West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1904-02-25
sptelsl eorIespondsnce o. QUO Arsas.

There.
Special correspondence OF The Argus.
hearn The smallpox was thick in wAe,.
sell Seuiemen, and there has been so much
dispe,ing am,ng the doc,nrs aud County
c"nit as 10 its being genaine aud as have
had some experience in tina, iine ami think
l know the fellow when see him. started
for Whsts,lI I wanted to see m, old
fiend Squire FELTON, as the Rambler told me
he was goiog TO bs before The Primary for
Assessor and knew Il was no use 10, him
10 Try II wiihou, my aid aud influence. l
also wanted To eieeiioneer some for "B,ip'
Shsfter on The same trip aud Kin two stones
with ono blri.
The first place landed was at wheisell
pos,oihce. l noticed as veutused up that
'Ike" had everything on the outside lined
with pole-cat hides Iihough, strange for
Ffeeland had told me about him having
law passed forbidding the killing Of the
''cri,ter' >, Bu, knocked a, the door and
'Ike" after some hssltaney said. ''walk in. .
"Iiow does il eome." inquired, '.lha,
you have 50 many Pole.eat hides here when
the Legislature slrieliy forDids in"
"rhat is easily answered. said Re
.srhis is an emergency case. The scitIe-
men, is full of smallpox aud pole-cat hides
are preventive. That is why 1 have them
hanging on the outside. You see The law
doesn', dare interfere In case of an epidemic
like smallpox. y
"Bat are you not afraid TO handle mail
for fear Of catching in
''Do you see that long pair Of ,ongs hang
ing up there = asked IKE.
In looking around l saw pair Of topgs
about s feet long
'fhat is what use 10 handle mail. So
you see am no, closer than 8 feet of il. I
have big pole-cat hide here | tic over my
mouth and with The hides hanging on the
outside feel perfectly safe"
''wha, do you know about the smallpox
in this vicinity 1p l asked, seeing Ike was
little "newsy"
''Well there are several cases. They have
stopped the school here on account Of IT,.
Lee Garner. Uncle Bill whesseli, Charlie
Beatty and Blink Wilson all have il. >
"Where does Lee Garner live am
acquainted with smallpox and want TO see
If IL is the pure article !"
Its notfar up the hill here to where he
lives, said Ike.
climbed the hill up to Lees and The Fl ST
thing saw was Lee out feeding hls stock.
''IIello, old fellow, heard you had the
smallpox .
mol have had no smallpox nor symp-
toms oi any. But guess Bill whelseII,
Charlie Beatty and Blink Wilson have il or
at least they stopped the school on accoun,
Of it,
SO Isiaried for Bill wheisell's and before
I 90, quite 10 the house saw stoekade on
the northeas, end of Bill's honse. Inoliced
il was perfectly airlighi aud about 20 feet
high.
'.Helloi" saysr
Bill pespsd sround the corner of this
structure and recognized me at once
"Glad 10 meet you, Col JiB,. come 10 aDd
we will talk of war times. "
noticed he had polecat hide around
his neck
"No," said I, "my time Is too precious.
I am investigating this epidemic to see IL IT
is genuine heard you had smallpox and
stopped 10 see you. Tell me, comrade
Whetsell. what you have this s,ockade
built for"
''Well you see Lee Garner has The small
pox aud we have had great deal Of north
east wind Of late and was afraid the wind
would carry il from Gamers"
assured him Gamer did not have the
smallpox
'comrade, do you know Of any smallpox
in The settlement, :" inquired.
"weIi, now. have not been out for three
weeks but Charlie Beatty and Blink Wilson
have IL. am sure :"
! started for Charlie Beatiy's Before I
got to the house noticed anolher stockade.
bu. on a different plan from wbe,sell's. I
saw It was adjustable 50 Il could tc moved
according to the wind I ''belloed" and
ehatNr NotH@ 'Nif 1AN NC hdo peck 81
onions lied around his neck
'Haye you any smallpox here" said I,
cor do you know Of any in the setllement1'
~ have not becn on, for three weeks, bat
I expect BilI whe,selfs and lee Carnet's
families arc ali dead with il. Is,opped The
school, I thought somebody might escape. .
81 see your stockadc is on different plan
from BDi's.
eyes, you sec ! am carpenter and I
made il 50 can adjust Il 70 the Wind; when
The wind Is coming from Bhrs, move il 10
that side. When IL comes f,om Squire
felions. J move It iba, Wy
''tsee you have onions srouud youf seek.
Is that a preventive"
ooh yes. We dug op al We planted las,
fall for my family was large and It took =
good many 10 60 around !"
So began 10 want something 70, me
inner man. called to see the Judge as We
wsrs always old friends knew ina, Nj.
Realty always had plenty to eat and neye,
lets q msu 20 away hunefy Mr. neaity
welcomed me in and after the usual eres,ioa
the Jndge said he had been sick soou, al
winter and was not able 20 b ont any.
Judge, SAID I. u have been investi.
gazing this smallpox question. DO you