The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-08-21
The Hero of Flint Hill.

fconvritht 1eos by n g. Mcclure. /

[Copyright. 1908. by t. c. McClurel
Jed Parker had been courting Mary
Stevens for year when he went to
her father to ask the usual question.
Jed was a young and worthy farmer
living at the top of Golden HILL and
Jim Stevens as he was Familiarity call
cd, lived in the village at the foot of
the hill and was a contractor. His
work was In the country around more
than I'm the village. He was well
liked, but people said he had some odd
| ideas Jed Parker bumped up against
one OF those odd ideas as soon as he
| had stated his case TO the father.
"Look here, jed" was the reply. "Of
course know that you have been
| hanging around bere good deaf. and
| | reasoned It out that Mary was the
attraction. You are spoken Of as n
| fine young man, and have no objec-
| tion to you as a son-n-law. / cannot
say yes, however, until you have done
| something TO distinguish yourself |
had killed a mad dog, shot at n horse
thief and licked a lightning rod man
before / was your age. | like you,
1 bfbt buN 4 want u l'lp lbA ~ o'AA7 w
law, and the sooner you toe the mark
the sooner you and Mary can get mar
ried"
! Jed didn't kick over the traces and
raise row, but came 60 the house a.
usual. Things were IN statu quo when
J December and the snow and ice came.
! Golden hill was a pretty steep hill, and
the road winding up was half a mile
| long. In winter, when the road was
slippery, teams went mile around
rather than go up or down. Such OF
the village boys as had the ambition
to drag their sleds to the top came
! down with such momentum that they
were carried through the village and
| TO the foot of a hill on the other side.
Mr.. Stevens had In his employ as
contractor a gang Of Italians. AS win
ter came on they were just finishing up
grading the highway three miles away.
! There was some misunderstanding
about the pay for overwork. They
made threats, but the contractor re-
| fused TO be buldoZed. They hung
about the village, mutterlng and men,
ucing and finally decided to take the
law into their own hands At o'clock
one evening deputation called at Ste
vens' house and captured him before
he knew what was up. He was taken
out on the street and told that he must
either pay or hang. The villagers gath
cred, but they were not strong enough
TO interfere. II was then that Mary
sent a boy speeding up the long hill to
bear the news to jed.
eco as fast as you can" she said.
Tell Jed that they are going 70 hang
father. Tell him TO come to the res
cue. Tell him that ] sent you. Tell
him It's his chance to be a hero. Run
as you never ran before, and Ill give
you dollar"
whats a herOY
"Nevcr mind, but hyw
The road was packed with snow and
ice on top of that, but the boy got
there.
by goshw was Jed's only reply, and
he began to hustle.
lie had been drawing up wood that
afternoon, and the bobsleds were in
front Of the house. He got his over
coat and fur cap and the family din
ner horn, and as he dragged the sled
down TO the highway he said to the
boy:
"Jim, we are going down the hill
a-klting. You sit in front and begin
blowing the horn as soon as we start.
Blow, blow, blow! Hang on and blow.
I'll sit behind and steer. Now, then,
we're Off"
The contractor was man with
sand. Even when he saw the ropes in
the hands OF the excited and determin-
ed gang he would not give in. They
led him over the bridge TO the foot Of
4 the hill, and as he was still obstinate
they prepared TO hang him to a handy
| limb. In fact, they did hang him.
There were thirty In the gang, and
while some kept back the villagers
with their knives the others pulled on
the rope anu made It fast. Just as
there was every prospect that the
lynching business would be an un-
qualified success the blare of a horn
was heard up the hill, accompanied by
Screcches and yels. Jed and the boy
ana the bobsleds were coming. They
came like Il runaway locomotive. The
crowd hadn't time to take in the stua-
ton when the sled was upon them.
, 1t plowed through them like Il shovel
through flour, 1t ran over some; II
flung others twenty feet away; It sent
others sky high. There was scarcely
a man left on his feet when the sled
had passed and this was the moment
when Mary and citizen or two came
UP and lowered the wrggliug body
over the bridge and through the vii,
lage and half II mile beyond went the
runaway, ana by the time Jed got
back to the bridge ON foot the con
tractor had been carried to his own
house and a doctor was working over
him.
As for the gang no one was killed
but there We're broken legs and arm,
and bruises galore, and the town was
little better than a hospital for the
next month. There were two doctors
in the town, ana they had twenty-siS
patients TO look after Four days
| a "a a..