Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-10-01
Amsden Man Won Bets Made by
Maxwell Evarts and Received
Large Wad for Work.
STUNT WAS DONE AT WINDSOR
Task Was to Cut, Split and pile Five
Cords of Wood between Suurisc
and sunset md when job
WAS Finished Tic Had
Tfmc to Spare.


been mary memorable wood chopplng |
contest in the rugged history of the |
Green Mountain state. but never one In |
which so many dollars were involved |
and in which SO many prominent men |
were Interested the one which took |
place lcrc yesterday. As result of the |
contest, one ed. Moote has tucked 500 |
Into his inside pocket. Maxwell Evarts !
youngest son of the late United States |
Senator William VI. Evarts. has added |
ten times 800 to his bank account and. |
what is of moro Importance to Mr. |
ENarts, he has proved a statement about
the prowcss of one of his employes-a
statement which was. derided when 1t
was first made in Washington. ID. c.. sew
eral weeks ago.
In the town of Weathershcld. midway
between Windsor on the Central Yer
mont railway at Cavendish on the Rut-
land railroad under the shadow of
Ascutney mountain, lies the little hamlet
called Ansden. A quarter Of a century
ago Charles Am'dcn built there some
kins In which to burn the lime which
is found in abundance along the Black
river at this point. Then he added a
saw mill, rrist mill and n general
store, and Uncle Sam added n post office
The place speedily became center of
trade for miles around and prospcred
greatly until the death of Mr.. Amsden.
some ten years ago. Others then man
aged the property with varying degrees
Of success until 1t was brought to the
attention of Maxwell Evarts five years
ago The proposition looked SO good 10
! him that he bought the entire outfit ana
made Luther c. White Of Windsor his
manager. The property Includes several
timber tracts which are being cleared
In one OF the reports from White to
Evarts. the former had told the at
torney OF tho timber cutting capacity If
| Edward Nootc and had rated Eds
capacity at about twentv-ono cords n
week, cut. split and piled That looked
like n pretty good record TO Fvarts and.
always proud Of lis native state and the
! proves of It's people. he told the story
to several Of his friends
One Of these friends was present at
dinner which Evarts gave TO some
friends at the New Willard In Washington
| last spring and Evarts was asked 10
| explain low this man Moo.e could aver
! age more than five cords Of wood n day,
! cut split and piled. The explanation
was not at all satisfactory n his guests
| and Evarts was Immediately bomba rdnd
| by offers of wagcrs that neither Ed.
Mootc nor any other Vermonter could
perform such fent. Mr. Evarts's sport
! Ing instinct Is tempered with caution and
| II occurred to him that White might he
| mistaken In his estimate OF Moote's
capacity So he wired white rs follows:
| 81, G. White. Amsden VI
Can Ed Moote cut five cords Of wood
In one day? Have made that statement
| and am ieered at Wire me at once
If he can, make Your telegram strong but
accnrat" as We may have to back this
up. NJ. f." White promptly replied:
Maxwell Fvarts New willard. Wash
ington, n. c:
| Have competent witnesses 10 prove
that Mooto chopped. split and did not
p'o five and one half cords rock maple
In one day. 2l cords in five days. He
| offers To- bet can repeat. l.. C. W"
When Evarts got Whites message
nc lost no time In accepting all the
wagers offered and 1t was not long be.
fore the aggregate amount was large
| enough to mako n trip to Vermont
worth while. Some Of Mr. Evarts's
friends who ala not share that gentle
mans belief in Ed. Moote's wood chap
ping ability are Interested In horses
and they were accordingly invited TO
be Mr.. Evartss Euos1 at his home in
Windsor and to attend the fair Fri
day, while yesterday was selected as
the time for settling the wagers,
The bets ran that "Moote must fell,
cut split and pile five cords OF mar
ketable four foot wood between the
hours of sunrise and sunset on Sep
teinber rs Mootc himself was so GER
tain Of his ability to do the trick that
NJ made number of bets on his own
account and thereby added another
hundred dollars to the hundred which
Mr.. Evarts agreed to give him. Moth
ing was specified in the wagers as 10
where the contest should take place
further than that Il should lie some
where In the state of Vermont. II
was at first intended to have II al
Amsden and Moote selected place on
Hawks Mountain, In growth of bass.
wood He cleared away the under
brush that might bother him and built
n fence around the lot. But the news
pnpers got hold Of the story and mad,
So much of II that people from al
narts Of the country planned to be or
,, ham o.. In lnc ithT tilhN u crown TnlEH
discomfort Moote 20 that he would cu'
himself or meet with some other &c,
cident so that the bets would he lost
q the location was changed and tn,
place selected was kept as much OF
secret as possible.
At 3 o'clock yesterday mornin,
l. Moote and White started from Ans
den in an automobile and at Fetch
I Wis picked up c. NJ Lawrence.
= wood and land surveyor, who had bee
II selected as ofricia, measurer. Windso
l. was reached In the fog long befor
!. daylight and the automobile was guid
y ed directly to Phillips Place, a part q
I. MIR Evarts's estate. Here had bee
a found fine growth OF magniticen
II pines as straight as an arrow and ris
a ing to "A height of rs feet, each tire
y measuring on an average IS inches
ot the butt Alarm clocks had awakene
of Mr. Evartss guests and they were O
u hand to see the axe fall at the risin
|