The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1906-04-05

navy years on the Atlanta road a
small shanty, IA feet by Is to which
both the contestants laid claim. As
the shanty had been erected by col
ored squatter who had no title to the
land In which 1t stood, and the value
Of the shanty was very small, no law
yer had thought 1t worth while to
meddle in the dispute. Each claimant
had put separate paddock on the door
and each had solemnly promised to
shoot the other In case either lock
should be broken. 1t Is true that
neither one had the courage to shoot,
but as each was secretly afraid of the
other, no attempt was made to enter
the house. In fact, neither Mr.. Blue
nor Mr.. Montgomery wanted to Hve In
the house, and it was understood that
the moment the dispute should come to
an end, the victor would move the
house onto his own land.
To put an end to the chronic quarrel
between Mr.. Blue and Mr.. Montgomery
Mr.. Prince proposed as a most skillful
compromise, that the disputed house
should belong to the man who should
haul it away. Mr.. Blue owned a
horse, and Mr.. Montgomery owned a
mule. Mr.. Prince recommended that
on a fixed day rollers should be put
under the house. that the horse should
be hitched to one end and the mule to
the other, and thut the house should
belong to the owner of the animal
which should pull the hardest. This
compromise was accepted with a good
deal of enthusiasm by Mr.. Blue and
Mr. Montgomery, and the Rev. Mr..
Prince promised to be present the next
morning at ten o'clock to act as UNI
pire.
Long before the appointed hour. not
only Mr.. Prince, but the greater part
Of the colored population Of Middle
| town, assembled to see the result of
| the compromise. AT half-past nine Mr..
| Blue appeared on the ground with his
| original horse and 81 other horses bor-
rowed by him, with the nefarious pur-
| pose of pulling the house away from
! Mr.. Montgomery's mule; but at a quar-
|
| II mules and six pairs Of oxen. A long
argument ensued as to the admissbili-
ty of borrowed horses and borrowed
mules, and Mr.. Blue raised the point
that oxen were clearly viouation of
| the spirit as well as the letter of the
compromise; but MIR. Prince decided
| that each contestant had the right to
| al h., al, l., H..
obtain, and that the compromise must
be carried out.
The horses were duly attached to one
end of the house, and the mules and
oxen to the other. When all was ready
the signal was given by Mr.. Prince,
and the animals, encouraged by the
whips of Messrs. Blue and Montgom-
cry, and the yells of the multitude,
pulled with great energy. For a few
seconds it seemed doubtful to which
side victory inclined, but suddenly
there was a rending of timber, and the
two halves OF the house We're dragged
In opposite directions, each utterly
ruined for any purpose except that of
Grewood.
Mr.. Blue, rendered desperate by the
unexpected result of the compromise.
erasped his mighty rawhide whip firm
ly in his hand and fell upon Mr.. Mont
gomery. The latter, who preferred a
hickory club to IA whip, was not slow
to defend himself. The two infuriated
men fought all over the ground and
when they tired of these weapons, fell
to striking their heads together with
the most terrific violence. How long
the fight would have lasted, had not
the fighters unwarily approached Mr..
Montgomerys mules, 1t Is impossible
to say; but as 1t was, the mules put an
unexpected end to the battle by fatal
ly kicking both Mr.. Blue and Mr.. Mont
gomery nearly into the next county.
The result Of this particular compro-
mise has not in the least discouraged
Mr. Prince, and his faith in the eff
cacy of compromises is, apparently, not
to be shaken. In him lives the true
spirit of the American statesman Of
the last generation.-N. Y. Weekly.