Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1900-12-17

WaShDufn, N. u, O0C. 11-OOIHS-
times in the face of fiction and through
a. mist of the unreal there comes a
story of truth, that in it's quaint and
peculiar circumstances puts in the
background even the most peculiar
plots and fiction Of the story writer.
The true story, which has to deal
with two human lives and has come
to light here, shows how differently
fate deals with different personages.
The coincidence, if it is one, is brought
to mind by the death of Senator G. K.
Davis 1t is brought to mind sby the
death of two men and of the incidents
in which each played his part in one
of the tragic dramas of real life, which
now and again thrust their head be-
fore the worlds footlights, and make
people shudder and wonder.
The other of the principals in the
tragedy, the obscure one, died few
years. ago at Dead Mans Coulee,
Painted Woods, and if ever a man
died unhonored, surely it was that
man. Left almost unattended at the
house of neighbor, who had but lit
tie sympathy and respect for him,
while his own house was a scene of
revelry and gaiety which the frontier
only knows, his soul winged it's flight
while the ribald sounds rang among
the rafters Of his own roof.
His corpse, stiffened and rigid by
exposure, was dumped into a wagon
box, Uttered by refuse hay, and in the
clothes he had lived and died in, the
body took it's last journey to Bis
marck. The silent trip gave no worry
to the driver as he bumped and ratified
his silent companion along the rock
lined highway. The dead man was
received and buried by the G. A. r.
post, his wife refusing to appear at
the funeral, and when Geographic
communication was sent to his rela-
tives in Minnesota asking what to do
with the body the laconic reply came,
Bury it."
This forsaken dead man had started
out in life with more promise than the
great man who died but a few days
ago, mourned by the nation. He was
a reputable physician in good stand
ing; once hospital steward and after
ward when the war was ended a man
who had gained the reputation of
being man of letters, with good
future before him. Life was full of
promise, and in 1866 he was certainly
much more promising man than
Lieut.. Davis, who had left the army
broken in health because of a life of
privatiOn and hard fighting. The ex-
lieutenant was struggling attorney
in st. Paul with a reputation yet to
come, and there, at that time, the
fates of these two men merged.
The struggling attorney was called
upon to defend man accused of MUIR
der. DR.. Van Solen was accused of
the murder of DR.. Harcourt, in cold
blood. 1t was a crime which startled
the little community at that time, and
was the talk of the northwestern coun-
try. The struggling attorney was Sc
cured to defend the promising doctor,
and the doctor who finally died an OBJ
scure death, gave the future senator
his first score in the race of life. A
murder case in which all the circum-
stances were against the prisoner, yet
the prisoners attorney, G. K. Davis,
handled the case so skillfully that the
verdict was one of acuittal
That was the verdict of the jury, but
to add to the laurels of that young at
torney, it is said even now that the
majority of those outside of the fury
who had followed the evidence, inc1ud-
ing the prisoners own mother, be-
TT
Dr. Harcourt in cold blood 1t was the
first step on the ladder of fame From
that time on young Davis climbed un-
til he reached almost the pinnacle of
the ambition of an American citizen,
next to the head of the nation himself,
and the ruler of the destinies of
nation.
But the peculiar connection is yet
to be told. The red tattoo" came to
bring death to both of these men,
whose lives for time were entwined
in the battle against fate. The death
of Senator Davis, his physicians
stated, was traceable to a red mark
in one of his little toes, running in
ward and downward, which after
time turned to blood poisoning, finally
resulting in death. This was the
cause of the death of the great man,
beloved by ALL
A red blotch on the end of the lit
tie finger, running inward and down
ward, turning to blood poisoning,
caused the death of DR.. Van Solen, in
that lonely house in Dead Mans
Coulee.
The time of year and duration of
sickness in both cases were the same