El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-09-10
THE HATFIELDS AT HOME.
A Land Where Human Life Is Cheap
and the Workmanship Is Poor.

and the Marks manship Is Poor.
when l went with a surveying par
ty into the Tug river country, in West
Virginia, several years ago. there was
doubt as to whether the natives would
let US stay, "ssid f. G. Albright, a civil
engineer. In general it was taken for
granted by the mountsineers that any
stranger who crossed the dead line,
where the mountain district begins,
was an enemy, revenue officer or
sheriff, whom it was their duty to pot
for the public safety. But shortly be-
fore our coming the United States mar
shals had made some impression on the
district and inspired a respect for gov
ernment. The mountaineers regarded
our surveys and railroad building as
part of the government, and according
ly did not melest US.
"All are hospitable, and, like the
Arab, the mountaineer regards the
stranger who has eaten his salt as be-
ing under his protection. This brings
me to q story of Devil Anse Hatfield
aud two OF our railroad detectives.
Devil Anse, as you probably have
heard, is the patriarch and leader OF the
Hatfield clan. He lives in his fortified
house on Island Creek with six or
seven armed men always there a
guard. Somehow the two detectives
hada got the i'll Will of the Hathelds,
aud an ambush was laid for them. The
detectives got wind OF 1t. They knew
the country and the people and de-
cided on the only thing that they could
do. Leaving the road, they made
detour behind the men in ambush, and
rode straight TO the house Of Devil Anse
Hatfield. AS luck would have it the
old man was away, perhaps superinten-
ding the ambush, and they got to the
house and within the door without be-
ing fred at. They set their rifles in a
corner, hung their belts and pistols
against the wall, sat down and asked
for something to eat When Devil Ause
came back the woman had fed the de-
tectives, and as they had eaten bread
beneath his roof there was nothing for
the OLD man to do but to play host with
the best grace he could show. he made
the best OF the matter and gave the
men the best supper aud breakfast that
the house afforded, and fed their horses.
The next morning he sent them with a
guide by an out-of-the-way part OF the
country.
He'll see you safe, said Devil Anse
at parting. If you took the main trail
you'd likely meet some of my folks and
J reckon they'd turn their guns loose
without stopping.to ask where you've
been
with all their readiness to shoot
W
cry man is supposed to carry a revolver
and u Winchester rifle, the men are
not good marksmen with either OF
these weapons. With the old-fash ion
ed, ong-barrelled squirrel rifle, using
q rest, the mountaineer can draw fine
bead and bark a squirrel on high
limb with great deal OF certainty.
But using Winchester in q mix-up,
such as is apt to occur when hostile
e. fRnr h0.- - l.r-
he pumps away great deal of am
munition for every men that falls.
When he starts deliberatelylout to kill
a man he always plans to shoot him
from an ambuscade. This he calls tax
ing q BUSH to q man. Not to be q
partisan in' one of the border feuds-
there are half q dozen along the line.
some more inveterate and bloody than |
the Hatfield-McCoy vendetta-is to be |
a man of small conside ration in the |
community. The very young men are |
the worst. One of these is apt to think |
that he is of TO account until he has |
got his man. He kills somebody of an
other clan to esta blish his reputation, |
and so keeps alive the feud.
Few men that take part in the feuds |
have any idea how the quarrel started /
and what were the rights and wrongs
In the matter. That man is named |
Mccoy or Hatfield is reason enough in
the minds of any partisan opponent for
killing him if a good chance offers. 1t
is probable that some of the feuds date
back to the end of the last century
when the whites first settled in the
mountains. They were pirates aud
outlaws generally, the tradition runs,
who, after the revolutionary war, found
the settled part of Virginia too warm
for them and were forced westward
until, entering the mountains by way
OF Cumberland Gap, they found re-
gion where they could remain. They
are not religious people. In summer
or autumn an open-air meeting is some
times held in a meadow or in a grove.
IL 10 we'll attended-too we'll, indeed.
for almost invariably il ends in a fight,
with shooting and somebody hurt.
Mormons are active in this region and
have made many proselytes. They do
not preach nor do the converts adopt
the polygamous features of the faith.
The primitiveness of some of the
most beyond belief. During the build
ing of the Norfolk and Northern rail-
road the engineer of passing construc-
tion train was hailed by a native, who
asked him to stop and take him
aboard. AS the train continued on the
fellow looked surprised and then in
dignan,.
"TIl teach you Manners he said,
and opened fire on the engineer with
his Winchester. The engineer threw
open the throttle, and he and the fire.
man lodged between the locomotive
and tender, where they stayed until
the train got out Of range. Such hap
repeated in one or another
form lent variety and excitement to
railroad construction in this country,
where the missionary had not arrived
and the school master was not abroad. :"