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E. WATERMAN, Je., J. W. TARBOX,
Pk
OPKIETOBS.
Devoted to News, General Intelligence, Miscellany, &c.
B. II. WILSON, Editor.
VoLX
Georgetown, S. C, Wednesday, July 24, 1860.
No. 641
Winyah observer.
PRINTED iND PUBLISHED WEEKLV BY
Waterman & Tarbox.
Terms.— Two dollars andfifty cents per annum irpaid ;n adv.ince. Advertisements willbe insert¬ ed al 75cents persqnare for the, first, and 50cenls for each subsequent insertion—the cash to be paid irhen ordered out. Yearly advertisers will ad* ranee one hall the charge for advertising-, without this no contract will be made. For announcing Candidate S3 in advance. Hymenial and Obitua¬ ry noticesnoi exceeding six lines will be inserted frco of charge.
trial; add llius, slicuid public sentitnent " Tell rne wliat itis; bm take good ever turn against him in the future he i care of your eyes!" retorted Borlin with
would be enabled fo pleaa eflectual ver¬ dicts in bar of all past offences.
unspeakable fury
It is murderer!" said Evans, and
Death in thc Eye \ or the Duel on Horseback.
Colonel Bill Borlin was the generali- simo of ihe.Texan Lynchers. He well •deserved the title^which be had won by many a desperate deed. He possessd such incredible skill in the use ofall sorts of murderous weapons, that it might be pronounced virtual suicide to even think of encountering him so rapid was his motion, so unerring his mortal aim. The terrible cog-noffien of "Death in the Eye," Iold truly Ihe mark at vvhich he ahvays iired—a mark he had never once missed —while such was his astonishing quick¬ ness that his antagonist usually fell with¬ out pulling the trigger. An enemy stood no better chance by resorting to the sword or bowie-knife, against one in whose hands the flash of steel was like lightning—as swift, asmighly to slay— one who appeared lo surpass all olher men as much in strength as in activity —a giant in stature, a gladiator in prac¬ tice, a fiend in courage.—His biography in itself was more thrilling than a novel, ¦wilderthan tfte wildest romance; and the very first act of his dreadful daring revealed, in all their force and fullness, I ihe twoessential elements ofhis charac¬ ler—the ferocious ardor of his appetite for revenge, and the iron pertinacity of his indomitable will. At the age of twenty, he pursued the assassin of his brother, al! the way from Carolina to Canada, atid shot hiin dead at a dinner table of a tavern in Quebec; yet such had been the cunning of his previous ar¬ rangements Tor the event, that aided by numerous relays of swift hor.ses, he af¬ fected his escape safely to the Soulh.— Th* achievement cost him len thousand dollars. From this time forward his life •was one long war. Almost every month in the year saw him engaged in some fa¬ lal duel—fatal only to others, never hurt¬ ful to hiin—while each week witnessed the occurrence of casual afilays, often as bbody as his more regular combats. He Avas the Napoleon of the knife and pis¬ tol. But truth ofimparlail history com¬ pels me to record, that this man, so fear¬ ful in his deeds, whose right arm reeked with gore to the elbow, was not com¬ monly the aggressor in his countless •quarrels. Often the friends of (hose he had vanquished in fair fight assaulted Jiim, from motives of revenge. The fame ofhis prowess provoked the vain jealousy of others.—He had acquired the perilous Teputavionofa mafchless hero—the ar¬ dent, the despei"lite, the ambitious would ¦win, if possible, his laurels. Everv young Hercules longed to kill the lioii, so as to clothe himselfin his skin, and thus was Borlin forced lo maintain an interminable war. It is so in all profes- »ions. There can be no peace in high places—storm, hail and thunder, must break around the mountain's brow.
