Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-10-03
SHENANDOAH PARK
|Ev|CTS MAN FROM
HOME Of 81 YEARS
Singing National Anthem,
Mountaineer Is Forced
to Receive Handouts.
HAD FIRMLY REFUSED
TO LEAVE PANORAMA
His 46 Acres Condemned, He
Baked at Vacating or Accept.
ing $4,s55 Consideration.
By a STAFF Correspondent Of The Star.

By STAFF Correspondent Of The Star.
LURAY, Va, October s.
and the Star Spangled Banner in
triumph shall wave
Ger the land Of the free and the
home of the brave"
In a quavering voice, Melanchthon
Cliser this afternoon sang the anthem
as he stood, handcuffed. amid deputies
evicting him from the home in which
he had lived all but one OF his 81
years.
Cliser had been fighting to main
tain his home on the Lee Highway
lust under Panorama, or Thornton's
Gap, since the Virginia Conservation
Commission started acquiring land for
the Shenandoah National Park.
The mountaineer vowed he would
never be removed from his home.
either by force or persuasion. His 46
acres of mountain land had been con-
demned and a price Of s4.855 set upon
it, but Cliser steadfastly refused to
vacate the premises or accept the
money.
Judge H. w. Bertram Of Page
County Circuit Court issued an evic-
ton order against Cliser which was
extended several times. The noun
taineer. who runs a gasoline station
and lunch stand beside the highway
just west Of the gap, had many SYM
pathizers. and authorities were reluc-
tant to evict him.
Sheriff Ordered to Act.
This morning Judge Bertram or
dered Sheriff e. L. Lucas to evict
Cliser by noon today. The elderly
sheriff previously had made a trip
to Richmond to intercede with the
Governor In Cliser's behalf.
It was said that the sheriff was
told to carry out the eviction or him
self stand in contempt Of court. Lucas
accordingly went to Cliser's home
with four deputies.
When they dove up to Cliser's fill
ing station, he came from behind his
locked door and barricaded gates to
serve the men he supposed were Gus
toners. A deputy stepped from the
car, seized him by the wrist, and
handcuffed him.
you've got me, boys. but I amt
agoin' nowhere from now till Christ
mas" the prisoner declared.
Kin Lived There Before Him.
Cliser said he loved his home because
his father and grandfather had oeen
there before him and because it was
the only home he ever knew. The
graves of the elder Clisers are in the
family cemetery on q ridge Just above
his house.
The deputies tarried while Clise1
sang the national anthem and de-
clared he was free man who stood On
his constitutional rather than his
shotgun" rights. They were under
orders, however, to arrest Cliser for
contempt Of court should he resist the
eviction order.
1t required four deputies to force
the mountaineer into the sheriffs au-
tomobile.
Cliser's wife, whom he had met as a
school teacher while she was a pupil
under him IS years ago, shouted to
him:
Don't you put up a cent of bond.
You stay in jail as long as they want
to keep you, because you're free
man. and the right is on your side"
Ordered Chairman OF Land.
Cliser said the Federal park au-
thorities had been particularly anx-
ious to Dust him since the day about
a month ago when he ordered from
his premises Wilbur Hall, chairman of
the Virginia Conservation Commits
sion, which Is acquiring the park land
for the Government.
It was said that w. c. Armstrong,
an attorney for the conservation COM
mission, appeared before Judge Ber-
tram and demanded the execution of
the eviction order.
After Cliser was taken in handouts
to Luray, deputies remained at the
mountain residence this afternoon, de-
batting what they would do with Mrs.
Cliser, who sat on her front steps and
refused in no uncertain terms to move
from the premises.