Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1901-04-06

farm now owned by Mr.. Herbrook.
On the banks of Mud brook and OF
the Cuyahoga river are many steep
hills and secluded gullies between.
Horses were tied out in these quiet
places till either the hunt for them
was over or became too hot for COM
fort. when the outfit was removed a
station or two to the west. Hnkley
township was the next place west.
The next main one was near Norwalk,
Ohio, nt what was known then as
quicker Brush" This was joint
station for the entertainment of horse
thieves and counterfeit money hand
lcrs. 1t was about one nights drive
with good team from yellow Creek.
Sundays on the river were always
spent in the relaxing amuscments Of
the early days There were churches
Mt Hudson and Cuynhoga Falls. where
the spiritual man was rcgalcd with
the old fashioned ideas of n future
state. ] remember well that | com
pared hell fire with the rather fcrvent
heat necessary TO melt up n lot OF
liquid glass before pouring coins.
years by Johnnie Botzum. mt Botzum
station, was the real headquarters of
the countcrfeiters, gamblers and horse
! thieves that made yellow Creek fa-
| nous. 1t was the little red tavern
| the scene of one or two bloody mur
| dcrs since then. OF Sunday in
June, with the river to the cast run
| ming clear and sweet through the
growing fields of bottom corn this old
| tavern was n popular melting place
/ for the men and boys of the river.
| There was plenty of wrestling for
those able to take part. Others could
gain respect by jumping, or the
merits Of rival horses could he settled
upon the bottom stretch east of the
river. For those who took more pleas
game of poker was provided inside
the house. The all pcrvnding thirst
was catered to with rum and domestic
whisky. The fun WAS fast and bois
! ferrous ON the outside and became
I'm many instances rude and unbe-
coming on the inside when the drunk
IN players disputed over their win
nings. have seen some very peculiar
fights there over tritics. You can
imagine what kind of II place this was
for u boy like me to grow up In. |
saw considerable of activity in those
days.
You asked me about fights | had
seen. Well, one of the worst ones hap,
pcncd In the southeast corner room of
this red tavern | was telling you
about.
The parties TO it had been drinking
considerable whskey during the early
part Of the day and finally started in
to u quiet game of cards, the usual
amusement of strangers. one of the
men appeared able to take care of
himself in any company, being able
bodied and stout. ! never knew just
who he was or where he came from
He was probably after a lot of "coun-
tcrfcit." lie seemed to have plenty of
money and most of it was English
gold. This was unusual to all of us
aud was my first sight of gold money
Gold money was Scarcer in thOS,
days than diamonds are now. Th,
other man In the game was good
strong husky man. I'll not name him
now because some one would know
him or his family. Well, they sal
down ana played quite II spell botl
getting drunk and maddcr nt cacl
other over some real or fancicd diff
fercnccs earlier in the day. The,
quarrclcd loudly and at last the strang
' er took the stakes off the table and pu
j. three gold souvenirs into his mouth
g Bin, the local man, was just drunl
enough to try to get them out wit
j. his thunh and fingers of his LEFT hand
The stranger set his teeth neatly int
T. the thumb above the first joint an,
y hung ON, Bin hollcred, let go an
l. battcd his face, but the bite was ye
effective. The lighting was furious iii
y Bills brother handed him butche
!. knife with which he cut the stranger
( throat from ear to ear. The hloo
y Flew over the cards and table, to ever
y ones horror and Bins thumb wa
u released, was dumb with fright, bu
q others interGcrcd. by almost a mira
II Gle the man didn't die as the juguln
d vein was not cut. How's that? VIII
n The knife cut too far in front an
Is touched the wind pipe mainly. Oh
T. DIR. Rice was called in and sewe
l. a.