x { ~ be Centre Democr CHAS. R. XR A o Propristor, AUGUST 0% RT PROCEEDINGS The Miller-Roach Murder Trial Postponed. BECKWITH MURDER TRIAL ON Large Number of Witnesses Present— A Grist of Commonwealth Cases Disposed of-—Attendance Large this Week —Reported by S. D. Gettig. This Thursday morning, the court hav- ing cleared up most of the Common- wealth cases, the Beckwith murder trial was called. F. W. Beckwith, of Hannah, is indicted for shooting his wife at Sandy Ridge, Pa., February 16th, 1902, because she had been unfaithful to him. The case will be a hard-fought one is assured from the array of legal talent employed. Judge John G. Love will sit in the case. District Attorney Newton B. Spangler will be assisted in the prosecution by Ed- lawyer. Beckwith will be defended by William E. Gray, C M. Bower and Ellis L. Orvis. There areabout 125 witnesses summoned for the trial. The facts of the shooting are admitted. The defense will great provocation he endured Superstitions persons are predicting Beck with's conviction because of the fact that his case is No. 13, April term. An inspection of the court docket shows that with very few exceptions No. 13 bas gone against the defendant. August sessions of court convened on Monday morning with Judge Love on the bench, and considerable time was con- sumed in hearing motions and petitions, returns of sale of real estate in the Or. phans’ Court, appointing guardians, ap- | pointing road viewers and presenting of | auditors reports List of grand jurors called and Jared Harper, a retired merchant of Bellefonte, was chosen foreman, and fully mstructed in their daties and the various grades of crime and their atten- tion called to the nature of some of the indictments to be laid before them by the District Attorney, retired to their room to pass on the several bills. Returns of the constables of the sever. al townships and boroughs of the county were then taken, and such as required handed to the District Attorney for his attention at next session. The civil trial list was gone oyer and the following cases disposed : D. W, Johastoubaugh vs S. R. Pringle, an appeal from judgment of a justice of the peace. Continued by agreement, M. Shires vs Peter Mendis, an appeal from the decision of a justice of the peace ; plea non assumpsit. Settled. Lizzie Bible and Anna Bible vs Bor- gh of Centre Hall, an appeal from judgment rendered by Squire Keichline; plea non assumpsit. Continued. Catharine J. Thomas vs. overseers of the poor of Benner township, an appeal from judgment of Squire Harshberger ; plea non assnmpsit. Settied. H. Y. Stitzer, now for the use of F. W, Crider vs. H. H. Benner, who survives Lydia Benner and H. H. Benner and Harry C. Baney, heirs at law of Lydia Benner, deceased, and Robert V. Miller, terre tenant, summoned in scire facias sur mortgage, plea nil debit. Verdict in favor of the plaintiff for $1191.30 and an attorney's commission of forty-five dol- lars. Samuel T. Dixon vs. overseers of the poor of Snow Shoe township, an appeal from judgment rendered by J. M. Keich. line, J. P., plea non assumpsit. This case is brought to recover for the burial of a daughter of John Sarvey, by the plaintiff who is an undertaker at Snow Shoe, sometime in the early part of 189g, and a charge made in plaintif°s book against John Sarvey and afterwards the plaintiff had his bill approved by two justices of the peace. At the close of plaintifi's case the defendants moved a compulsory non suit, which was granted, and at the same time a rule was granted on the plaintiff to show cause why nom suit should not be stricken off; returnable at argument court, Same vs. same. This case is brought to recover for the burial of a child of Catharine Miller some time in 1897. Case disposed of the same as the preceding case. Both of these suits wose tried to gether. Com. v8 Bruce Yarnell, indicted first count forgery, second count uttering and publishing forged papers ; prosecttor A, + Lytie. After some negotiating Rob Campbell, of near State College, sold his horse and buggy to the defendant in the fall of 1901, taking in payment there. for a cow valued at sixteen dollars and be that of unsound mind and the | after being cannot write and that his sister wrote his name to the note at his direction and that he does not know how Mr. Shamp's name got on the aote, in