This duellist was one of the earliest settlers in Eastern Texas, where be be¬ came the chief of the Lynching party. In his own county of Harrison, he pos- lessed boundless influence; indeed, he would not suffer a foe to reside wilhin itslimit.s. Hence, he might have open¬ ly defied the officers ofthe law, had such been his pleasure; but his shrewd and f»r-seeing sagacity adopted a wiser and «ofer course. After perpetrating any homicide, ho imrariably submitted his own case to the grand jury, sure of a triumphant acquittal by his friends oo
At length the lime arrived which the tho snlilc on his lips, before p:i!e sun¬ shine, was now a wreath of lurid fire.
" You shall pay dearly for that word within the week!" fairly shouted the dualist, grinding his teeth like a raging wild beast.
"There is no time like the present," was the calm rei;ily.
" iVoio.''" interrogated Borlin, as If doubting the evidence of his ears.
" Yes, Tioit).'ifyou have the courage (o challenge me," said Evans.
colonel had so long anticipated. A weal thy and intelligent class of citizens began to change the current of opinion in Har¬ rison, so that in the county election tho friends of order by a slight majority, gained their candidate for sheriff. This was a terrible blow to the Lynchers, as it deprived them oftheir secure vantage ground in packing juries; and to in¬ crease their danger, at this unpropitious crisis, a new judge was also appointed. The old faction, however, did not des¬ pair. They were still numerous, thor¬ oughly armed, and desperadoes to a man, and deterniined at the fiist court to mus' ter all their strength, so as lo control and over-awe their proceedings.
At nine o'clock in the morning of the second Monday in September, 1848, the new judge took his seat on the bench. He was a stranger fromthe ivest, whose name alone had tianspired, and whose appearance, at first inspired the despera¬ does vvilh hope, and the fiiends of order wilh doubt and painful apprehension. Charles Evans was a young man of twenty-two—tall, slender, extremely handsome, and dressed with the most financial taste—his fingers flashing vvith rings, and his person adorned in the most gaudy manner. His long hair of bright golden color, waving in curls around his shoulders, and \he sweet smile of com¬ placent vanity beaming on his lectures, gave him an arpect almost ludicrously feminine.
Colonel Bill Borlin gazed on this ap¬ parition wilh ineffable contempt, and whis.pered to his comrades—"We will have it all our own way as Houston has kindly sent us a Aliss Nancy!"
Ifthe colonel had paid more attention to the man, and less to the clothing,, he would perhaps, have been led to a differ¬ ent conclusion ; for there vvas a strange light in the vivid blue eyes of the stran¬ ger—a light that went and came at ir¬ regular intervals, like the play of light¬ ning in a summer cloud, vvhile the cor¬ ners ofhis mouth wore a wild, resolute, sneering expression, betokening the op¬ posite of pliancy and fear.
The grand jury being called and sworn ihe judge commenced his charge, and at the sound of his voice every body started ; for the tones were shrill *as a trumpet—stern, ringing, imperious like the accents of a commander on parade. Having glanced rapidly over the legal definitions and penalties ofcrime he pro-1 ceeded to discant on the responsibility of j juries to aid in its suppression. His soul appeared lo catch electric fire at tjie iheme—his voice borrowed the rich roil of thunder—his vivid blue eyes literally blazed wilh that strange liglit—the wild expression grew terrible on his writhing lips—and his vvords flew like volleys of burning arrows. He painted the hor¬ rors of lawless anarchy lill the very heart sickened ; he described the beauiy of regular government asa vision of heaven realized on earth ; and he final ly closed with the bold anouncement—" I will per¬ form my duty. I will put down Lynch¬ ing wherever I have the honor of presi¬ ding, or I will myself be put in the grave!"
" Then Miss Nancy, take care ofyour eyes!" cried a hoarse voice, louder and more manacing than that ofthe judge,
Eveiy heart save one shuddered. The sentence seemed like a warning from eternity—a revelation as it were, from the depths of hell.
" Who are you that thus dares to inter¬ rupt tbo business ofthe court!" exclaim¬ ed Judge Evans, wilh the grave majesty ofa king.
