The Game of Prisoner

Image from Graphics Fairy

THE GAME OF PRISONER.

Youngsters Who Play It Become Clever Geographers.

An interesting game when young folk come together is the escape from prison.

It requires children who are clever in geography. It is a lesson in the disguise of pleasure.

The game proceeds after this fashion: A map is held by a judge, usually a grown person or an older child. Then two children are chosen and placed in separate corners.

Says the judge: “Now, Carrie, you represent New York in this corner, and, Richard, you are in Moscow, imprisoned; you want to get away and reach home by Thanksgiving day. You have gotten from behind the walls, but what is your most direct route home?”

Then Richard has to tell each sea, country and ocean he crosses to get home for the turkey and cranberry sauce. If he can’t do it successfully he must remain right on the spot in the floor where he stopped until he thinks out his escape.

Image of Ofuna – Secret POW camp – Yokohama from Amazing Stories

Other members of the game are placed in prisons at various parts of the country. The favorite jails are now located in China and Japan on account of the interest aroused during the late war. A leading question is: “If you were put in a Yokohama prison, how would you get back to Peking?”

Soon the room becomes filled with prisoners, all trying to get home. Half of them are “stalled” in the center trying to think of the boundary line which brings freedom; others are just leaving the prison walls.

When the game has been played frequently, those who join in get very familiar with the junction of countries, and learn many straight lines and clever jumps that had not appeared feasible before. For those who are not quite conversant with geography, easy tasks are given; for instance, to be placed in a Paris prison and find their home in Boston.

Portsmouth Herald (Portsmouth, New Hampshire) Feb 2, 1899

Image from Brie Encounter

Nowadays, what are the chances of children even being able to find Paris on a map, let alone figure out how to get from there to Boston?

Pumpkin Pie Time

THE OLD-STYLE PUMPKIN PIE.

Some like a fancy custard pie.
Or apple, mince or game.
Or some new-fangled article,
I ‘low, just for the name,
I ain’t so p’tic’lar’s some I know,
And different from the rest.
But the good old-fashioned pumpkin pies
Are what I love the best.

I’m hankerin’ for a piece, right now.
Of the pie that mother made,
When I came home from school I,d get
A hunk and in I’d wade.
And, (p’r’aps my mouth is somewhat large)
Though I’d resort to tears.
She wouldn’t give me another piece
Because it mussed my ears.

I’ve lingered here a lifetime since,
Put up with what I got,
But oft in dreams I’m back again
To that old familiar spot.
And then, at such times, I can find,
On the butt’ry shelf arrayed,
A row of good old pumpkin pies,
The kind that mother made.

— Philadelphia Times.

Lima News (Lima, Ohio) Nov 3, 1898

Times Record (New York) Nov 4, 1943

FOR THE IDEAL PUMPKIN PIE
_____
Why Wait Until Thanksgiving to Enjoy This Exclusively American Delicacy? — Make It Now.
_____

Our neighbor came to call early this morning with lips stained a dark purple from a saunter through the arbor; on his arm he carried a basket of grapes and in each hand a big red apple, and in his buttonhole a spray of goldenrod, and the first red autumn leaf made him quite gorgeous. Under his arm he carried a pumpkin, so we invited him to breakfast.

One should not wait until Thanksgiving for the first pumpkin pie, but begin putting their appetite in training for the feast by some preliminary work on the American pastry.

Steam the pumpkin instead of boiling it, and when cool press it through a fine sieve or vegetable press.

For each pie allow a pint of this strained pumpkin, one cup of rich milk, one egg, one-half cup of sugar, one teaspoon of ginger, one-half teaspoon of allspice, one-half teaspoon of cinnamon and a little salt.

If the milk is brought to the boiling point before the other ingredients are added the pie will bake more smoothly.

The crust should be baked before the filling is put in, as this prevents it becoming soggy. Unlike most custard pies, pumpkin requires to be baked quickly. When the top is brown, firm to the touch and glossy it is done.