this he was cor- roborated by the sister, who signed the name of the defendant, Verdict on Tues. day morning of guilty as indicted, and will be sentenced later in the week. Com. vs. Edward Kane, indicted for betraya', prosecutrix Effie Krumbine. This case is from Spring township and Centre Hall. The defendaut plead guilty and the usual sentence in such cases was imposed by the court, Com. vs, J. Frank Uzzle, charged with assault and battery; prosecutor John Hill, Bill ignored and the prosecutor to pay the costs. Com. assault and battery ; prosecutor William Donley Bill ignored and the county to pay the costs. Com vs. J. sault and battery; Weaver, pay the costs. Com. vs. Myrtle Myers, C. Nason, charged with as- prosecutor ing stolen goods; prosecutor Robert | Spicer. This defendant, prior to May 1st, of the present year, ing her home with the prosecutor and is about nineteen years of age, and sowe time after the noon hour on the first of May she took from the drawer of a stand | in an upstairs room seventy-five dollars | | and then walked with the prosecutor to | During the afternoon she | Bellefonte, made some purchases at several places in town and then took the ,:44 train and went to Greensburg, Pa., where she was | and | {arrested sometime afterwards brought and lodged in jail, where she has been since. She plead guilty and | made a clean coufession of it, and after | bearing the statements of the defendant {and the Commonwealth's counsel, the court remanded her back to jail, and will pass sentence later, : charged under the insolvent laws of the | Commonwealth. Levi BE. Miller was discharged under the insolvent laws of the Commonwealth Com, vs. George Walker alias Elijah Record, indicted for first count larceny, second count entering with intent to steal, third count receiving stolen goods; | prosecutrix Carrie M. Holt. On the night of the 15th of June last the horse buggy and harness of the prosecutrix was taken from her stable about one mile east of Cartin, iu Boggs township. The | sorrel mare was valued at one hundred and twenty-five dollars, the buggy at from twenty-five to thirty dollars and the haroess at about ten dollars. The offi cers were at once notified and it was learned that a stranger took dinner at Frank Gettig's in the neighborhood, who said he was from Cambria county and suspicion centered on him, and ov the morning of the joth of June Mr. Gettig saw this same man near Keiffer Leath. ers, and notified the officers and he was followed to Mill Hall where he was plac- ed under arrest. When apprehended he had a horse, harness and cart, and the harness was identified as that of Miss Holt’s, and he was brought to Bellefonte and lodged in jail, when it was learned that the horse was at Brookville, Jeffer son county, the prosecutrix then, in company with the county detective, went to Brookville, where it was found that the horse was traded to a man by the pame of Paff, a liveryman in that town, but was identified by the prosecutrix and brought back. The defendant hav- ing stated to Mr. Paff that he was from Mt. Jewett, and that he wanted a larger horse for his business of hauling. At the close of the Commonwealth's case, the defendant changed his plea from that of not guilty to that of guilty. The court then sentenced him to pay the costs of prosecution, one dollar fine and six years in the penitentiary, Com. v8. Jor, Resides indicted first count cruelty to domestic animal, second count cruelty to domestic animal causing death; prosecutor Wm. A. Carson. This case is from Spring township and the de- fendant was in the employ of the prose- cutor on the farm for some time prior to July 21st, and on that day was put to driving tor his employer at the mine bank and drove during that week, and on the following Saturday night one of the horses he bad been driving died. The Commonwealth alleged that during the week the defendant was driving at the mine bank, that he frequently beat this borse with a club, and this could have caused the death; on the other hand the defendant denied cruelly beating the horse. Verdict, on Tuesday afternoon, of guilty on the first count in the indict. ment, On Tuesday afternoon the case of Com- monwealth vs. David Miller, being for the killing of Robert Roach near Rdin. dale was continued on account of the ill. Com, ys. J.C. Soushinan, with