"My name is Colonel Bill Borlin; but most persons call, me ' Dealh in the Eyes,'" was the answer. " But in law you have another name,"
" I do challenge you!" thundered Borlin.
" And I accept," answered Evans.
" Name your seconds."
" We vvill fight without any."
"The terms?" a.iked Borlin, with signs of astonishment.
"On horseback, in the liltle prairie west of the village, one half hour fromt his, each armed vvith as many pistols and knives as he can pocure, or sees fit to carry," said Evans, apparently passion¬ less, as if defending a i^otion in court.
I^ot one but the chief actors in thisex- ttteordinary scene uttered a syllable, or offered to interfere, for all saw that such attempts would be unavailing, perhaps dangerous to the meddler. One half hour afterwards, the parties met in the little prairie, which was circular in form, and about three hundred yards in diame¬ ter. By lacil consent, both actuated by the same purpose, thc!y assumed their stations in the edge of the timber on op¬ posite sides. Both wore stnftg belts literally stiff with knives and pistols. Both were mounted on powerful steeds, but of opposite colors, that of the judge being white as snow cloud, while the colonel's was black and glossy as the wing of the raven. The features ofthe riders in that race of death, presenied very different types of expression. The colonel's brovv looked dark as the gloom of a tempest—stern, lowering, awful; the handsome face of the judge was gay, smiling, joyous—brilliant as the sun¬ beam that kissed it. The multitude stood around in the grove, speechless, almost terrified with the scene about to open.
Suddenly the colonel waived a white handkerchief, as the signal that he was in the act of starting; and swift as ar¬ rows from the bow, terrible as the balls from ihe cannon's mouth, the two horse¬ men, wilh pistols cocked and fingers firm on the trigger, shot towards each other, When.wiihin fifty steps ofhis enemy, the colonel halted wilh surprising dex¬ terity, and crying in loud tones—"Now take care of your eyes!" leveled and fired.
At the instant the judged urged his horse to an evolution, as if bounding over a wall, and the bullet aimed for his eye struck the silver pommel of the sad¬ dle, and glanced offwithout harm. Con¬ tinuing his former velocity, he passed the colonel within three feet, diicharging his weapon at the olhers bosom, but inflic-
—yells, like nothing earthly, but shriek¬ ing, savage, demoniac; On they flew— tlley kept straight onwards—they swerv¬ ed not lo the right or left—and they met like the collision of kidVtii^se ci:)tiiets. Down went the slrong steeds—down the furious riders.—Ah ! surely this must be ihe end ofall!—Not yet. See the judge ri.ses, tottering'y slowly to his feeli and his face still wears thai iiidei'sCribable smile, unquenchable by all its blood, un¬ conquerable by all ils bruises. The col¬ onel cannot stand, yet he is not dead— he writhes in his agony like a crushed
vvas on one side the fence and lutKet* oti tuiher, nml they vvas a wrigglin', and tvVislIti', and ycllin'like wimmen at er revive! rnnelin'. I put my trotters into quick motion, and vvhen I arrive, I found thye'd got a vvliopfjih' wild cat stretched across the fence. I diskivered artci-- vvuds that the wild cat had jumpt on ono of'em ns he was geitia' over tfije bars, dn' tliat iheotKer had grabbed the ani¬ mal by thii hind trotters; and thar they'd bin a holdin' him acrost the fehfcfe ever since niornin'. 1 didn't stan' about as- kin' partiklers then, but I ran up as
worm. The judge approaches, crippled, | quick as 'er a flash of Duponl's, povvder.
hailing, to his enemy—stop?, and plun ges the sharp knife into his heart. He is the victor in the field ofdealh! Not yel Hark 1 a crack, a roar, a fall—the colonel musters also his expiring ener' gles—fires his last pistol—and exclaims in tones ofhellish trium[)h—"I told you lo luke care of your eyes!"
The horrified spectators ran to the spot. The antagonist vvere both dead, and the right eye ofthe judge vvas shot out. Tho colonel was "Death in the Eye!" to the last.
