The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-08-10
TAR HEELS IN THE ROAD.

This Family Has Spited the State For
 Eleven Years--Refused to Pay An
 Old Debt and Were Dispossessed--Ol
 Man Kept Sheriff's Posse at Bay With
 a Musket. Reinforced by His Mltc'
 Who Employed Hot Water.
 Reidsville. N. C.-About two miles from Wentworth, the county seat or Rockingham county on the side ot the road to Reidsville, live the queerest combination of man and wife, squalor, madness and stubbornness that ever puzzled the wits of landlords and coun- ty officers, against whom there is con- stant waging of aggressive ar.
 Notwithstanding the advanced age or CIen and Eliza Wooten-86 and I3- and the exposure to which the last eleven harsh winters have subjected them they are to-day as fiery and as pugnacious as when, in theh palihy days. they kept a sheriff's posse at pay forty-eight hours, Clem cracking away with an old musket through the chlhK holes of an upper story and Aunt Eliza flashing formidable streams ot hot water through the crevices in the wall. Claiming the heaven given promise ot "eating the goose that pecks the grass from the grave of every man III pupllc life at the time of their financial trou- bles, they are about to realize the ful- fiIrnent of their fancied pledge, for many have dropped out of the process sion, some by death, some by business failures and many are showed under bv popular franchise Yet Old Man oti Christmas tree and gloat over the mis- fortunes of their downfallen, imagined foes. It is singular fact and one they are fond to draw from when hurting anathemas upon humanity in general that never have they been forsaken in the matter of rains even when d1stricte within radius of mile were parched from heat and drought They were always successful gardeners but now their truck patches fairly bloom and smile in luxuriant beauty, while, as old Clem puts it, "Ahh-h! They're all burnin' up They won't make enough on Nubbin Ridge ter feed the ole 'om- ans chickens a week. But here's yo' cabbage an yo' inghuns, an thar's yo con an yo' snaps, higher'n yo' head an WI r11ll OIlS dll iHuoliliil oilo I've sho' got 'em.'
 It is long story of fraudulent trans fer of realty to evade payment of an old debt and the subsequent triumph of the creditor in finding the fraudulent gran tee in financial straits and purchasing the land, rendering the old debt in part payment. Then follows eviction in the fall of 1888, their stubborn, spiteful and vindictive natures refusing all prof. fered homes or to buy a shelter from the approaching winter-for they had money and many household comforts. The provisions of the law were met and they placed on the Reidsvile road in sight of their old home and here they declared, they would stay ''till they routed, just for spite" Their spite however was of a too vigorous type for, after spending the winter in an old wagon, sleeping between the feather beds, and cooking al fresco, with here and there beneath the scrubby oaks pieces of valuable furniture-mahogany sideboards, mirrored walnut chamber suits and bric-a-brac-they were ad- judged nuisances and lodged in jail There was no provision for the house. hold goods, and, as a result, there is lit tie left to indicate the prosperity they once enjoyed. Mules, chickens-a hun- dred or more-four barns of tobacco