libel ; prosecutor J. H. {Countinusd on page 4) vs. J. C. Nason, charged with | Alfred | Bill ignored and the county to | indicted for | | first count larceny, second count receiv. | ward R. Chambers, a successful criminal | had been mak- | Henry Hoy, of Millbeim, was dis- | BELLEFONTE. PA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 28, 1902. A COLONY OF OCTOROONS Founded on the Borders of Cen- tre County. STRANGE ROMANCE RETOLD Girl Fell in Love With an Escaped Slave —Forsook Comforts of Home, and Friends —Where Spooks, Witches and Superstition Prevail. The roar of the trains on the new West Branch Railroad, just opened, dis. turbs the slumbers of one of the stravg- est communities in the State. The | shrieks of the locomotives will drive out | of that neighborhood witches that up to this time have held unbroken sway, and { the superstition that grew from child. | the incongruous | bood in the minds of race that inhabit this queer neighbor. | hood may soon be dissipated by the daily For 80 years both | superstition have found | visits of new people, | witches and had been incinerated in his own mill that | night, TRIED THEIR SPELLS IN VAIN, Then came the story of a white dove that flitted tirelessly back and forth at | all hours of night, as though seeking | someone in whom to confide a secret, Aud old women consulted works on witchcraft and tried their alleged occult power, but John Robn's body would got be unlocked from its secret grave. Now- aday—or nights—at a certain cross road, it is said that a gray-baired, decrepit 1 ghost makes its appearance, and again | ‘OUR HISTORICAL | REVIEW | Notes From the Expedition of John Ettwein, 1772. | MEANING OF PU NXSUTAWNEY Some of the Difficulties and Perils En- i | countered in Traversing the Un- | | broken Forests—Methods of Se- curing Food. ¢ | the scrawny fingered women are seeking | | aid from the supernatural by which to | | solve the mystery of the apparition, But the reverberation of the West Branch freight engine whistles has brok- | } ’ | | | | en the spell that so long bound the West | | Keating township. Sleepy Hollow set. | tiement, and the ghosts and the witches | and the spooks will bave to seek new quarters. -- Record, - $20,000 IN DRY GOODS BOX. Two Very Uncomfortable Days Spent by a Clearfield Man. { in this unique community of octoroous | This very tops of the | most Bourishing soil. | munity is found on the | Allegheny Mountains, part of West Keating township, Clinton | county, but a few miles from the border | line of Centre county. There, more than iu the | 80 yeurs ago, a negro and a white woman who had eloped from Williamsport, “squatted on a section of wild land, began to bew a small farm out of the | bemlock forests. RAN OFF WITH THE NEGRO The negroe’s name was Smoke, and he was a magnificent specimen of man, | physically. He was then but 23 years year before, the young negro managed to reach Wil. liamsport. There be was employed by 2 man of considerable wealth. The | master gave him the name of Smoke. { with the negro, and one night they ran | away together, It was 10 vears hefore | anybody knew where they had gone, | when one day a lumberman going through the hemlock forests of West Keating township—nearly 100 miles from Williamsport-—came upon the little farm home of Mr. and Mrs. Smoke, the daughter of the Williamsporter. But in that 10 years both her parents had died. She had become the mother of four children. She was contented, and preferred not to hear anything about her old home. A QURER COMMUNITY. Today there is in West Keating town. | ship, as the gradual outgrowth of that union, a community of prettier young women, more homely men and more su- perstitious old women thao can be found between the cover of a novel, Girls with complexion pink as an apple blossom; teeth like rows of carved ivory; eyes as languorous as the sun that lingers long in the lap of the evening; forms plump | as the lambs that bleat in the daisy-cap- ped meadows—but with hair that has about it the unmistakable kink of the African. The homes there are little, ramshackle dwellings—part poles, part logs, part boards —overrun by grapevines and ivy, while in the little gardens grow rows of sage, tansy, coriander, pennyroyval and that are used in the making of teas and brews calculated to drive out bad spirits, and