| Blood In The Air At Cottrell Town
On Sunday as the good people of Upper Beech were repairing to their several abodes on their way from Sabbath School at Oka, they were the witnesses of an affray in which Brown Hicks, Stella Hicks, Levi Cottrell, son of Rev. Wm. P. Cottrell and Wm. Truman, Jr. were principals.
Young Cottrell and Truman it seems were taking turn about paying their respects and making love to said Hicks' wife, to which Hicks demurred, which was tauntingly ignored by Cottrell and Truman, upon which Hicks emphasized his demur by giving vent to his feelings with a "darnick" at the butt of Cottrell's ear with all the force he could summons. He then wound up by firing a couple of shots from a revolver at the crowd, from appearances not caring who he hit, which fortunately injured no one, but gave the boys to understand when he said hands off that they had better take the hint.
Transcribed by Norma Knotts Shaffer from microfilm of the Calhoun Chronicle dated 8/21/1894.
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