Mission Statement:
To endeavor to bring to all residents of the Five States the most current and important news from across the entire Five States region. Never yellow, the Five States Herald vows to serve only the people of the Five States, from New Austin to Lemoyne, free of charge now and forever.
Harriet’s Spies
Since arriving in the Five States, naturalist Harriet Davenport has caused quite a stir. Many cowpokes are excited about collecting samples and learning more about these animals. However, many of those folks also make a living hunting and have grown frustrated with Miss Davenport refusing to work with them for long periods of time. “I can take her judgement, but when I have a bunch of samples to sell her, it seems kind of petty to not buy them. She wants the samples, right?” a cowpoke asked. Several have expressed concern with how Harriet learns of their hunting activities. “Sure, if I kill something in front of her I understand, but how the hell does she know when I kill an animal in Ambarino? Does she even go that far north?” another wondered.
Harriet herself refused to comment for this article, however, some have speculated on how she learns of folks’ activities. “She told me her friends tell her everything, but near as I can tell, her all of her friends are animals and she can’t talk to them,” one man said, quite sure of his statement. Renowned tracker Akanowa has recently taken to naturalism, but like others, she also hunts to survive. “Birds and critters,” Akanowa said. “Those are her friends, those are the ones that tell her.” It seems bizarre, but Akanowa had no doubt. She explained that Miss Davenport only sells tranquilizers of a size too large to sample birds and small animals such as frogs. “They have a more important role. Birds can see nearly everything, small critters can see enough,” Akanowa said.
Whether Miss Davenport truly speaks with birds and critters or she has a vast unknown and unseen spy network is still unconfirmed. What is known for certain is that if you plan to work with Miss Harriet Davenport, you better think twice before killing an animal because her spies a likely watching.
Poachers found dead in the San Luis River
By Alois Burditt
New Austin Rangers patrolling the southern reaches of Gaptooth Ridge came across several bodies in the short along the San Luis River. One body was still being pulled and pushed by the tide when the Rangers showed up. “Nature won that one, pulled the body out into the river too far to be recovered,” said one of the Rangers. The other bodies showed evidence of a vicious assault. There were bruises, cuts, and non-lethal bullet holes in them all. One was hogtied and placed at the edge of the river’s shore. “That man was in a place where he wasn’t quite drowning, but he couldn’t quite breathe either,” the Ranger said. The Rangers explained that as the water rose slightly, the man likely had a more difficult time breathing. Eventually he, “suffocated while mostly on dry land.”
None of the victims were identified at the time this paper went to press. However, tracks led north of the shore to a camp that appeared to have been set up by poachers. “Several traps of the type honest folks don’t use, cages, et cetera.,” indicated the probability of it being a poacher’s camp. The victims also had hunting materials on their person. “We don’t know who the assailants were,” the Ranger admitted, “however, we did see three, maybe four sets of tracks fleeing the scene.” Their working assumption based on the brutality of the kills and intentional removal from camp to the river’s shore may indicate a group with a strong dislike for poachers. Harriet Davenport said she knew nothing of the group, but applauded their work.
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Dispute over Marble Fox leads to death of hunter
By Jane Duran
A pair of naturalists tracked down the rare Marble Fox on Wednesday. The fox made them work for it, however, running quickly while other foxes attacked the naturalists. “We made it past the other foxes but only got one tranq bullet in the Marble Fox before I heard the gunshot,” one of the naturalists said. They had not noticed the hunter as they were focused on tracking the fox. The hunter fired off a round from his elephant gun and killed the fox, denying the naturalists their prize. “I was pissed, if I’m being honest, but my friend?” the naturalist said with a grin. Their friend unholstered a sawed of shotgun and killed the hunter where he stood. “We skinned the fox, figured might as well since it was already dead.” The body of the hunter was found covered in snow hours later, however the identities of the naturalists are not known. In his remarks to this paper, he did not identify himself.
Blackwater, the moonshiner’s haven?
By Nick McCrary
Federal revenue agents have begun complaining that local Blackwater police are not just uncooperative, but counterproductive when it comes to rooting out bootleggers and moonshiners. “We have tracked many shipments of untaxed liquor to locations in Blackwater, including the Blackwater Saloon,” a Bureau spokesman said. However, the Blackwater police often prevent federal agents from entering the town to investigate. “Folks expect some privacy from federal officers,” said Blackwater Chief of Police Oswald Dunbar. There have also been reports of bar room brawls breaking out between rival bootleggers.
Federal authorities have gone so far as to accuse the Blackwater Police Department of protecting the Great Plains Sniper along with bootleggers. “If we are harboring him, it ain’t knowingly,” said a policeman. Residents of Blackwater refused to comment, but it was noted that many residents were walking with a slight imbalance. Seems the whole town may be drunk on moonshine, which is enough to keep the locals satisfied and federal authorities frustrated.
Man Killed by Swarm of Beavers!
By Sofia Kathleen Fairfax (Lead Correspondent)
A man died today near Owanjila Dam. Wild animals killed him, but it wasn’t snakes, bears, or cougars. It was the usually friendly beaver.
The man’s name was Carl Lebowitz, a local from Strawberry who had recently become a devout naturalist. He shunned the use of firearms, a fact many citizens mocked him for. He was described as a mutual acquaintance of Harriet Davenport. A few of his neighbors claim he was obsessed with finding some rare beaver up near Owanjila Dam.