which, when taken with whisky hucklieberry wine, are supposed to be panaceas for about all the ills to which flesh is heir, MAN DISAPPEARED MVSTERIOUSLY, Public attention was first prominently drawn to this odd community four years ago, when John Rohn a wealthy lumber. man, whose home is not far away, drop- ped out of sight ome morning, since which time his disappearance has been an unfathomable mystery, The last seen of Rohn was when he crawled over a fence at the edge of a woods, disap- pearing therein, “From that moment to this,though hundreds of men have search. ed high and low, not a scintilla of infor. mation as to his whereabouts has been se. cured, But it was not a month until the wrinkled old women of the octoroon set. tlement were wagging their tongues and shaking their heads in strange stories concerning the old man’s disappearance, One old woman, looking across the fields at midnight from her bedroom window, saw blue, ghastly flames in the boiler room of the Rohn saw mill; a yellow smoke rolled from the stack against the starlit sky and now and then she could discern in the boiler room the black form of a man hurrying tb and fro. For days and days this old woman's story was the talk of the neighborhood, and everybody believed as she did--that Rohu's body isolated com. | western | and | | amount { was fortuna'e of age and bad escaped from the South a | Though followed to Har. risburg by men sept out by his master, | negro was without a name, and because of his peculiar brown complexion his new large boxes containing the dry goods par. | The daughter of the household, a band: | opp oement was made by which this | some girl of 20 years, became infatuated | He | recognized in the white wife of the negro | Tudge Leonard sent the late Samuel P. | matherworth-—bitter, {llsmelling herbs | Speakiuy the other evening of “old times’ in Clearfield, in the da banks and ys before man was his own banker and every busi ness man invariably kept all his cash in and about his premises, “Jim” Moore toid of a couple of nucomfortable days | spent by his uncle, late Judge leon. ard, back in the spring of 1857 That the spring the of judge had the in getting everything | through to Marietta. There he sold at & good price and went to Philadelphia to | buy a year's supply of goods for the gen. eral store of Leonard & Moore, then lo. cated on Second street, where the Mc- | Gaugbey office building stands. At Philadelphia he purchased every- thing be wanted and bad over $20,000 in | cash left. He did not feel like carrying { all the woney home on his person, so be | decided to place $20,000 in one of the a river large timber on and | chased from Hood, Boubright & Co. An amount was goncealed in one of the pack- properly iastructed could identify it. The goods were then shipped by freight which point they would be hauled to Clearfield on wagons. When the goods were due at Tyrone, Wilson, of Bradford township, over for a load and particularly charged him to bring the box containing the money, without telling him anything about the money. | ed his wagon with goods, being partico. lar to get the box described by the judge, and started on his return trip. The roads were very bad that spring and instead of reaching Clearfield on Saturday as both he and the judge expected, it was late that night that be found himself at Wood. land with a very tired team. Not knowing there was anything but “store goods” in the load Mr. Wilson | stopped at Woodland, drove to the side | |of the road at the Herxthal store, un- | hitched his team and rode to his home, | two miles distant, leaving the “‘store | goods” and the $20,000 standing out on | the road unprotected from thieves or the | elements, Judge Leonard expected the “goods” in Clearfield not evening and when they did not arrive or | numerous in these parts and “holdups’’ on the highways were not infrequent, But when Sam Wilson's team hove in sight early Monday morning with the particular box intact in his load all fears were dispelled. Clearfield Republican. WAS A FINE SUCCESS. The Reunion of Former Residents of Centre County Saturday. There were about seven hundred peo. ple at the reunion of ex-Ceuntre coun. tains, who now reside in Blair county, at Glasgow's park near Bellwood on Satur. day last. The weather was ideal and the pleasure of renewing acquaintances