Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1902-09-24


foreigner, unused to the wa q t's
country. unfamiliar with its laws, anu
at pinch, there was always a way OF
dealing with opponents who became
TOO truculent or too successful.
With indomitable energy and per
severance he at last got his Wltes
claims in such shape that his frlenos
declared he must win when the evi
dence was presented to the courts. Inc
last missing link in the title was the
Valdes deeds, and these, after a long
and tireless search. he had at last oo.
tanned. After an arduous two years
struggle his triumph seemed at hand.
Then it was the other SIDE showed
how they proposed to escape from their
desperate corner. Banning, with MS
wife, was passing out OF crowded
theatre one night. In the pack Of people
nobody noticed who pressed next him.
Suddenly he grasped the arm OIL MS
wife more closely, exclaimed, Il am
stabbed" and fell to the ground. IL
was a mortal wound; he died three
days later. Several arrests followed
but the real culprit was never caught.
This sensational episode in the con-
test was followed by the burglary OF
his house and the theft of the Faides
deeds. Mrs. Banning collapsed under
al, the strain. Taking her little
daughter, she fled from Peru and again
came to San Francisco to Vls't her
sister But her heart was broken. she
pined away and in three years died.
Jessie was kept at school till she grad
mated. then she went back to her rela-
tiyes in Peru. Then for the first time
she began to hear the stories about the
strife over the tracts OF val
uable woods and the reasons
why her father had been MUIR
lered. The cowardly act incensed
her. She spent all her spare time gong
over the records and the evidence, and
when she realized the mass OF crime
and swindlipg operations that had rob-
he'd and crushed out the lives OF her
parents she resolved to make 1t the
effort of her life to get justice and
bring the guilty parties to punishment.
So with little money, but with all her
fathers pluck, this frail girl took up
the contest. 1t was good fortune more
than chance that sent George Flores to
her standard when she began her con-
test against the unscrupulous enemies
of her father. Flores had been squeezed
ont of his holding In the rich Bella
Donna mine by Leon Valladolla and
some of his c-onies. This Valladolla
was one Of the leading spirits who con-
tested the rights of Miss Banning to
the timber claims. Flores was the first
to open up the rich ledge of the Bella
Donna. but he needed capital to develop
the mine with modern machinery. He
went to Valladolla, showed him the
prospects in sight, and offered him a
share, providing he would furnish the
necessary capital to equip the mine
with machinery. Valladolla jumped at
the chance, put up the money, and in
a year had the finances of the mine in
such shape that Flores was COM
PEELED to sell out to him for a song
Flores swallowed the bitter pill, but
he vowed revenge. So when Jessie Ban
ming reopened the case in the courts fol
possession of the great mahogany
forests Flores went to her, told hel
what he knew, and offered to help hel
all he could. His was invaluable assist.
ance, for not only had he heard Valla
dolla recount some of the inside work
,uss Of the ring" to grab the forests