Three days ago he disappeared from Strawberry, few complained or thought much of it. It wasn’t until today when his corpse was found did anybody speak up. Doctors are fairly sure he died early in the morning, and the teeth marks match those of beavers.
What likely happened is, the poor man stumbled across this mythical beaver and believed they were passive. Instead, a horde of beavers attacked him, biting and thrashing until he was dead. While miss Davenport could not be found for comment, she likely sends her sympathy. However, her rival, Gus Macmillan, could be reached and had less than flattering things to say. He more or less mocked the deceased, saying he was just another naïve fool who thought he could make friends with wildlife.
Photography competition proves peaceful competition is possible in the Five States
By Emery Cosberry
The BHTC hosted a wildlife photography contest throughout the Heartlands region early this week. Many who participated described the event as relaxing and, “not as dull as you might expect a photograph contest to be.” Weapons and attacking others were forbidden, leading many to wonder why archery competitions have not adopted similar rules. A spokesman for the BHTC said that each event has specifically crafted rules that are unique to those events. They would not comment on the possibility of changing rules for other competitions in the future. Participants included naturalists as one may expect, but also bounty hunters, traders, and a large number of collectors.
Enterprising man begins renting the “Smoking Gun Suite”
By Van R. Seldon
An Annesburg resident who owns the place the Smoking Gun stayed, and the same place he ultimately killed Herald journalist Ela Q. Asken in, has begun renting the room as the Smoking Gun Suite. Investigators wrapped up their investigations late last week and since then, the man has begun renting the property to those with macabre interests. “Didn’t even need to clean it, hell most offer extra to see the blood!” the owner said. Authorities have kept watch over the property, in case the Smoking Gun returns, however many believe that is unlikely.
Community of Lagras has a message for Harriet Davenport: go away!
By Aloysius Levron
All across the Five States it seems that Miss Harriet Davenport is an acquired taste that many are not quickly acquiring. This week, Miss Davenport has drawn the ire of the community of Lagras, which is no easy feat since the community is typically very laid back. Miss Davenport has chosen a location just north of Lagras, which many find to be quite convenient. The increased traveling in the region is not the problem for the community of Lagras as it was for the Big Valley resident a week ago. No, their problem is closer to the problem many hunters have with Miss Davenport: her criticism over killing animals. “We hunt ‘gators, crayfish, fish, boars, whatever the land provides here,” said a Lagras resident.
Whenever a resident strays to close to Miss Davenport’s hut, she allegedly begins to curse at them and has on numerous occasions chased them back to Lagras. “She sprays that stuff, it just ain’t right,” said another resident. “If she going to keep doing that, she need to go.” Miss Davenport denies treating anyone poorly, stating that she treats people the way they deserve, the way they treat her friends.
Cornwall Ties to Violent Criminal Revealed?
By Sofia Kathleen Fairfax (Lead Correspondent)
In what is quickly amounting to astoundingly lousy luck, more bad news has dropped at the feet of Leviticus Cornwall. The US government intends to vote on a bill forbidding political officials and industrialists from hiring Pinkerton agents. This is a direct response to the recent massacre in California, but that isn’t the most pressing matter for the industry titan. That would be a written report tying him to the actions of a criminal we in the Five States only know too well.
The report, written up by a New York City detective who is unnamed, claims Cornwall paid Myra Rose Hart to eliminate the infamous train robber Etta Doyle. As readers would recall, Doyle prayed on Cornwall’s trains. Cornwall himself was very public about his distaste for the woman and personally kept raising the bounty on Doyle. After several false starts and failed attempts, Doyle was captured but in very unclear circumstances. Nobody in Saint-Denis could recall a professional bounty hunter capturing Doyle or eliminating her gang. The only witnesses to the event were Cornwall guards who were sadly killed during the altercation. Nobody suspected Cornwall would hire the Black Rose herself.
The report also uncovers other relatively recent crimes likely committed by miss Hart. This includes the horrific murder by fire of the entire Meade family in western Lemoyne, and the suspicious death of Moira O’Bannon by enbalming fluid. The latter is claimed in the document to have been ordered by Angelo Bronte for unknown reasons.
Needless to say, all the people mentioned in the document available for comment deny all the allegations. Cornwall especially was vitriolic, shouting that this was slander from Abigail Tremaine. While it should be noted that someone clearly paid this New York detective to dig for dirt, the document comes with newly uncovered photos, and all the claims are at least plausible. If true, one can only imagine the crimes Cornwall has done that aren’t yet known.
Despite peace talks, US military still bearing down on the Caribbean
By Adam Parvey
For nearly a month the Spanish-American war has seemed to wane. Following a succession of American victories, the Spanish have all but retreated from Cuba and the surrounding islands. Congress has even prepared to pay soldiers returning home. However, few soldiers have made it back. The US forces are still deployed and aimed at Spanish forces. According to an anonymous source, this is all posturing to ensure the Spanish remain in a weak position. There are interests in Washington that want to see a prolonged war, however, my source says those interests lose influence daily.
Technology beats overwhelming force
By Ivy Seager
British General Herbert Kitchener has added another victory to his record. Earlier this year General Kitchener turned the conquest of the Sudan from a lesson in frustration to an inevitable conclusion. Sudanese forces have been on the defensive since that decisive battle. Not content to rest on his past success, General Kitchener has claimed another battleground victory. Against a force that doubled his own, General Kitchener put to use the latest weapons technology. The superior weaponry was no match for the outdated arms of the Sudanese. Following the victory, the British laid claim to Omdurman. From there, the British say they will lay claim to all of the Sudan.
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