The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-12
PLAIN DUTY AS SHERIFF.
ThTMAN WENT DOWN TO DEFEAT
BEC4rSE HE sHIRKED 1T.
A woman's story when lie Went to Mako
an Arrest Caused Him to Face Com
munIty's DispIcasure and to Taste the
Bitternesa of Failure ut the Polls.

Bitterness OF Failure at the Polls.
1T isn't always an easy matter for 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 al variance with the
prompungs Of heart and conscience.
| have in mind now the difficult task imposed
upon Charley Taiman when he Sheriff Of
Clermont county. Tatman had been a good
friend Of mine for many years When he has
elected to the Office of Sheriff he asked mo To &c,
as deputy. During the first year Of Tatmans
term nothing Of Importance happened. But
! along in the second year Of gu. service, Just at
the time when TatmHn began TO lay his plans
, for re election. struck snag
"'Thc farmers I'm the southern part of the coun-
! ~ gave the alarm. For some time, no they com.
planned they had pccn suffering from the dep.
relations of some petty robbcr or band Of robbers
Most Of the th,its were small, but they were
Gnuous and Systematic The lucklcss farmers
/ had banded themselves together for tho dctcc.
ten NJ the culptt and the protection of their meat
| and potatoes bu, they made no progress in run
ming down tho thief Once or twice indeed.
after p light foil Of SNOW they had succeeded in
| tracing footsteps from three or four houses whose
cellars had been looted to place about quarter
of mile distant from the scene NJ plumber but at
tina, distance the footsteps suddenly dsap.
| pcarcd.
The formers suspicious were strongly aroused
| against n family named Leach. The teaches
! had always been considered the most worthless
! white trash in the ncighborhood. They were
1 lag, they were unclcanly 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 haphhzard manner
/ instead ~ brng packed oil to the poorhousc. bag
! and baggage. as would have been the fate 81 any
other family In similar circumstances. Finally
! the farmers appealed to Taman TO help TX the
/ guilt and In response 10 this cntreaty Thtmnn
/ zen; me- down into the southern townships To
| II could find the thirvng raScals Already
! the hirclings who stir up political gossip had
| caused it a. he hnI!icd about over the county
| tina, Taman was totally incompetcn; and that
| he did not earn the salary Of a good dog catcher
much less the fat sum paid the Sheriff of Clermon,
1 county Judging by these reports 1t was quite
| plain tha, II Tatman did not soon redeem himself
In tho eyes Of the voters he might we'll wrap
, up his political hopes for the future and save tho
| money he would necessarily have 10 spend In
! the coming campaign.
a. tou. WAS baGIcd when trying IN discover
| the purpiner VI hams and similar food Three
| ruhbctics were committed In as many weeks after
! | took the case in hand At last / determined
! 10 gc, out warrant and search Iench's house
Before taking action went up TO Batavia and
consulted Tatman.
81 suppose, he said doub,fully, that II is the
only thing can do I've got In do something
10 make a record for myself or I'll be as bad oil
they say this Leach is guess I'll go with
you My presence will perhaps, make the man
rcuvrc more effective and serve political timber
next fall
1T was e cold snowy day in March when Tat.
man and left Batavia IN make our raid on lcach's
house II WAS twenty miles from our town 10
the liver country The roads were rough and
Ia some places we'll nigh impGssahr, and al
though We sci out raEy in the morning 1t WAS
narrow lane that led from the highway back 10
lerCh'S, This lane was long and winding and
It's intucacies were hard To master but after hay
ing passed through a hHnysrd which was en-.
tered nj no less than dozen different places by
as many sets uf bars. we found ourselves on the
crest 81 steep hill at the foot OF which. according
10 the testimony ot the boy who was feeding IL
shiycunr animals IN The sheep shcd Ne should
e a hsy and Walked d"% a"q h SI hc .,
Iccrng round us shar,,ly Is We went but not UNI
I'll "" cane almost 10 " base 81 the hill did We
little pun oi blue wood smoke was seen curling up
,hr ugh the drnudcd branches oi the tree, To nur
hous. itoif wGs In sight II was such little house
"f frame and KS. and its color was very .drab
word ~ ii that Leach lived there We should have
been IN doubt Ms To whether lcach,s mouse were
really house ~ n stable. Notwithstanding the
cvidcnc" ni the chimney and VI. smoke
NC hit,lcd our h"Isc to a cherry ire" and went
into the yard The sound Il h"@fs aud wheels
had aroused The inmates Of the huuac and he
fore W. reached tho door small colony Il children
, and dogs came trloring round 10 III" northern
corner Of =" building and stood looking a. nS
wunirrrcv. The children were clad scHntly.
ArS ny Vic c ' hn f s s1 Lem Ss fT sSS
dirty faces and pei" blue eyes They were II
various ages and s2rr, IN which respect they were
like uni" the dogs which also represented wide
lpVF NIft0a.V
uP aud addressed the tallcst boy. Mhc:c's
yourtGthcr' he asked.
through when he had brcn staring and nodded
toward the rear Of the house he sharp whack
emphasized ,nc boys nod II waS nov apparent
thal the sound Of .hc choppinS which had been
breaking on the sill heavy air at intervals since
We began 10 descend the hill originated ON lcach's
premises In re punsc To the boys Silcnt request
70 follow him, lHtnan and fell in with the group
Of boys and girls and dogs and went around 10 the
back yard. once III slght al this drenry spot, We
came 10 dead stop The choppcI Was an old
Her hair was y yclowsh grey. There was only
wisp oi II. This WAS twisted into "A tight little
knob at Me top Of her head, all except a lew thin
strings which had escaped the thralldunl Of the
comb and struggled down around her bOny neck
The woman's checks were thin and creased and
dTpIayci sy"ry angie Of her gann nng AMY
figure" Tahcn all in all, she was very homcy,
thing 6bou; lcr that made me feel timid 1ntman
saw my trcpldaton and took the Initiative lie
chopper She held the axe poised in the air for n
moment. trn let II sink down easily 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 Tatmnn. too
for minute, but he braccd up and came To the
point without any useless prcliminariCs
docs Hiram Leach live hcrc?' he asked
"'NcS' she said. Stiinv
"'IS he At home continued Tatman
YES, she repeated
81 should like TO SEQ him. said Tatman
THE woman GTaspc the axe handle tighter
then and leaned over little farther. What YOU
want uf him? she asked
"Tatman looked nj her significantly I'm the
sheriff he said, bunuy and cruelty. Perhaps
you can guess the rest
The axe dropped In the ground at that and
the woman pressed her coarse red hands TO her
checks over which snow flakes were drifting like
halfirozcn tears. She made no audible reply 10
'letmans communication, but the children who
had gathered close about us took alarm at the
dread word sheriff and broke out into n con.
certcd wall Of alright as though they had heard
the crack Of doom.
Are you l.cacl's wife! said Tatman
mo, his sister His wifcs dead Died when
thiS'n was a baby she said laying her hand on
the head Of the smallest child which had cssayei
IN Ia in T,Id b,r.