— Henrietta D. Grauel, in the Cleveland Leader.

Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, Wisconsin) Nov 11, 1912

The Frederick Post (Frederick, Maryland) Nov 20, 1923

CRADLE SONG

For the frost-rime now approaches,
And the price of eggs is high,
While the grapes hang blue and purple
On the vines.
From their store the wild bee poaches
Knowing winter time is nigh,
And the pickle snuggles deeper
In the brine.

Winter’s coming, coming, coming,
And the vittles that it brings
Fetch a trembling tear of gladness
To the eye.
You can hear the turkeys drumming
While the first fall sausage sings,
And the whipped cream lights upon
A pumpkin pie.

Love, the scoffing of the summer
That they talk of leaves us cold
All these ices and these salads
Give no thrill.
Each day’s rations leave one glummer
Yeh, but pumpkin pies are gold,
Welcome, then the blizzard coming
O’er the hill.

Kokomo Tribune (Kokomo, Indiana) Nov 21, 1929

Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, Wisconsin) Jun 26, 1912

The Frost Is on the Pumpkin, So of Course We’ll Have Pie

Open Season For Dessert Popular Since Pilgrim Days

By LOUISE BENNETT WEAVER
AP Feature Service Writer

ITS OPEN SEASON for pumpkin pie, a dessert treasured in America since Pilgrim days.

In preparing this famous fall pastry, there are three important things to consider. First, the crust’ it should be short and well fitted into a deep pie dish. Second, the filling; it must be subtley pungent — not too spicy or too flat — and it should be very creamy and a rich brown color. Most important is the baking.

Cook the pie ten minutes in a moderately hot over — about 450 degrees. That helps prevent a soggy under crust. Then reduce the heat to moderately slow — about 325 degrees — for forty-five minutes to give the filling its desired velvety texture. Always cool the pie on a rack.

DRY PUMPKINS ARE BEST

You can use any of the excellent canned varieties of pumpkin for the filling or cook up your own golden fruit. If you cook your own, cut the pumpkin into medium-sized pieces, discard peel, seeds and fibrous portions. Steam until the pulp is soft and press it through a fine sieve.

Dry mealy pumpkins make the best pies. So, if your pumpkin is moist, cook it over a low heat or in a double boiler until the moisture has evaporated.

If your recipe calls for three eggs and you are a little short, you can substitute two tablespoons of flour for one egg. Add it with the sugar.

TOP DRESSING

Pumpkin pie fillings sometimes have a flecked appearance, but you can easily prevent it by thoroughly blending together the sugar, salt, spices and pumpkin before adding liquids.

The favored pie steps right out when it’s dressed up with a new topping. For instance, then minutes before time to take the pie from the oven, sprinkle it generously with grated cheese or carefully cover it wit ha slightly sweetened meringue flavored with a few gratings of orange peel.

Cocoanut, marshmallows, chopped candied ginger (just a dash), candied fruit peels, dates, raisins or nuts also introduce variety. Use them for topping or add them to the filling before it is baked.

A sponge or chiffon pumpkin pie is of the lighter, fluffier kind. Add the egg yolks with main part of the ingredients and then lightly fold in the beaten whites just before the mixture is poured into the crust. A whipped cream coating gives this pie a real party air.

A two-crust pumpkin pie is a novelty. Bake a one-crust pie, as usual and at the same time bake a lid of pricked crust that will just fit on top of the pumpkin. Just before serving the pie, slip the lid into place.

PUMPKIN PIE

Two cups steamed and strained pumpkin (canned pumpkin may be used), 1 cup pure New Orleans molasses, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger, 1-2 teaspoon salt, 1 egg, 1 cup rich milk.

Mix ingredients in order given and bake in one crust. Top of pie should be sprinkled with sugar, cinnamon and dots of butter before it is put into the oven. Canned pumpkin is excellent. Crackers, rolled fine, can be added to mixture in place of the egg in pumpkin pie. Serve warm and topped with whipped cream.