Noah's Sunday Times,
The Hannted House.
AN ARKANSAS SKETCH. Nick Trammel was one vvinter even¬ ing sitting by the fire ofthe only public house in Ecore Fabre, a lillle excited by | er that, she drawed herself into a ccfrner, Ihe fumes of numerous recent potations, i a«d commenced to Idiigh like er fiend er but in excellenl humor wi h Iiimself, his If Bedlam
lo see what they vvar doin'. Jfust as t came pop upon the fun, ohe of the nig¬ gers bawled out i
" 'Take him ofl^ m.nssa, we've got enuffof'inl;' tind With that both let go* and sure enuff, I did take 'im off, for tho varmint sprang ker-whack right on my shoulders. Oi Jiinminy ! how his finger nails stuck in! I pui off at a dog trot for the house, thinkin' that the old 'oman's face vvould make bim let go. I made long tracks, I tell vou, an' at last with Uie varmint tryin' all thc time to gnaw tbrough my bar-skin cap, I bolted plum into the house, wharfmy wife, not half over her tantrums, vvas gillift' ready lo bake, and so was slashin away tikb all possessed,
" 'Take him off!' I bawled, bul insteacf
company, and tho world in general. There was quite a crowd present, anx" iously wailing for Nick to " branch out' inlo one of his funny stories, a thing vvhich he seldom failed to do, when in good spirits. Nick's house, situated far away in the heart ofihe wilderness, had a wide-spread notoriety for being the favorite resort for goblins and spiritis of the damned, and the neighborhood was as studiously avoided by the believers in demonology in that wild region, as cer¬ tain places in the land of wiichcraft were in the olden lime, when the startling no¬ licc of "spirits seen here," nailed up against a tree, forbade the approach of timorous spirits.
The company had been joking Nick aboul the stories in circulalion, concern¬ ing strange sounds said lo have been heard, both at noonday and at midnight, in and about his dwelling, which was situated near the Texan Ironiier. Nick took it all in goud part, and being earn¬ estly solicited lo give his views upon the subject of supernatural appearances in general, after treating all hands around to ardent spirits undertook lo enlighten the audience wilh regard to the spirits supposed lo hold revels in his domicil, and vvith which it was thought that he had a certain kind of understanding.
" You see, 'cordin' lo my 'sperience, speerets is all flam flum—sorter flash in the pan fol de rol. I never seen enny speerets bul b.ir-room speerets, and them arespeeritsl like to meet with. But 'sarnin' them speerits about my clarin',
I can sellle yoUr curidsity quicker nor I ting only a slight wound; and then both | never settled a bar's dander. I can ^iive proceeded to the opposite sides of the | you tbe whole sarcumslanCe in ihe
rejoined Evans.'smiling.
prairie and renewed their headlong course. This time neither halted, but passed, almost touching each other, and both fired as they passed, each drawing from his foe a stream of blood. The same charge was repealed with like re¬ sults half a dozen times, lill their fire¬ arms vvere exhausted, save a small pis¬ tol in the pocket of the colonel; and, yet, both kept their saddle.
The last sweep of all vt^as terrific. The horses were bathed in foam, the ri¬ ders were covered wilh blood, and both reeled in their seats; yet they rushed onwards madly as c^^er, while Iwo ter¬ rific crJM, as they started^ warned tlie appallefi^eciators that this shock would be final. Some desperate thought seem<:
twinkle of a panter'seye watchin' a deer at the drink.
