Thursday,
November 22, 1917
A day full of sorrow for Edray.
When Greenbrier’s hell-hounds came forth,
To war on the tribesmen up this way, and seek to take spoil from the north;
And when they engaged us in battle,
We could no more hold them, than– well–
Than a girl could stop stampeded cattle,
By waving a red umbrella.
– – –
The witness will take the stand:
Q. Have you been sworn?
A. No, but swearing.
Q. Did you see the attack on this young man from Lewisburg on his recent visit to Marlinton?
A. I did.
Q. Where were you standing?
A. Just back of some goal posts and between the eighth and ninth hole in the golf course.
Q. Where did the attack take place?
A. About two hundred feet from me near a hazard but inside the lines and close to the ten yard line.
Q. Please describe the encounter as you saw it.
A. I had been paying particular attention to the stranger. He seemed to be the ring leader of that bunch here that day. I did not know what his name was, but we all called him Caesar, because he was the best seizer and bringer down of any of them. He seemed to me to be as strong as an ox, and as active as a cat, and as slippery as an eel. They were playing a kind of a game that looked to me something like the old game that they called bull-in-the-ring.
At the time of this here trouble, Caesar was a going away from me, and I saw these two Marlinton men make a break for him. I called them Cassius and Brutus, because one of them was from Cass, and the other was such an active brute.
Caesar was running at the rate of a mile a minute. Cassius come up to the side of him and tried to flag him. I couldn’t hear what was said. Cassius then laid hands on him and it looked to me like a man trying to stop one of those railroad snowplows. The stranger kinder brushed him to one side and was about to go on. This here Brutus was about twenty feet from him as near as I could judge, and he made one big jump and landed on the stranger’s shoulders and they fell to the ground. You can go down there now and see where they made a dent in the sod. Some neighbor hollered “Down!” The neighbor never said nothing, but got up, and kept on acting like a wild man.
Q. What county did this occur in?
A. Excuse these tears – in Pocahontas county.
Cross Examination:
Q. Did the stranger have anything in his hands?
A. Yes.
Q. What was it?
A. It looked to me to be a dark colored object about the size of a small watermelon, or as big as a large muskmelon – about the size of a mule egg, I would say.
Q. Who did it belong to, and what was he trying to do with it?
A. It belonged to the Marlinton men, and the stranger was trying to carry it home.
Q. Did Brutus and Cassius use anymore force or violence against Caesar than was necessary?
A. They did not. Not near enough. If they had laid him out when they had the chance, they might have won the game.
Q. You are the witness for the prosecution, but I am going to ask you as between man and man. Did the stranger get anything more than was coming to him, and was not the attack on him justified?
A. The attack was justified. The way I was feeling at that time, I would not have cared if they had broken him in two, and I thought for a minute that they had.
– – –
The event of the week was the spectacular football game staged at this place between Marlinton and Lewisburg. The sun shone bright on fair women and brave men, and all was as merry as a funeral bell. That night the town was in darkness and we sat in sack-coats and poured ashes on our heads. The engine at the light plant refused to function, and a locomotive in the yards developed a knock that echoed from the hills. The occasion was the ignominious defeat that was administered to the home team. We are so far off side, that it is hard for our team composed of super men to get into the circuit and enjoy the game of football in fast company. But the G. P. S. finally took a day off and came here and gave us a trimming… 45 -7
– – –
The lumber concern of F. S. Wise & Sons which has just about sawed out, sold its land, plant, railroad, railroad bridge, buildings and other equipment to A. D. Neill by deed recorded this week. Mr. Neill owns several thousand acres of timber adjoining this tract in the Clover Lick and Dunmore territory and will operate at this plant. This insures continued prosperity to the town of Clover Lick.
– – –
Fire destroyed the dry kiln at W. J. Killingsworth’s planing mill at Marlinton last Friday. The house and about ten thousand feet of fine lumber was destroyed. The prompt response of the fire company saved adjoining buildings. It is supposed to have caught from a spark from the engine as there was no fire in the kiln.