Abilene Reporter News (Abilene, Texas) Oct 28, 1938

The Daily Herald (Chicago, Illinois) Jan 25, 1918

Positively Insulting.

“I know the pumpkin pie was rather thin as to filling,” said the landlady, almost crying, “but I don’t think he had any right to say what he did.”

“What did he say?” asked the second table boarder.

“He asked me if I didn’t think that the pie crust would be improved if it had another coat of paint.”

Lima News (Lima, Ohio) Feb 7, 1899

Lima News (Lima, Ohio) Oct 21, 1928

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26. — The art of camouflage has now reached the good old pumpkin pie. Mrs. G.M. King, of 241 William street, East Orange, N.J., today sent to the National Emergency Food Garden Commission a recipe for making pumpkin pie without the pumpkin.

Here it is:

Scald one quart of milk; add scant cup of Indian meal; little salt. When cool add two eggs, cinnamon and ginger to taste. Sweeten with brown sugar. Put a little cream or milk on top and bake.

Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) Nov 26, 1917

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie is almost as old in the American history of feasting as those hungry Redskins who attended the first Thanksgiving get-together on the Massachusetts coast. Here are two recipes — one more or less in the homey tradition, the other based on a newer process.

Mix 1 tablespoon old-fashioned molasses with 1/4 cup brown sugar, then mix this with 1 1/2 cups cooked, mashed and strained pumpkin, or canned pumpkin. To this mixture add a pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 2 cups milk. Beat 2 eggs until fluffy, then add. Line your pie plates with your most perfect pastry, pour in this mixture and bake in hot oven 10 minutes, then in moderate oven about 35 minutes more.

Modern recipe: Mix these: 1 cup steamed, strained, canned pumpkin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3 well-beaten eggs, 1 1/3 cups sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup water. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake in hot oven for 10 minutes and reduce heat to moderate and bake another 35 minutes, or until crust has set.

Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) Nov 22, 1936

Variations on the familiar Thanksgiving dessert theme is the rule in the Maltby household in northwestern New York state. Lucy Maltby, noted American interpreter of what the average American family likes best to eat, says, “Let’s have both a mince meat dessert and a pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving, and add a surprise element to the dinner.”

Mrs. Maltby, an old friend of readers of this column, has worked out this mouth-watering “old wine in new bottles” recipe exclusively for us.

BUTTERSCOTCH PUMPKIN PIE
(8 Servings)

Pastry — 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1-2 teaspoon salt, 2-3 cup lard or other fat, 6 to 8 tablespoons ice water.

Filling — 3 eggs, 1-2 cup dark-brown sugar, 1-2 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1-4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1-2 teaspoon ginger, 1-4 teaspoon cloves, 1 3-4 cups cooked pumpkin, 1 3-4 cups milk.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Cut in shortening until the size of lima beans with a pastry blender or two knives. Add ice water a little at a time, mixing it in with a fork. Pat dough together and chill if possible.

For the filling, separate eggs; beat yolks until foamy. Mix with yolks the brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and pumpkin. Scald milk and add to pumpkin mixture.

Roll out about three quarters of dough on floured board. Line 10-inch pie plate, leaving about an inch overlapping the edges. Make double upright fold and pinch between thumb and forefinger to make fluted rim.

Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into pumpkin mixture. Pour filling into pastry lined pan. Roll out remainder of dough and cut pastry turkeys with turkey cutter. Place on top of filling. Bake in a hot oven (450 degrees F) for 10 minutes. Then reduce heat of oven to 350 degrees F and continue baking for 30 minutes or until knife comes out clean when inserted into pumpkin custard.

Abilene Reporter News (Abilene, Texas) 14 Nov 1941

Bookish

Image from Wiki

BOOKISH BRIEFLETS.

Careless reading never made a well-read man.

