The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-12
PLAIN DUTY AS SHERIFF.
TATMAN WENT DOWN To DEFEAT
BEC4rSE HE sHIRKED 1T.
A woman's story when lie Went to Make
an Arrest Caused Him to Face Com
munity's Dispieaaure and to Taste the
Bitterness OF Failure Mt the Polls.


Bitterness OF Failure Mt the Polls.
1t isn't always easy matter for a public
Official to perform his duty" said the man
Of experience by duty | mean what il
required Of him under the law. which is
sometimes widely NJ variance with the
promptings Of heart and conscience ]
have in mind now the d!lncult task imposed
upon Charley Taiman when he Sheriff Of
Clermont county. Tatman had been good
friend Of mine for many years When he has
elected to the Office of Sheriff he asked me to act
MS deputy. During the first year OF Tatman's
term nothing Of importance happened. But
along in the second year Of ou- service Just at
the time when Tatman began to lay his plans
| for re election, We struck snag.
"'Thc farmers I'm the southern part of the coun-
ty gave the alarm. For some time no they com
planned they had pecn suffering from the dep.
relations Of some petty robbcr or band Of robbers
| Most Of the th,i;s were small, but they were con
! inuous and Systematic The lucklcss farmers
/ had banded themselves together for the dclcc.
ten NJ the cuprit and the protection Of their meat
and potatoes. bu, they made no progress in run
! ming down tho thief Once twice. indeed.
! after p light fell NJ snow they had succeeded in
| tracing footsteps from three or four houses whose
! cellars had been looted to place about quarter
~ mile distant from the scene NJ plumber. but at
that distance the footsteps suddenly disap.
pcared.
The formers suspicious were strongly aroused
| nRhins, n family named Leach. The teaches
! had always been considered the most worthless
! white trash in the ncighbothocd They were
/ lazy, they were unclcany and they were ignorant
I II was 4 we'll known fact that Hiram Leach had
! not done days work in two years. Yet in spite
| of this protractcd leisure the teaches continued
! To shift along in their usual hnphnzard manner
"a Iii, lac
! and baggage. as would have been the fate 81 any
/ other family In similar circumstances. Finally
! the farmers appealed to Tatman TO help FIX the
4 guilt, and In response 10 this entreaty Tatman
sent me down into the southern townships To
| II could find the thi"ving rascals Already
! the hitclings who stir up political gossip had
| caused 1t a. he hruiicd about over the county
| that Taman was totally incompetcn; and tina,
| he did not earn tn" salary Of good dog catcher,
much less the fat sum paid The Sheriff Of Clermont
! county Judging by these reports 1t quite
| plain that II Tatmnn did not soon redeem himself
In the eyes Of the voters he might ~ we'll wrap
, up his political hopes for the future and save tho
money he would necessarily have To spend In
| tho coming campaign
a. too. was banlcd when trying tn discover
the prruiner " hams and similar food Three
ruhbctic- were committed In many weeks after
| took the case in hand At last determined
10 ec; out warrant and search l.ench's house.
Before taking action / went up 10 Batavia and
consulted Tatman.
81 suprose he said doubtiully, that II is the
only thing We can do I've got In do something
10 make a record for myself or I'll be as bad oil
as they say this Leach is. guess I'll go with
you. My presence will perhaps, make the man
ocuvrc more effective and serve political timber
next fall
r,tI Jar in han Fat
man and left Batavia u make our raid On Ieach's
, house. II was twenty miles from our town Ia
the liver country The roads were rough and
IN some places we'll nigh impossible, and al
though W. tel out caHy in the morning II WAS
late in TIE afternoon when We turned into III"
narrow lane that led trum the highway back To-
lerCh'S. This lane was long and winding aud
It's intriCacirs were hard 10 master, but after hav
ing passed through hnrhystd which was en-
tered nj nn less than dozen different places by
As many sets Of hars We fou.i ourselves on the
crest 81 steep hill at the foot Of which. according
10 The testimony Of the boy who was feeding ne
shiycnne animals IN The sheep shcd Ne should
tie "' bassy and walked Iowa. dow" .c hiiI We Kept
i'll We came almost 10 tic base Of the hill did We
SCI. any signs uf ahabi'ati"n. Then suddenly
little pun 81 blue wood smoke was seen curing up
thr ugh the drnudcd branches ul the trees To nur
ricE'. We wrat ~ a few STEPS tafthct and the
hous" it,If was in siglt twas such little house
II frame and Logs, hud Its color was - very drhb
and diSrpuragIng Ihst had We not had the boys
word frr II that Leach lived there, We should have
really house n stable, Notwithstanding the
evidence of the chimney and tie smoke
into The yard The sound Il hr1fs aud wheels
had aroused the inmates 81 the house aud he.
fore W. reached the door small colony Of children
and dogs came trpnalng round 10 the northern
wonirnnelv. The children were clad scomtly
in ny "n c had f sas :s s hair HAIR s sna
dirty faces ard pei" blue eyes They were II
various ages and s2rr, IN which respect they We're
Ilg I've tod
NJ and addressed tie taIlcst boy. Whctc's
The boy pushed back tho tow culored name
through when he had brcn staring and nodded
toward the rear of the house he sharp whack
Of descending axe striking against hard wood
emphasized tnc boys nod II WAS nov apparent
ihaI the sound OF ihe choppinS which had been
breaking ON the sill, heavy air at intervals since
We began To descrnd the hill originated ON lcach's
premises In e ponsc To The boys silcnt request
" follow him, Iatmnn and fell in with the group
81 boys and girls and dogs and went around To- the
back yard. Once IN sght "i this dreary spot We
came h dead stop The chopper Was an old
woman: Her forehead Was network Of wrinkles
lisr ,i h",T was E@'"wsh grey There was Gny
Rn @sP al !" h tor M h @"S Sen All n% F S
strings which had escaped the lhralldonl Of the
comb and struggled down around her bony neck
a,.spnychi cvcry angle, Of her ESun,, unsany
uncouth woman, but somehow there was some
thing "bou; lcr tina, made me feel timid Tatmnn
SAW my U'pInhunn ana loph inc Initiative lie
stepped forward and stood directly before the
chopper She held the axe poised in the air for a
moment. den let II sink down asv on the hickory
chunk She rested her hands on the handle and
bent her tall body slightly forward
We'll she said, what You want?'
Her steady look disconnected Tatmhn too
for a minute but he hraccd up and came To the
point without any useless prrliminariCs
"'Does Hiram Leach live here he asked
ives she said. stlnv
"'lS he nj home" continued Tatmhn
YES She repeated
81 should like to him. said Tatman
THE woman Eraspcl the axe handle tighter
then aud leaned over n little farther What you
want 81 him she asked
"'la,man looked nj her Significantly I'm the
sheriff he said blunly and cruelty. Perhaps
you can guess the rest
The axe dropped In the ground at that and
the woman pressed her coarse red hands 10 her
cheeks, over which snow flakes were drifting like
half-frulcn tears She made audible reply 10
Ietman's communication but the children who
had gathered close about us took alarm at the
dread word sheriff and broke out into con.
Cercd wall Of alright, AS though they had heard
the craci Of DOOM
Are you l.cacIs wife, said 1atman
NO his sister His wfcs dead. Died when
thiS'n was baby she said. laying her ha nd on
the head Of the smallest child which had essayei
IN IN lie N frId Il h,r