Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-05-31

1919 y nv VIZ WI II
A. fifty years of age. He VAS a mos
Caring and successful seal and whal.
fisher. In 1883 he commanded tn.
steam scaler Sea Unicorn. OF Dundee
He had then had several successful
voyages In succession. and IN the fol.
lowing year. 1854. he retired. Aftc,
THAT he Travelled for some years. anG
finally he bought a small place called
Noodmnn's Lee. near Forest Row. III
sussex. There he has lived for six
s"irs aAd there he died just a week
ago today.
"rhcr" wcr" some most ~singula,
POINTS about lilo man. In ordinary life,
h" was a strict Puritan-a silent.
9loony fellow. His household consisted
Of his wife. lis daughter. aged
twenty. aid two female servants.
! hese last Wcr. continually chang
ing. for 1t was never a very CHEEKY sit
uation. and sometimes il became past
all bearing. The man was an inter
mittcnt drunkard. and when he had the
NJ on HIM he was Il perfect fiend. He
has been known ia drive his wife and
daughter GU of doors in the middle of
the night. and fog them through the
park until the whole village outside the
gates WAS aroused by their screams.
He was once for a say
age assault upon the old vicar. who had
called upon him To demonstrate with
him upon his conduct. In short, Mr..
tonnes, you would go far before you
found Il more dangerous man than
Peter Carey. and / have heard that
he bore tn" same character when he
commanded his ship. He was known
III the trade AS Black Peter. and the
name was given him. not only on ac-
count OF his swarthy features and the
color of his huge beard. but for the
humors which were the terror Of all
around him. I need not say that he
was loathed and avoided by every one
of his neighbors. and that | have not
heard one single word of sorrow about
his terrible end.
You must have read In the account
OF the Inquest about the mans cabin.
Mr.. Holmes, but perhaps your friend
mere has not heard of 1t. He had built
himself ii wooden outhouse-he always
called ii the 'cabin'-a few hundred
yards from his house. and 1t was here
that he slept every night. 1t was n lit
tie. sinEle-roomed hut. sixteen feet by
ten. He kept the key in his pocket.
made his own bed. cleaned it himself.
ana allowed no other foot to cross the
threshold. There are small windows
on each sile. which were covered by
curtains and never opened. One of
these ndow was turne towards the
high road, and when the light burned
- tiC IViN uStI W DOIil IL
out TO each other and wonder what
Black Peter was doing In there. That's
the window. Mr.. Holmes, which gave
us n of the few bits of positive evil
dence that came out at the inquest.
You remember that Il tonemas
named Slater. walking from Forest
ROW about | O'Clock in the morning
ms he passed the grounds and looked
the square of light still shining
among the trees. He swears that the
shadow of a MANS head turned side
ways was clearly visible on the blind.
n that his shadow was certainly not
that OF Peter Carey. whom, he knew
Wei. IL was that OF a bearded man.
hut the beard was short and bris;led
forwards In a way very different from
that OF the captain. So he says. but
ne had been two hours in the public
house. and it is Some 6istarce from the
road TO the window. Besides. this re-
res to the Monday. aud the crime was
upon the Wednesday,.
ION the Tuesday. Peter Carey was In
one OF his blacklist moods. flushed with
drink and as saVag rs n dangerous
wild beast. He roaned about the
mouse. ana the women ran for ii when
heard hin coming. Late in the
evening he went down to his own hut.
About !. O'Clock the following morning.
- "''o-i.c!' VINO Sept Win ner WIN
dow open. heard Il T. ,St fearful veil
from that direction. but 1T was no un-
usual thing for him TO bawl and shout
when he was in drink. so no notice was
taken. On rising at !. one of the maids
noticed that the ioor of the hut was
open. but so great was the terror which
the man caused that II was midday be-
lore anyone would venture down to see
what had become of him. Peeping into
tho open door. they saw a sight which
sent them flying. with white faces. into
the village, Within an hour. l was on
the spot and had taken over the case.
We'll. 1 nave fairly steady nerves. as
you know. Mr.. Holmes. but l give you
my word. that l got 81 shake when I
put my head into hat little house. 1t
was dronfng like II harmoniutn with the
flies n bluebottles, and the noor and
walls were like n slaughter house. He
had called 1t a cabin. and Il cabin i:
was. sure enough. for you would have
thought that you were In a ship. There
was a bunk at one end. Il sea chest.
maps n charts. a picture OF the Sea
Unicorn. a line of logbooks on a shelf.
all exactly as one would expect to find
1t IN a captains room. And there. in
the middle OF 1t. was the man himself
his face twisted like Il lost soul in tor
ment. and his great brindled beard
stuck upwards In his agony. Right
through his broad breast a steel har-
pooh had been driven. and it had sunk
deep into the wood of the wall behind
him. He was pinned like a beetle on n
card. OF course. he was quite dead. and
had been so from the instant that he
had uttered that ast yell OF agony.
Il know your methods. sir. and I APP
piled them. Before I permitted any
thing to be moved. I examined most
carefully the ground outside. and also
the floor Of the room. There were no
foOtmarks."
Meaning that you saw none?"
Il assure you, sir. that there were
none"