Hasty writing spoils a book, but so does hasty reading.

Every book is a self-revelation which only sympathy can interpret.

It is never fair to judge an author’s work without intelligent and sympathetic attention.

Never imagine that there is a moral virtue in reading. A great reader may be a mighty scamp.

Thank God for libraries! but, after all, every man must come at last to his own private thinking.

Don’t imagine that you are big enough to find all that is hidden in a great book. Even the author finds more than he knew.

The reader can protect himself. If the author is a fool, he drops the book. But the author has no protection against the misinterpretations of foolish readers. — Congregationalist.

Lima News (Lima, Ohio) Dec 29, 1899

Image from Ebay

Tired to Death

Eau Claire Leader (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) Oct 24, 1897

TIRED TO DEATH.

My lady is tired to death!
She has studied the print of the gay velvet rug,
And given her dear, darling poodle a hug,
And from her bay window has noticed the fall
Of a ripe nectarine from the low sunny wall;
She’s embroidered an inch on some delicate lace,
And viewed in the mirror her elegant face,
Has looked at an album, a rich bijouterie,
Then restlessly owned herself dead with ennui.

Eau Claire Leader (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) Dec 19, 1897

And my lady it tired to death!
Exhausted! It’s strange that as day after day
Of her frivolous life passes away,
So aimless and “stylish,” so empty and fine,
So free from those duties sometimes called divine —
That she wearies of something, she hardly knows what;
Thinks of not what she is, but of all she is not!
Oh no! all emotions are vulgar, you know,
And my lady’s have always been quite comme il faut.

Eau Claire Leader (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) Jul 2, 1898

Still, my lady is tired to death!
Oh woman, false woman, false mother, false wife,
What account can you give of your poor wasted life,
Of that life that has passed like a feverish dream,
The life that has not been to be but to seem!
What account will you give in the awful, last day,
When the pomp and the show of the world pass away,
When the Master demands of the talents He’s given,
A stewardship rendered on Earth and in Heaven?

Eau Claire Leader (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) Aug 27, 1898

Tired to death!
Cast off for a moment your diamonds and lace,
And shine in the light of true womanly grace;
Look around you and see with eyes raised to the light,
Strong men and true women who live for the right;
Brave hearts that ne’er falter, though distant the goal,
Great lives whose fierce struggles will never be told,
Whose wild, straying hearts stern duties control,
Whose only true life is the life of the soul.

Written for the PRAIRIE FARMER.

The Prairie Farmer (Chicago, Illinois) Jul 14, 1859

Eau Claire Leader (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) Jul 15, 1898

Apple Stealing

APPLE STEALING.

This is the season when the farmer turns loose his dog for the purpose of scaring the young miscreants who come out from the city to steal his apples.

The farmer does not have any objection to the boys getting a few apples, but he objects to having his trees broken down by the young rascals. There are so few apples this year that every one counts and the less that are stolen the more the farmer will have to fill up the barrels that must be fewer than usual on account of those pests, the caterpillars.

Of course, the small boy is the same throughout the broad land, but there are so many more of them near the cities that they make the life of the farmer anything but pleasant, who lives in the suburbs.

Portsmouth Herald (Portsmouth, New Hampshire) Sep 13, 1899

Golf Teas the Latest Fad

Golf, tennis or croquet teas are popular. Outdoor exercise such as these games afford is somewhat exhausting, and hostesses are now serving refreshments under the trees to those who gather either informally or on invitation to play on their grounds. The idea is a delightful one, and it is a pity some one did not think of it long ago. Tea made in the 5 o’clock tea apparatus and served with tea cakes or tiny sandwiches between games keeps the enthusiasm of the guests away up for an afternoon, instead of gradually dwindling away after an hour or so. Tea, chocolate or cocoa is more refreshing than iced drinks.

