Thursday, June 29, 1899
The 4th of July will be properly celebrated in Marlinton. The committee has arranged to have the big Merry-go-round in operation; the Hillsboro Brass will furnish delightful music, and no pains will be spared to provide all manner of iced delicacies for the crowd. The best of order is guaranteed for the satisfaction of the peaceable minded by a corps of special police. The town hall will be open for dancing.
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A number of calves belonging to J. H. Lantz died suddenly and violently last week showing many of the symptoms of spinal meningitis.
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Dr. Cunningham, gigging in the river at the mouth of the creek Monday night, came upon a four-pound eel which he speared and secured after a desperate struggle.
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A good many appeared in court to answer a rule for not attending to give evidence before the grand jury, and the judge held a levee to hear their excuses. Each pled the excuse of sickness of either himself or family and all promised to attend the next grand jury term. Among them was J. C. Armentrout, who lives 10 miles above Traveller’s Repose and 46 miles from the county seat. We gathered, in private conversation with him, that in his section it was hard not to see violations of the game law, but that, by hard work, he had been able not to see any. He also informed us that he had kept account of the number of trout served at his table in 1898, and that the whole number was 3,452.
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A whiskey drummer who has been in the business 25 years said the other day, “The sale of whiskey is deceasing every year. People have quit drinking. It is no longer considered good form to swill it. A drunken man is a disgrace. A tipples can not hold a job anywhere that is respectable and progressive. The railroads won’t have him, neither will anybody else. The sentiment is getting stronger against it. The teacher, the preacher, and the papers are all against it. In 20 years from now, the whiskey problem will have solved itself. Beer, soda, water, lemonade, milkshake, and other light beverages will have crowded it out of the saloons and drugstores, into the medicine chest. – West Virginia News
ENOS SHARP CASES
A section of country near the line of the Huntersvillle and Green Bank districts is interested vitally in the investigation into the matters pointed out by Enos Sharp which have resulted so far in getting himself bound over to appear before the grand jury, while the other side remains at large.
This section has suffered greatly in the past few years from thieves, and so many sheep have been driven off that some farmers have ceased to raise sheep. Hanson Dilley alone has lost 65 sheep, and George Fertig lost eight and found his bell sheep with the bell muted, indicating that an attempt had been made to drive the whole flock off. Hogs running in the mountains and poultry in large quantities have also been taken. There is no question but that an organized gang is at work; but the authorities can not be too careful for, with such a condition of affairs, it is not hard to raise suspicion against almost anyone.
The racket started when Scott Kelley was arrested on a peace warrant and, at the hearing, Enos Sharp declared that Kelley had admitted to him that he had assisted in the cutting of Dick Knapp’s throat, and that he could name the men who had been driving people’s sheep off from the range.
In regard to the sheep stealing, Sharp detailed the circumstances attending the driving off of sheep on Elk on the day of the Confederate Reunion at Marlinton in 1897, when the whole county was away from home.
Unfortunately, the witness’ reputation for truth and veracity in the neighborhood in which he lives has been successfully assailed in two late trials and his evidence made of no effect…
