THOUGHTS OF THE PAST

BYERS, HEINLEY, HAWKINS, MITCHELL, PENICK, MCDILL, KERN, DAVIS, FORCE, JAMES

Posted By: David (email)
Date: 12/9/2004 at 12:36:04

The Chariton Leader, Chariton, Iowa
Thursday, January 24, 1907

'THOUGHTS OF THE PAST'

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He Caused the Jury to Be Merry and the Court Smiled.

Many will remember the collapse of the Zero coal mines and the litigation
which followed in settling up the affairs of the defunct managment. Ben and
Tom Heinley, of Creston, took the concern and run it under the management of
what they called the Summit Coal and Mining Co. It did not seem to "pan out
just right so they met two or three pay days with only 50 cents on the
dollar, for labor and supplies, and finally failed entirely, giving personal
pledges for the balances, but undertook to shield themselves behind the
Statutes of Frauds, it being a well known principle in law that guarantee
for the debts of another must be in writing, but all holding claims assigned
them to J.C. Hawkins and began suit against the Heinleys on the grounds of
personal benefits." The case lasted several years and finally it was
compromised by the Heinleys paying the court expense and 18 cents on the
dollar to all claimants, which was as good as could be expected considering
the mountain of costs that had piled up. The case of the claimants was
taken by Mitchell & Penick, of this city, and Judge McDill was one of the
defendants' attorneys. The county seat of Union County was then at Afton
and at every term of court for two or three years we (the writer being one
of them) made pilgrimages to Afton to tell what we knew. The death of
Aquilla Kern, last week, calls this to mind. "Quill" was a natural humorist
and made a hard witness to handle. One of the opposing attorneys was trying
to wind him up as to dates of transactions and all interested listened with
bated breath expecting a bad break injurious to the plaintiff's side. But
Quill" happily disappointed them. He looked at the questioner with an eye
of disgust, and then appealed to Judge Harvey, "Say, Judge, this fellow
takes me for a living, breathing calendar and is attempting to hang me up."
This caused a merry laugh all round and the witness accomplished what the
objections of his attorneys had failed to do, curtail unnecessary
technicalities. This was not longer than twenty years ago but both Heinleys
are dead, the plaintiff is gone, Judge McDill has passed to the beyond since
then, and others are dead or forgotten.

* * * * * * * *

But speaking of that once populous mining camp calls to mind the wild, old
night that Tom Davis shot ----- James. There were many wild and wooly
nights there then but this was certainly the most uncivilized of them all.
There wasn't to exceed a half dozen sober persons in the place and the fact
of their being there caused a suspicion to rest on them. The writer had the
fag end of a stock of merchandise in the place and had employed A.R. Byers
to dispose of them at auction, and work had been finished that day, and the
swagger" was placed in a shot bag and carried to Cal Force's boarding house
and placed in the middle of the bed, in the absence of a bank vault, Mr.
Byers and the owner of the contents of the shot bag protecting it from theft
by sleeping on top of it. Sometime during the night a terrible thundering
was heard at the door and we thought surely the robbers had come, but Cal
shouted up the stairway that Tom Davis had shot ----- James and that they
were bringing him there to take his dying statement. It was not often that
the chance to observe a real tragedy was offered so the writer hurried down
to view the remains and forgot all about the shot bag, and for some time
after he returned, and when he felt for it, it was gone! Mr. Byers
suggested that in our absence the bandits had got in and carried it away.
Did you ever lose a fortune suddenly? Well, if you did you know what
sensations we underwent. But our bed fellow was too merciful to torture
anyone long and soon restored the shot bag, having perpetrated a bit of a
joke during the lapse of memory while out on the murder inspection.
Carnegie never felt richer while endowing a free public library than we did
the balance of the night, dreaming of Treasure Island. The next morning,
holding to the shot bag, in company with Mr. Byers and two or three other
sober citizens, we went down and coaxed Davis to stay drunk until the
Sheriff came and arrested him. He was certainly the most heinous looking
person that God ever -- sub let to the handi-work of the devil, but he said
he shot James for improper conduct towards his wife -- and it has always
been our opinion since that James ought to have been shot -- or any other
man who would have even looked in her direction without the protection of a
spy glass. But James failed to die and Davis went to the penitentiary but
finally was released on a second trial, secured by his attorney, J.A. Penick
"What did we finally do with the contents of the shot bag? -- " Well that
s been so long ago. However, you might find out other details by
interviewing Mr. Byers. But that was certainly a wild, old night.
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November 27, 2004
iggy29@rnetinc.net