Men and women both enjoy the informality of the outdoor luncheon, and the men are never seen to better advantage than when displaying a little extra thoughtfulness over the tea of some favored fair friends. It takes a heroism a little short of martyrdom for a hot, tired and thirsty man to stalk about distributing tea and sandwiches and seeing the last cupful disappear with the knowledge that he will have to wait until a second pot is brewed. A man who can patiently and politely endure such an ordeal is a good person for the average young woman to cultivate if he is still unattached and fancy free.

North Adams Transcript( North Adams, Massachusetts) Aug 29, 1899

HOW TO MAKE TEA CAKES.

Put three-quarters of a pound of dry flour into a basin, and rub one ounce of butter into it. Mix half an ounce of compressed yeast until it is quite smooth with rather less than half a pint of milk which is just warm, then add one ounce of castor sugar and a well beaten egg. Make a hollow in the middle of the flour and pour in the milk, etc., gradually, and mix the flour until a very soft dough is formed. Then turn it from the basin on to a floured board, and knead it for a few minutes. Butter some round cake tins of medium size. Divide the dough into two or four pieces, according to the size of the tins, and place a piece in each tin.

Stand the tins on a baking sheet, cover them with a cloth and put the baking sheet on the kitchen fender for about an hour. At the end of this time the cakes will have risen well, and they should be baked at once in a quick over for about half an hour. When nearly done, brush them over quickly with milk, and scatter some powdered sugar over them to give the tops a glazed appearance. The cakes can be served as soon as they are cooked, after being cut through and buttered, or they may be allowed to get cold and can then be toasted and buttered.

A small quantity of mixed spice or chopped candied peel added to the dough may be considered an improvement. In the event of no round tins of a suitable size being at hand, the dough may be shaped into the form of buns, which should be placed on a buttered baking tin, allowed to rise, and then baked according to the directions given above. IF the dough is to be sued in this way, rather less milk should be mixed with the yeast; otherwise the dough would be too soft to mold satisfactorily.

North Adams Transcript (North Adams, Massachusetts) Apr 14, 1899

BLUEBERRY TEA CAKE.

Four cups of blueberries, three cups of flour, half cup butter, one cup of sugar, three eggs, one cup milk, two full teaspoons of baking powder. Cream the butter and sugar, stir in the eggs, beaten very light, the milk, the flour, into which had been sifted the baking powder, and last, the berries, well dredged with flour. Bake in a thoroughly greased biscuit tin, split, butter and eat while warm.

North Adams Transcript (North Adams, Massachusetts) Aug 26, 1899

Dainty Tea Cakes.

Here are directions for making some dainty cakes for a home tea which are inexpensive and will be found delicious.

Beat two eggs to a froth in a cake bowl, add two cups of granulated sugar, one teaspoonful of vanilla extract, half a nutmeg grated, half a teaspoonful of salt, beat these to a cream, then ad a cupful of butter which is quite soft. Beat this well together with the other ingredients, then add a cupful of sweet milk, stir it well through the mixture, and last add two and a half cupfuls of flour sifted twice with three teaspoonfuls of baking powder and stir the whole to a smooth batter. Slightly butter the inside of your patty pans and put one generous tablespoonful of the cake batter in each patty and bake in a slow oven. This mixture will make over thirty little tea cakes. Cover the top of each with a frosting and put one blanched almond on the center.

Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, Wisconsin) May 27, 1912

INEXPENSIVE TEA CAKES

These can be baked while the potatoes bake.

One and one-half cups flour, 2 level teaspoons baking powder, 2-3 teaspoon soda, 1-4 teaspoon nutmeg or mace.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and soda and add three-fourths cup of granulated sugar. Put in a mixing dish and with a spoon make a hole in the center. In a bowl break a egg and put in three-fourths cup of sour milk; beat together and still this liquid into the flour mixture, quickly. Have melting in the small cake pans a piece of butter the size of an egg. When melted pour into the cake mixture and blend thoroughly. Pour into well greased small tins and bake. This cake requires no creaming of butter or beating of egg whites. Butter when warm.

