The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-16
FINDING OF WOMAN'S RING
RECALLS GEORGIA ROMANCE
Story of Gambling Transaction and Murder
4 Which Led to a Death Of Peculiar
AtrOcity.

ne lIIne WdS Sctchty yCehs dho ~. =
ago. The place was a town in middle
Georgia, which has since become one OF
the States most thriving cities. In a
room of that city on winters night
nishinss of the room and the high bred
bearing of the young men indicated that
they belonged to the patrician order OF
the South.
at the fireplace leaning against the man
tel and watching his two companions.
who were seated at a table playing cards:
| The gold and notes before them showed
| stakes. The pale face, compressed lips
| and the agitation. hardly restrained. of
one of the card players told that he was
losing heavily. The game progressed q
| short while and then the agitated player
tossed his cards on the table with the ex-
clamation:
You have won again. and I am pen.
niless. You have had the DEVILS owr
Not luck" retorted the other as h
| reached to gather in the stakes, 'bu
SKILL Before you play again ! would ad
wise you to learns the game"
sneering and Irritating. a card droppet
| from the sleeve of the arm whose hant
was busy with the gold and notes OF
| the table. The fall of the card was no
ticed by the loser, who sprang to his
'e sch SsylPs'
The viii ner arose and Kissed at his &C
cuser the word:
The loser sprang at the winner and q
deadly struggle began between the two
men. which was soon ended By the fal
| of the unsuccessful. card player 10 tn
floor. A gaping wound in his throat from
which, the blood spurted in steady jets
| showed that knife had been driven
home.
The third man was occupied with his
and unexpected that ths third young man
who was leaning against the mantel had
| no time to interfere. AS the wounded
man fell. however, he sprang to his side
and tried to, stanch the blood. But the
| knife had been driven with savage force
| and almost instantly the man who had
| been cheated at cards was also robbed OF
| life.
The third man avs occupied with his
| wounded friend only a brief while. but
| when he rose the successful card player
and murderer had disappeared, not for
| getting the gold and notes on the table
| which represented the price of q human
life.
When the tragedy became known tn,
next morning, a great sensation wa
caused. The slaycr and his victim wer'
members of leading families and the de
tails as related by the only witness
added to the excitement. The family o
the slain man offered a large reward TO
the murderer and a close watch wa
maintained by officers for months. blu
without avail. From the time the muir
derer drove the knife home and fed int
the winter night, no word of his where
. abouts or fate ever came to those inter
ested In him.
A pathetic feature of the tragedy wa
| that the fugitive was betrothed to beau
tiful young woman whose faith in hil
remained mistaken. She refused to bs
lieve that her lover was in the wron
and lived firm In the faith that he woul
| return to clear himself of the charge
| a him and lead her IN the AIfax
But her faith was vain. Death was tn
only bridegroom she ever knew.
With the lapse of years, the TRACED
became only tradition. occasionally re
counted " old men when they becam
garrulous concerning the events OF thei
youth Even conjecture concerning IN
fate of the murderer finally ceased. II
was a member of a large family and a
and in the pulpit, In politics and in bus
mess. the public lost sight Of the Grim
of the erring one in the luster whic
shone about the family name.
Long, ago tie tragedy of that white
night became only as a tale that
told
In 1880 nearly all that portion Of Flor
ida south of Jacksonville was a terri
incognita. PAIRING sattlements at Tamp
and at a few other points on the coast
the Land of Flowers was practically j
the same condition as when discoVere
4
| bled fountain whose waters were to re
WITTY the body which had been ener
waited by the too strenuous dallianc
which marked the court OF the Hidalgos
The thriving town. the well kept orapg
| groves, the pineapple and banaNa plant
aticns. the emerald truck farms, tn
great railway systems and the paIatla
| res r. hotels which mark the Florida o
today. were still the womb of the future
Even Plant and Flagler-the men VIII
were to work the transformation or tn
| Peninsular State by the lavish uso 9
mijlions-were infants at their mother
breasts.
In those days Florida was sort o
: NO Mans Land when once the sma
settlements that fringea the northern Dor
der and the east and west coasts wer
| passed. through the primcval forests q
water oak and pine in their somber ORA
| perry of Spanish moss. the Seminole
| roamed as vet but dimly conscious or tn
, power Of the Great White Father" c
: Washington. and caring only for the al
thority of their chiefs.
| Occasionally, a venturesome spirit. u!
ing the great trail made by the Indian
in passing from Northern Georgia G
visits to their Seminole brethren, woul
penetrate the interior of Florida am
} after months OF absence. return wit
= glowing stories Of the beauties an
wealth Of the semi-t ropic land. But h
tales OF herds of deer 100 numerous
count and as yet ignorant of the crac
] Of the hutner's rife. of rivers and lake
teeming with every variety of fish. c
beaches strewn with shells that were maj
, veIs Of beauty. OF harnmocks tina
| cleaned golden with the lemon and tn
orange. Of great streams which burst J.
full strength from the ground and, al
ter flowing for some miles, suddenly dis
appeared, were regarded as on a par wit
the recitals of Prester John or Baro
/ Munchausen.
To this mo Mans Land in those day
| fccked the runaway slaves and the whit
men whose conduct had rendered 1t i'm
1ble to live at homo without runnin
from Alabama they came, confident
being safe from tho Nemesis of Justic
when once hidden in the funeral forest
} ! Of the Peninsular State. These outcast
/ generally fell in with the Seminoles. tn
| regroCs were made slaves by the II
} | adopted. More than Cne of these rem
| gades b. came a chief and led the Sen
: inoles in their wars with the Unite
] States.
} OF country was the lake country. TIL
region edges the Everglades and boast
( lakes as beautiful as famed Como and
Fclimate which is perfection itself. Thel
: the skies are tinged with that beautit'
} blue which travellers ascribe to those thu
arch over Italy and the air Is AWAY
sensuous 9Th the perfume OF the orane
l and magnoia
: On the border Il tho Everglades. whiC
: keep their secrets even to this day II
; lake region was favorite haunt OF II
| Indians. There in 1850 a subchiet OF II
: Seminoles had est lblished small ,'illas
: and was living in the patriarchal sin
! plicity ard dignity that marks aborlgin;
life There were no more than 1fty sou
in this village, and all were related eitht
by blood ~ marriage to the chief. II
was growing old. but there ere stalwal
| sons 10 take ND his work and perpetual