The Washington times., 1904-07-13

IuSg udu llFeq IN W OOdVale, suburb o
Johnstown- The father had investe,
which ne used for a pillow. He told hi
rev intlmates that he always felt SAT
in that cubbyhole. because the hors
stabbed on the other side OF the thil
partition would always wake him.
His Traps to Kill Thieves.
Beyond the narrow passage on which
these closets opened was a larger room
in which were the heavier pieces which
the old man dealt in. II was not lighte,
by any window. Here and there a streal
OF daylight shot into the gloom acros.
many cobwebs and made the place seen
even more nearly chaotic than 1t really
was.
Old Abbott spent many hours in thi.
back room devising traps with which L
Kill the thieves who We're always prey
ing on him. even as he preyed on them
he had stone slabs poised on cross
beams TO fall upon the head of any Ont
who should stumble over q trigger
stretched beneath. Seven or eight shot
guns and rifles were set with springs
every night and aimed at the doors
These things became a tradition in the
neighborhoOd, which he took every occa.
sion TO keep alive.
His Appearance.
Abbott was not one whose personality
would cause him to be much troubled
by the attentions of visitors who had
TO business with him. IL he had ever
stood erect he would have been thought
a tall man. But he never stood erect
He bent forward, and his arms swung
ahead of him as he shuffled about
The neighbOrs seldom had speech with
him. But they saw him often. No day
light hour was his for rest. They saw
him on the roof. hanging burlap bags
along the telephone wires 10 dry They
saw him building little extra sheds. one
above the other, over his queer nest OF
shacks. He was always pottering
patching. painting, from dawn to dark,
somewhere about his place. He never
worked for five minutes al a time with
out shutting down TO the alley court To
look for thieves.
The Other Murdered Man.
In only one man did he have any
trust He grew to know that Henry Van
Buskirk was without guile Or malice.
Some of the folks in the neighborhood
called Van Buslxirk Hank" Most of
them knew him as Van" He was ten
years or more younger than the old
miser
Van Buskirk was garrulOus. He spent
hours in the saloons telling Of the affiu-
ence and blue blood of the family from
which he came, in the Wyoming Valley:
He was an excellent carpenter, and when
ne was sober was always employed. He
drank much and worked little
When he was sober he was kind and
sympathetic and merry. When he was
drunk he was hilariously merry. No one
ever saw him angry. No une ever heard
him speak an unkiud word.
Poor old fool Van IS drunk again.
was the most severe judgment they ever
PASSED upon him
Abbott trusted IAN and let him sleep
about the junk leds. Now and then
the old man would give the drunkard
beer money for helping in the patching
or for going on an errand with a load
of secondhand building materials.
The skinfiint's coldness toward the
world relented so much when Van was
in trouble that only last week. when
Van lay helpleSsly drunk in the alley,
old man Abbott came out, and after
enc or two failures 10 arouse the sot
with kicks, called Charles Johnson and
Charles Olsen.
Take him into one Of the stalls" he
said 10 them, and shut him in there so
he can sleep this off, the fool"
A Man He Was Afraid Of.
Johnson and Olsen. with their friend
Dahrlin, were as persistent hangers-on
about Abbott's place as was Van Bus
kirk. But not in the least did the old
man trust these three. He employed
Johnson now and then as carpenter,
when Van was too drunk TO do any
work. lie made messengers OF Dahrlin
and Olsen.
lie constantly accused Johnson OF rob-
bling him. Several times within a few
months he hal caused Johnson arres:
for robbery. The thefts were always
small and were not always proved.
Il IN all right. captain. said Oid
man Abbott to Captain Harllins on the
occasion of the last visit "a the police
20 the fence, except I'm afraid Tor my
life Of that Swede Johnson. He'll get
me sure. It's wonder TO me he hasn't
killed me before now.
An Alleged Threat.
Frederick Black recently bought tht
house at 239 jay Street. He hired John
son TO help him fix the house up, ans
let him sleep there while the WORK wai
going on. Said Johnson 10 Black. 0ns
DAY last week, according 10 the police:
I'm going 10 do that man Abbott
The old slob he ain't done J tight by re
no. And again, Abbott, he make m,
NlAN 0f-AAtAA Ao0A " AN-A AtAN 49, ~ II
Pretty soon he won make 20 fool by
robody no morei"
On Sunday Battalion Chief Matschke
whose headquarters are In Engine 1905
house on jay Street, saw Abbott tOtter-
ing around his shanty roof as usual
hang ng out burlap bags TO dry. No one
has seen him alive since. All day Mon
day Mr. Black found it impossible Il
keep Johnson at work. The man would
hardly take up his tools before he would
lay them down again and go out.
II want to see that old slob Abbott,
he said. 81 think I see him go dowI
street. ] go talk to him"
Backward and Forward.
Aften an absence of an hour or two
he came back and prepared to go u
work again, only to run away with an
other muttered explanation that he must
see Abbott. Nobody missed Abbott Sun
day or Monday or yesterday morning
because nobody cared anything about
him.
Some took notice. however. that Hank
Van Buskirk was unusually drunk on
Sunday evening. He explained 1ovial-
ly to all Sc me-, that Charley Johnson
had borrowed money OF him on SatuI-
6.N and had maid him back With enough