Reno Evening Gazette (Reno, Nevada) Oct 4, 1912

Lima News (Lima, Ohio) Oct 13, 1920

Remembering Caraway Cookies

Image from Attic Paper

AUNT LUCINDA’S COOKIES.

Oh, baker, you haven’t in all your shop,
A cookie fit to be tried,
For the art of making them came to a stop
When my Aunt Lucinda died.
I can see her yet with her sleeves uprolled,
As I watched her mix and knead
The flour and eggs with their yolks of gold,
The butter and sugar, just all athey’ll hold,
And spice them with caraway seed.

Oh, that caraway seed! I see the nook
Where it grew by the garden wall;
And just below is the little brook
With the laughing waterfall.
Beyond are the meadows, sweet and fair
And flecked with the sun and shade;
And all the beauties of earth and air
Were in those cookies so rich and rare,
My Aunt Lucinda made.

So, add one more to the world’s lost arts,
For the cookies you made are sad,
And they haven’t the power to stir our hearts
That Aunt Lucinda’s had;
For I see her yet, with sleeves uprolled;
And I watch her mix and knead
The flour and eggs, with their yolks of gold,
The butter and sugar, just all they’ll hold
And spice them with caraway seed.

— Nixon Waterman.

The Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln, Nebraska) Dec 29, 1900

Image from Homemade Dessert Recipes

Longing.

O, for the meadow-lands, warm and sweet,
Where the tall grass whispers the whole day long,
And the meadow lark on the old rail fence
Floods all the silence with exquisite song;
To lie on the south hill slope and dream —
O, wonderful dreams that never come true;
Then home to the kitchen, cool and wide,
Where grandma’s caraway cookies grew.

O, heart of mine, ’tis a weary way
From the city’s streets to the meadows wide,
From the clearer vision of manhood’s years
To youth’s sweet dreams on the south hillside;
So far from the ways that bruise the feet
To the grassy paths that my childhood knew,
From crowding walls to the kitchen wide
Where grandma’s caraway cookies grew.

— Florence A. Jones, in Good Housekeeping.

Daily Republican (Decatur, Illinois) Jul 27, 1899

Here are several Caraway Cookie recipes from various newspapers – published from 1891 – 1981:

The Mountain Democrat (Placerville, California) Jul 4, 1891

* * * * *

For the Nutmeg lovers:

The Fitchburg Sentinel (Fitchburg, Massachusetts) May 12, 1898

* * * * *

The Wellsboro Agitator (Wellsboro, Pennsylvania) Aug 24, 1910

* * * * *

This one gives the option of using the newfangled “butterine”:

Lincoln Daily News (Lincoln Nebraska) Jan 17, 1919

* * * * *

This holiday recipe uses rose water and rose-flavored icing:

Hamilton Daily News (Hamilton, Ohio) Dec 2, 1926

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For leaf-shaped cookies:

San Antonio Light (San Antonio, Texas) May 17, 1936

* * * * *

This special family recipe includes honey and English walnuts:

The Maryville Daily Forum (Maryville, Missouri) Sep 8, 1941

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And finally, this “modern” recipe (1981) from the American Rose Society includes rose syrup:

The Mountain Democrat (Placerville, California) Nov 11, 1981

Don’t Get Gay

DON’T GET GAY.

As you face the giddy world, young friend, don’t ever try to hide
Your sense of noble manliness and conscientious pride;
Hold up your head in fearless way, look duty in the face,
And in the field of enterprise strive hard to set the pace.
Be independent in your acts, but never crow too loud,
Put forward every honest trait with which you are endowed;
In carving out your course in life fear not to have your say,
And say it independently, but
don’t
get
gay.

