The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-08-10

After Q few months Incarceration, they were released and, by order ol the Board of Commissioners, placed on q tract of the county's land near the Foor- house. Nine years they lived here ana in peaceable possession, clearing new fields each year. and, after few Wlh- ters, which in time grew by constant additions to quite cosy home. It was then permanence illumined their hopes, and he served notice on the county Commissioners that he held color ol tue for all the adjoining lands of the county by seven years peaceable ana uliiilo- tested possession. He was hls own counsellor however, and his dream ol empire had a rude awakening, for, un- der a, suit for possession, he was eVlcted again in November, 1897, he and his wife being carried bodily like babies, half a mile to their present home. Thls step was not taken, however, untll after the refusal to pay rental or llVe cents per annum for the place or to all low any one else to pay it for them, the rendering of rent invalidating their claims to the land.
 Under an open railshed crouching over a few f1ickering embers, these old people Weathered the horrors of the severest, the longest and dreariest Win ter ever before known here. The driV- ing sleets and snows, the drenching rains and the biting winds have told a
 sad and narrowing tale of suffering on their rugged faces. It is no wonder that madness darts out from thelr every utterance The only wonder IS that they were not frozen, sleeping as they did on the bare ground with such scanty covering and that drenched by every rain They cannot be induced to accept a house for life with every conl- fort age can need. Stubbornness, pride and a general distrust of human mo- tives are the authors of all their woes.
 They scorn with cynical gesticulation all expressions of sympathy, nor can ad- vice be rendered them through mega phone.
 Calling to see them to-day, I found
 the old crone drilling a pet chicken in some very remarkable fancy tactics.
 She said Clem had just stepped down
 the road to kill Frank Williams for
 hauling wood from their acres. Will
 Hams, I soon learned, was the agent of the legally recognized landlord, and eX- pected to hear of a sangulnary conflict. It was not long, however, till the old fel- low came in. with a bloodless axe on his shoulder, cycling me suspiciously; and. with a countenance bordering i midway upon hellish diabolsm and smiling welcome, he began to confide
 the plan of campaign against his op- pressors. He would sue. the bondsmef of each county officer concerned in his eviction; he had alredy gained all the county lands; and. by order of the court. he had been placed in possession of 1 LOO acres of land on which he now resides and by the failure of the former
 owner to forbid prior to ten days oc- cupaton of the premises, he was now in possession, and that wasn't all for his itemized fortune amounted to half a
 million dollars, the disposition of which he was now arranging. He asked me, in consideration of the Journals interest in him, to sign lengthy and llberally signed document indicating a wiling ness to become a devisee under him to the amount of a hundred thousand dol lars.
 At present they are very comfortably uuartered in a rude dirt floor hut, sur rounded by such pets as hogs, cows and chickens, from which source, aided by the old mans occasional jobs they de- rive their daily bread. However, the spectacle presented is one of dissolution, decay and spoliation. All the furniture lies scattered along the road beneath a sediment of mud and leaves. What was q ,l,o 11O a r.
 tie oak till piece by piece, it went to ruin. and now is stacked with the re-
 mainder of the plunder where they
 spent the winters-beneath the open sky. Looking at this Aunt Eliza's eyes filled with tears as she said; 'Oh, 1t was such a fine clock, but it was deli
 cate an couldn't stand it like us. l wish my old weather beaten wheels could stop like it, for I'm mighty tired CT stayin' out in the cold an rain.'
 It is an old and generally accredited story, that as a girl, Aunt Eliza was one of the prettiest girls and consequently the belle, of her native county; that she had danced with numerous men of state and national distinction, and had more than once figured in affaires danlour with them. Questioned as to this state ment of Madame Rumor, she diverted
 her wrinkled face, puffed away at her pipe in thoughtful silence and answered.:
 'Naw I never danced step in my life. nor I wa mt no belle, nuther They say anything 'cept the'r pra'rs now, an they don't take time ter whistle them v To casualists the whole is ludicrous picture and diversion. From them ori- ginate some of the wild acts for which the fanatical outcasts are credited, such, for instance, as their recent action
 in posting their land" against all tres-
 passers and felling huge trees across
 the road running through their yard"
 They are now disposed to be more lib- eral, and announce their intention of allowing the road to remain open, but will tablsh a toll gate, which being across the main country road, will be a
 source of considera ble revenue to them.
 Still their life is only life of wait
 ing. conscious of being a human foot ball of remorseless kickers and an ever rebounding boomerang upon civilized community. Upon the recommendation of the Grand Jury at the last term of court, the presiding judge ordered them th inc county lands from