" You kndt^ what ioTt bf a she-critter my wife is, she'd out count'nance aft owl, and outfight a grizzel bar—a wild varmint can't look her in the eye. Well, one afernoop, she and I had got ihto a lillle sort of tantrum about sunithifj' or other, and I put out lo the corn-patch to see whal the niggers war doin'. Well, as I wa>- kinder santrin' down the paiK, I seen tvvo ofthe niggers away off at a par of bars, when ihey orter bin hoin' corn. I cut a big cudgel, inlendin' to give 'cm Jesse, and toddled on Xo whar they war. I took a sorter circum-gfti- round-'em shute to keep the rascals from seein'- hie till 1 got rile upon \ttt, but
" That made me mad, and the hibrtl bawled the more she laughed, till at last I made a desperate resolution, Thc old 'cman had just filled the oven chock full er pine vvood, and had er rousin' fire in the chimney. 1 lurfied a sorter wneelet bout, and fell backerds plum inlb the fire, thin' that the Varmint Would have the worst er the bargih. An' so it turfieJ out, for tiic critter fetched one ail fired yell, an' went plUrfip into the oVeO amonjf tbe pilchwood, I got up mighty sudden I tell you all a fire, but I didn't stand about that. I gol the old gun, an' vvits just agoin' to fire inter the oven whar the wildcat vvas lickin'himseffan' snappia' his eyes kinder, when the old 'oman jumped on me, and wouid not let me bang away. I suppose beiaose ishe fel^t sorter friendly towards the vari^int for givin' me sich a goujin'.
"' Very well, old 'oman,' sez, 'you toajr have 'im all to yourself.'
"Sol 'stinsiuished my rags—for I'd been smokin'likc er volcafterall the tih'ie —^took the old gun on my shoulder, and made tracks.
" Arter I went off, the old 'oman got a big ca«e knife and a long stick, and tried lo gel Mr. Cal out. But he eilh¬ er lihed his new quarter, or was afraid of the old Oman's tinegarphii, and wouldn't move no more nor a bar iri a crotch. At last the old 'oman got her her dander up, an' sw«-e she'd fix the varttiinl; and so she sot fire tothe pitch wood, and block¬ ed up the oven so the critter couldn't git out! An' then such a crackin' o' piich wood, such a spitlin' an' catert?alin', sdch a rippin' an' tearin' yoii neter heard in all yer bom «.._} t. I gome back just afore night, and" found a lot of bosses hitched lothe trees, aft' a crowd o' peo¬ ple lislenin' to the hell yell ki&ked u]) hf the \iild cat.
"'What in t^e d—1 is the matter here ?' asked one ofthe people of the old 'oman, vvho was fciiittin' in the door.
'"Oh, nothin',' answered the old 'oman, and kept on a tnittin'. "
"I wen't off an' slept in the woods, an' I could hear the the ¦varinint's consarn- ed noise more hoi'. Uuif h mile. The people staid round all n'ght, and said the devil must be in the house, and so she was as to that matter, but they and every body else allefs slo^perfard hafk't when they'd pass the home expecfin'to hear thQ groans and lairtenfatfons of some iiifjrnal
,1 ., ¦ .1. rt,t,_ .AA ' I
d6vils6r other. The old 'oman has never
-fc.,i. I *„ iw^* 1 .„-j -w .«.• . s '*''* *''''J <'** ""*^*- That's tho Way my
afor*I«ot<fif«r. I seed sffilmthin' more j house got the name of haCinftd house.
ed to have occurred to each at the same j instahf, Bt»eringi<s«1f to ihon wild itrttt \ than conom<>n war iKe rtfatler. On« | Boys; what ar< you agwine to dHnTr
Object Description
| Title | Winyah Observer |
| Date | 1850-07-24 |
| Subject |
Georgetown County Newspapers |
| Source | Microfilm |
| Description | A twenty year span of life in Georgetown County and the United States of America. |
| Rights | This newspaper belongs to the Georgetown County Library. Please contact the library at 405 Cleland Street, Georgetown SC 29440 for more information. |
| Coverage | United States; South Carolina; Georgetown County; |
| Day | 24 |
| Format | tiff |
| Issue | 541 |
| Masthead | Winyah Observer |
| Month | 07 |
| Publisher | unknown |
| Type | Newspapers |
| Volume | 10 |
| Year | 1850 |