If you by fortune have been blessed with talent more than those
You meet in life’s unequal ranks, don’t tread upon their toes,
And if at education’s fount you’ve liberally drank,
Pray don’t imagine you’re the only turtle in the tank.
Combine your manly dignity with modesty and grace, —
A watch is never valued by the glitter of its face —
Remember, like your fellow men, you’re but a house of clay
To crumble into dust again; so
don’t
get
gay.

Though as a sparkling jewel in society you shine,
Though flatterers may tell you you’re just awfully divine,
Though pretty girls may flood you with their ever-ready smiles —
And strive to hold you captive in the network of their wiles,
Don’t think you are a demi-god of semi-human birth,
Don’t think you hold a mortgage overdue upon the earth,
Don’t tilt your nose too loftily or some time they may say,
You’re more the peacock than the man, so
don’t
get
gay.

The world admires a manly man of independent thought,
A man of nerve and enterprise with vim and rigor fraught,
A modest man content to be accepted at his worth,
But not a self-important cuss who thinks he owns the earth.
Don’t try to make the people think you’ve wit and sense to burn,
That what you don’t already know ’tis not worth while to learn;
In setting in the game of life you’ll make a winning play
If you but use good common sense, and
don’t
get
gay.

— James Barton Adams, in Denver Post.

The Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln, Nebraska) Feb 12, 1899

In a Careless Moment Devil Anse Allowed It to Be Taken

FAMOUS WEST VIRGINIA OUTLAWS.

In a Careless Moment Devil Anse Allowed It to Be Taken. — The Hatfields Wrecked the Photographer’s Establishment.

When the famous feud between the Hatfield and McCoy families, which cost many lives in the mountain country of West Virginia and Kentucky, was declared at an end in April, 1897, the families of old Randolph McCoy and the descendants of old Deacon Ellison Hatfield, led by the notorious Devil Anse, gathered on the banks of the Big Sandy river to sanction the wedding of Mary McCoy and young Aaron Hatfield. There are rumors now that this peace protocol is over and talk of a fresh outbreak. Whether there is any ground for the belief that the feud is to be reopened it is hard to tell, for fighting, not talking, is what both families engage in when the ill-feeling comes to the top and there are scores to be settled.

Four times the Hatfields and the McCoys gathered to declare off the feud that has been passed down through three generations, and three times out of the four blood was shed before the negotiations were concluded. Moonshine whisky, which both families make and drink in large quantities, has been responsible mainly for the breaking of these compacts; and if the families go at each other again it will probably be because of the bad effects of the product of the illicit distilleries in the West Virginia mountains. It is almost incredible that such a feud could start up again and continue with the same freedom that it did twenty years ago, but it is possible, for the authorities of that state are as powerless to stop it today as they were years ago, when Parish and Sam McCoy shot and killed young Bill Stayton from ambush, thereby shedding the first blood of the feud.

The picture that accompanies this story is particularly interesting for two reasons. First, it is the only group picture ever taken of the Hatfields and the only picture ever taken of any of the leaders of that family with their consent. Secondly, having been taken in times of peace, it illustrates the caution with which these outlays are observing the truce. There are four revolvers and four rifles in sight. How many small weapons there are in concealment it is impossible to tell, but the reader can be pretty certain that Mrs. Devil Anse and Mrs. Cap, in the background, and the two youngsters in the foreground, are well prepared for emergencies as their relatives. It was only a short time after this picture was taken that one of these youngsters tried to murder a deputy sheriff who had cornered his father, Cap Hatfield, who was a fugitive from justice, having escaped from jail at Williamson. The youngster came pretty near succeeding in his purpose.

After Cap Hatfield escaped from jail in July, 1897, he made for Devil Anse’s old home on Tug river, near the mouth of Peter Creek, where he was joined by the others who are shown in the picture. Some fifteen miles away, at a small settlement, a photographer had set up an establishment, and he drove out to the Tug river cabin to get a picture of the Hatfields. The Hatfields received him decently enough, but refused to allow him to take a picture at first. Cap was particularly vehement in his objections, but Devil Anse was good natured about the matter. He knew that he and Cap and other members of the family had had cameras snapped at them during visits to West Virginia towns time and again, and he finally got the whole crowd together and told the photographer to fire away.

