Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-07-01
perIng, it took a great deal Of none!

L
to keep them afloat. The Lincoln
Trust company, Of st. Louis had car
ried many Of Dunovant's enterprises
and for the benefit Of this concern the
railroad was permitted to 60 into the
hands of a receiver. It was a blow
to the warm hearted, impetuous plan
tation owner, who had seen the COM
pletion Of his ambitions almost within
his grasp, but he took 1t bravely. He
succeeded in having Eldridge made re-
ceiver Of the road, and then ne began
to repair his fortunes
Battle For the Railroad.
Crops continued abundant, the cot
ton thrived, the sugar cane was pro-
life, the rice did well, the railroad
showed large earnings. Captain Dun
ovant began to get on his feet again
and to see his way out Of the financial
embarrassments. When the present
period Of prosperity set in right after
the close Of the Spanish war things
looked bright. Captain Dunovant be-
gan to arrange for the recovery Of his
railroad.
| But he was not the only one who
wanted this prosperous little spur Of
track tapping fertile belt and passing
through country growing more and
more productive every day. The great
Atchison system cast covetous eyes
upon it. 1t was capable Of extension
to the coast, they believed. and would
form feeder for their Gulf and Col
orado branch. Dunovant felt secure
in his belief that as soon as he could
command the required capital he
would come into possession Of the
road. He had practically arranged all
the financial details when to his sur
prise he learned that the receiver had
made a sudden sale to the Gulf, Col
orado and Santa Fe.
The news came like a thunderclap
to the old man. It changed him from
a lovable. generous, jovial friend to
the most bitter enemy that William
T. Eldridge or any other man could
have on earth. He met E1dridge on
the street in Eagle Lake, where both
lived, and denounced him to his face
as an migrate. He told Eldridge he
would kill him for an act Of treachery
and he warned him that whenever they
met on a equal footing to prepare to
defend himself, for the signal for
shooting would be sight He begged
Eldridge to get revolver and carry 1t
constantly.
Strange as 1t may seem-and It yet
seems strange in Texas-Eldridge new
er carried gun" For months he
continued to go unarmed, and Captain
Dunovant travelled up and down the
state, breaking out in the most fiery
denunciations Of E1dridge as an in
crate and coward whenever his name
was mentioned. The old man sent
message after message to him through
frfends fmpIoring him to get pistol
and carry 1t. With all his anger and
his heat Dunovant would never shoot
man who did not have an equal
chance in an encounter with him.
Meanwhile Eldridge was made a di-
rector and general manager Of the Cane
Belt railroad, now a part Of the Atchi-
son system.
Woman Becomes Avsnssr.
When the San Antonio and Aransas
Pass railroad train pulled into Simon
ton at noon on August II, 1902, Eld-
ridge alighted. Across the road from
the station stood Captain Dunovant.
There was fash Of fire, report and
the old man fell. He was in his shirt
sleeves. His friends said that he
didn't have revolver with him that
day. At any rate only one shot was
fired, and the captain, quick on the
trigger as he had always been, made
no return. When they picked him up
1t was found that the bullet had en-
tered his back.
Eldridge was arrested within a few
minutes after the shooting and a re-
volver was taken from him. It was
the first time he was known to carry.
one. He was indicted by the grand
jury and released on $25.O00 bail.
Captain Dunovant was taken to the
4 home of his sister, who tenderly nursed
him during the few days he fingered
before he died. Miss Dunovant was a
gentle, kindly soul, noted for her char
tiles and her feminine graces. She
was fifty years old. At her brothers
deathbed she raised her right hand and
took a solemn oath that his death
should be avenged. From that mo-
ment the whole nature Of the woman
seemed to change.
This little woman, who had never
handled firearms, began making such
Inquiries among her friends as these:
'Is 1t possible for woman Of my
age to become proficient with re-
volver or a shotgun?
What is the best way for me to ac-
quire practice with firearms and what
exercise should practice to obtain
steady arm and steady eye?
Would it be possible for me to hire
a man or men to seek out a man and
shoot him down?"
| Some Of her friends thought her
mind had been affected by the shoot
ing Of her brother and the oath Of
vengeance she took at his bedside.
She engaged an attorney and asked
him these questions and many more.
She called upon him so many times
and sought so much information on
the same line that he dreaded to see
her enter the Office. The people Of
three counties talked about 1t. They