occupied much of the early part of the day. After dinner a business meeting was held and the following officers were chosen to serve during the ensuing year: President, Dr. A. R. Markel; first vice president, A. Bucher; second vice presi dent, 8. J. Musser; treasurer, Samuel Felty; secretary J. W. Smith. Addresses were made from the plat. form and the Tyrone Sym trust companies, when every | ages and placed in a certain “W" box | which the judge marked so be or anyone | over the Pennsylvania to Tyrone, from | Mr. Wilson went to Tyrone and load- | later than Saturday | until Monday the two intervening davs | were passed amid much misgiving and | fear, for in those days highwaymen were | Ettwein’s Notes of North Branch of the From Rev. John Travel from the Susquehanna to the Beaver River, Penn. | 1772, we copy that portion of | | bis journey through this section of the | sylvania, state, as of local interest : (Concluded from last week.) Jay 17 a cree west. * ~Advanced only four miles to , that come out | our camp *Anderson’s Creek July 18. —~Moved on without for Roth and his div count of the rain had | Today Sheboich lost in Pike Township waiting ision, which on ac- remained in Camp. a colt from the bite of a rattiesnake. Here we Branch three miles to the n it five times, the path led precipitately up the creek, crossiog tain to the summit, 10 a spriug waters of the Ohio. * *Probabiy of the Mahoning, whic ship, Clearfield County, and empties 1 Allegheny, ten miles July 19 (Sunday) the sources of the 1 h rises above Kittanning, As yesterday, but two families kept with me, the rain, dried our effects ponkis were excessively because of but we passed a quiet day and ANNOYIng, our camp, to escape their the smoke of the fires. plague to man + and beast, {day and night. But in the swamp, through which we were now passing, their name is legion, | dians call it Ponks-uten.ink i. “the | town of Poukis"' ~The word is equivalent | {to living dust and ashes, the vermin being s0 small as not to be seen, and | their bite, burning hot as sparks of fire | or hot ashes. One of the converts relat- ed the following Iodian myth : This vermin is a €. after many years having been killed by ove, who bad burned bis bones. The | wind blew his ashes into the swamp and | they’ became the ponkis, July 20.~We traveled on through the swamp, and after five miles, crossed the path that leads from Frasktown* to Goshgoshink and two miles beyond this point, encamped at a run {a branch of the Mahoning.] At five o'clock p. m. | came Peter, Boas and Michael, with | fourteen unbaptized Indians from Lan gundontenink, to meet us, with four out to hunt, and in half an bour Michael { brought in a deer to my fire. Esther hunted up the large camp-kettie, and soon all hands had their 611 of venison and rice. That night and the following living things, and hence | morning, there weie four deer shot by | my company. *Looated in Venango July 21.~The rear division came up, and the destitute, viz. such as had lived | solely upon meat and milk, were sup plied each with one pint of Indian corn, We proceedad six miles to the first creek, and camped. July 22.—~We journeyed on four miles, | the first fork, where a small creek, comes down from the north. | July 23.—Again, today, four miles to | the second fork—to a creek coming in from the south-east, July 24.—The path soon left the creek, | over valleys and heights to a spring. We now had left the swamp and were | { free from the plague of ponkis. Huckel- berries were found in abundance, which were enjoyed. Our today’s station was a horse shoe and which is navigable for canoes when the water is high. Itisa | four days journey by water to this point, where the Ohio is struck, whereas by land, the point can be reached in one day. Some of our young people went to the creek to fish, others to hunt, and at sunset they came in with two deer and four strings of fish, July 26 (Sunday).