The result was the picture here shown. The photographer took the plate away, promising to send back a set of the pictures. The next day Cap Hatfield was in an ugly mood. He cursed Devil Anse, himself, and everybody else for sitting for a photograph, particularly at a time when officers were on his track, and, armed to the teeth, he set out for the settlement to do things to the photographer and his outfit. Now, of all the Hatfields, Cap is the most reckless and murderous. He, more than any other member of the family, with the possible exception of Ellison Mounts, is responsible for the killing and maltreating of women in the feud now supposed to be closed, and he is a scoundrel without morals or mercy. Killing is his pleasure, and there is no doubt in the world that he would have murdered that photographer if he’d ever caught him.

But Devil Anse looked out for that. With Elias, Tray and Joe he headed Cap off, and sent him back to the cabin. All Hatfields have a way of doing what Devil Anse tells them to do, and,  even the bloodthirsty Cap is subservient to him. The old man told Cap that he’d see that none of the pictures were printed, and with his three younger sons he set out to keep his word.

The photographer declared on his solemn oath that he had sent the plate away to be developed. He was lying with he said it, and it was a good thing for him that it was Devil Anse and not Cap that he tried to fool. Anse and his boys found the plate and destroyed it. Then, as a lesson to the photographer, they smashed his camera and wrecked his entire establishment. Then they went back to the cabin on Tug river.

But, the photographer had struck off a proof before Devil Anse arrived. He toned this proof and made the picture shown here. It fell into the hands of the McCoys and one of htem gave it to a traveling man who went through that region a short time ago. The cabin which is the background of the picture is deserted now and was practically deserted then. It was being used when the picture was taken as a hiding place for the fugitive Cap. It is over the fireplace in this cabin that the following, done in gaudy colors, has hung for years:

Under this motto some wag wrote some years ago:

“Leastwise, not this side of hell.”

Lima News (Lima, Ohio) Feb 8, 1899

Driver of a Night Lunch Robbed

Image from the Culinary Arts Museum

HELD UP HIS CART.
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Driver of a Night Lunch Robbed and Roughly Treated.
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THREE MASKED MEN DID THE JOB.
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Pounded Victim on the Head With Revolver to Secure Diamond Ring.

Providence, April 25. — A holdup occurred this morning in the center of the city, and upon one of the main thoroughfares, brilliantly illuminated by are lights and traversed by those coming in from the country with milk and produce.

The victim was Thomas Havens, proprietor of a night lunch cart. He started for home at 3 o’clock this morning, and at 3.15 was slowly driving up Promenade street. As he stood looking out the front window of his cart he noticed three men  standing on the sidewalk. When he was abreast this group, one of the men seized the horse by the bridle.

Havens used his whip on the horse, but the highwayman had made sure of his grip, and as he held the horse fast the other two men opened the side door of the cart and jumped in. All the men wore handkerchiefs over their faces and each had a loaded revolver.

Havens was made to hold up his hands, and as he did so one of the gang went through his pockets and took a gold watch and chain valued at $125 and a roll of $20 in bills.

Then the highwaymen attempted to force a diamond ring from his finger. In doing so they pulled his hand down, and one of the gang, thinking that Havens was about to offer resistance, struck him on the forehead with the butt of his revolver.

The victim was then told to lie down and give up his ring. This he did, and the highwaymen left him.

When he thought he could safely do so Havens drove to the sixth police station, and made a complaint. IT was then nearly 4 o’clock.

The police were sent out and obtained a slight clew. Two of the highwaymen were seen on Atwell’s avenue, and the other on Harris avenue. This, it is believed, will lead to the identification of the men, as the person who saw them gives a good description of all three.

Portsmouth Herald (Portsmouth, New Hampshire) Apr 26, 1899