
estate. They then lefl to work up the job
they had in hand, hut met with an acci-
dent by the way which so demoralized
them that they seem to have forgotten all
about the money in their haste 10 report
the news ahead OF the mails Here, then,
was grand opportunity for man who
had strong faith and the courage Of his
convictions, and in the early part of this
century such a man was found. The next
thing to find was Braddock's money.
Buried treasure, according to the folk
lore of the region, was guarded by de-
mons. called Erd Geister, (gnomes) so
that its recovery was in reality dare-
desH undertaking. The first thing TO do
was to locate the treasure, and at this
point Moll Deli appeared upon the scene.
Where she came from nobody knows, but
she had the Erd SpieJei, (magic mirror)
which had the power TO reveal to its pos
SCISSOR the secrets of Mother Earth. I'm
der her guidance and direction the exca-
walton was made. but at the last moment
the scheme collapsed. At the critical peri
cd when the final rush is TO be made the
spirits may be expected to interfere.
Sometimes horrid noises are heard and
monstrous shapes appear to frighten the
workers, who must not say a word for
fear of breaking the charm, even If they
are IriEnIcueu 70 ucdlu. lIe WOflu StOOu
breathless in anticipation till Old Sock,
Sassafras Solly and the rest Of them made
their report, and while it seems TO have
been the only source Of information, it
was quite sufficient to set tongues a-wag-
ging for two generations. Whether Mol
Dell ever secured another job from her
employer history is silent, though Or.
Livengood says he made other explora-
tions for the precious metals. She was
not buried in this county, and the only
memento left to recall her memory is a
fountain 10y the road side, pretty well up
on the western slope Of the mountain,
wheresh once halted for few moments
on summer day, and by simple act
Of fcondescension made i: famous for ever.
To this day it is still pointed out to way
farers as the Moll Dell Spring. A few
words more and l will close. resd the
iudenture Of apprenticeship published in
Mr.. Welhey's article in the last HERALD.
II looked quite familiar. I had copied
the thing more than once myself from a
book of forms, but this was the first time
tllst Il afforded me any amusement