-~Rarly today Anton [convert] Nathaniel Davis and others, who up to this time bad brought up the rear, came to my camp. Both preached in the momiog and I at evening. at this place a sufficiency of fish were taken to supply the entire camp, large pike and salmon, but especially a large species unkwown to us ali resembling the sheepshead, in these parts called the Buffalofish. In place of a skull they had two small white stones (probasis?) lying towards each other—the mouth re sembles that of a sucker, but without teeth; instead in the throat, it has two (Continued on page 8), from the north- | Had a narrow and stony spot for | left the West | the moun. | the first In the evening the | so | that the cattle pressed towards and into | persecutors in | both by | and hence the In- | that the aforecitedd Indian bermit and sorcerer, | five miles, and about so far we advanced | July 25.—~Eocamped at a salt lick, | where we kept a religious service, three | miles from the large greek, which run in Lo FACT, FUN AND FANCY. sami c— VOL. 24. XO. 35:4 Bright Sparkling Paragraphs—Select- ed and Original. A BONG OF GROWTH. Ip the heart of a4 man Is a thought unfurled : Reached its full span it shakes the world And to ene high thought, is a whole race wrought, Not with vain noise The great work grows, Nor with foolish voles, But in repose Not in the rush, But in the bush, From the cogent lash Of the eloud herd wi The low Blo But Looks wd clouds dash wh headlong beyond, the great biue blind moveless through O'er the loud The scour world sweep ge and the rod beyond deep 8s of God an of Life no strife ! Butlin deep of tongue or pen an bestow as 10 her i are when old y "i wo! orthwest up | Here | Cast iron If a man has hives let him be. Curios A boil peck, Quoits. ity aucovers a multitade of sins. on the stove is worth two on the It’s the deaf man who wants a little bear below, Marriage and colic are two things that doubie us up. The scissors has no trouble in making both ends meet The clothing salesman has got to be clothes-mouthed. If a barber's sharp that's the way he'll | keep his razors. Even the most expeasive balloon can | be bought for ascent. | It's strange that the longer an account | runs the longer it stands. | It's easy by taking up a collection to get the cents of a meeting. | The man who keeos a speak-easy | seems to think that Sunday is Thirstday. i It's strange that the more industrious { a smuggler is the more he shirks daty. There's plenty of room at the top, but | not at the top of a church steep] ec. —— RUSSELL SAGE. Says Combinations of all Industries are a Menace to. True Government. Russell Sage, in an interview, referred to a published statement, quoting J Pier. pont Morgan as saying that the era of great trusts bad just begun, and that more gigantic corporations are stored in the near future, some of which may over. shadow the steel trust. Mr. Sage says: “Whether Mr. Morgan said that or not, combinations of all industries are a Not only but they are the oppressors of the people.” “What will era 7’ “In such an event the American people will revolt against them and there will be financial the like of which this country has never seen other." It was suggested to Mr. Sage that there was a general opinion that combinations at certain times were good things for the | country, “Yes,” Mr. Sage replied, “when sev. | etal industries are starting out in busi. ness it is well for individuals to combine for mutual protection until the business is firmly established. When the business | is so established, the combination should be disrupted and conducted on individu. al lines. Then if one individual! became embarrassed it wonld not mean the | wrecking of the industry, [believe it Is {best to bave such industries divided among severa! individuais rather than | combined into one great combination, menace to true government 80, be the result of such an asked a reporter, ruin, OF any the embarrassment of which would mean | the ruin of all.” REPLY TO MATRIMONIAL * ‘AD." The following letter was sent by a Mississippi man in answer to a matrimo- { nial “ad :"” “1 cloas my photegral with | my Full Description. It shows the feat. | ures are nachel as can bee, only it is dark; 1am very lite Complexion Grey eyes, Orbon hair 6 feet high, weight 190 | 1bs., inclined to be humped shouldered ; | A Muskier man and a widower 28 years old, with a common school Equation, but hav got Anof to Atten to Hany Business, am Strictly Morrel. Don't use Tobacco Mor Whiskey.” He is anxious to have ber anderstand that her “Age, Compleck. tions, wait and All Suits me to atee, Kind Loving Girl, I have only one Thing to offer, Aud it is Neither Lands Nor Gold,
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