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.
Plans for multiple simultaneous bank robberies leaked, several arrested
In a bizarre turn of events, news that nearly two dozen cowpokes were planning bank robberies across the Five States found its way to several sheriff’s offices and police departments. Who leaked the information has yet to be determined. Each recipient of information was given an unmarked envelope. The few times the envelope’s deliverer was noted, no lawman had taken a good enough look to offer a physical description. Most of the time the envelope was found on a desk, the deliverer nowhere in sight. The depth of the plot was only uncovered when Sheriff Leigh Gray of Rhodes sent a telegram to Chief of the Saint Denis Police Benjamin Lambert that bank robbers were in possibly in the state. “There is no telling what robbers may do, they could threaten our bank then go to Saint Denis instead,” Sheriff Gray said. So, he offered a courtesy notice to Chief Lambert. Chief Lambert then found it odd that both had received notices that their respective banks would be robbed. Chief Lambert then contacted with sheriff stations outside of Lemoyne and learned that nearly every sheriff contacted had received an unmarked envelope with a warning about a bank robbery being imminent.
Several banks were put on high alert and late this week, the bank robbers made their move. However, with lawmen disguised as bank patrons, the robbers were caught off guard. In a few instances a shoot out occurred, however, in most cases the would be robbers gave up without a fight. Where shootings occurred, no lawmen were injured. Two of the bank robbers were shot, though they are expected to live. Federal investigators have arrived and taken over the investigation, given that it involved a plot that took place in across multiple states. Authorities have promised there will be absolutely no bank robberies in the near future.
Addison Wye Gunned Down in Spectacular Tumbleweed Battle!
By Sofia Kathleen Fairfax (Lead Correspondent)
Addison Wye, the much-hated Siska warden, jailbreaker, and murderer, was finally killed this week. He died in what can only be described as a pitched battle in Tumbleweed. Earlier that Tuesday morning, sheriff Freeman got word that Wye was coming to break a high-profile criminal out of the local jail. Sensing danger, he ordered all local citizens to be sent elsewhere. He armed all his deputies, even receiving support from Armadillo and a few local bounty hunters.
It was at dusk when Wye was spotted. He was well prepared; he had a small army of mercenaries, a maxim gun on a wagon, and even his old prison bloodhounds. Details on the engagement are unfortunately spotty at best. Sheriff Freeman was knocked out by someone early on in the fight. When he came to, he found his gun gone and nearly everyone else dead in the town. Not a single deputy or bounty hunter survived the engagement. Fires were spreading everywhere, the various coaches and wagons were all destroyed. Wyes bloodhounds were found with their necks broken in several spots. The only other soul still alive in town was the now famous bounty hunter Elizabeth Cotton, who claims she arrived just as the battle was dying down. Not even the high-value prisoner survived the battle; he was found sitting in his cell with half his jaw missing, likely caused by a shotgun shell. It quickly became abundantly clear that a third party was involved in this shootout; both sides didn’t just simply wipe each other out.
Wye was eventually found; he was tied up in the churchyard. Cotton and Freeman didn’t even recognize him; first, he was severely burned. He had been hogtied and repeatedly stabbed in the liver, but this wound wasn’t fatal, so says a Blackwater doctor. From the amount of blood, the killer stood and did nothing for several minutes as he bled to death. He or she was enjoying his suffering. Wye was finished off after being doused in a flammable liquid, which was quickly set on fire. After he was burned, the killer repeatedly shot and stabbed him in a fit of rage.
While it’s currently unknown who killed Addison Wye, most are betting it was Myra Rose Hart. Plenty of people hated him, but none quite as intensely. Elizabeth Cotton is expected to pocket the bounty reward, despite not doing anything. That might anger some people, but the man is dead at the end of the day. Few will mourn his loss; even fewer will remember his deeds within a few short years. Like the ashes he became, he has returned to the ground, dust to dust.
Bounty hunter assassinated
By Jane Duran
Elias Harlan, a bounty hunter known across Ambarino, was found dead in his camp this week. Authorities believe this was not a random killing but a targeted strike. “There is evidence the killer hid in nearby bushes, planning their strike as Harlan slept,” an investigator said. Harlan’s unidentified trading partner was found dead at the camp as well. Harlan’s body was found still in bed, a single shot to his head. Valuables were left undisturbed, except for Harlan’s trademark white hat Kennedy hat. This supports the theory that this was a targeted assassination. Whether Harlan was targeted because he was a bounty hunter or for another reason is unknown.
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Man swears vengeance for death of his friend when the law says it was justified
By Caylen V. Hornby
A cowpoke exploring Ambarino with their friend claims his friend was murdered. However, Sheriff Curtis Malloy of Valentine said it sounds like self defense. “He said him and his friend walked in on someone’s house up near the Granite Pass and his friend was killed,” Malloy said, “self defense, open and shut.” The victim’s friend, however, has swore vengeance on the man defending his family and home from intruders.
Special Agent Artemas Mallicoat killed, Great Plains Sniper implicated
By Nick McCrary
After weeks of false confessions by people claiming to be the Great Plains Sniper, the real Great Plains Sniper takes decisive action. Special Agent Artemas Mallicoat arrived in Blackwater to interview the three individuals who had claimed to be the Sniper before they were released. An anonymous source revealed that each of the interviewees were uncooperative with Agent Mallicoat. Each allegedly continued to insist that they were the Great Plains Sniper, calling the others frauds. Agent Mallicoat was said to have gotten flustered by the interviews.
“He came in with high expectations, saying he never found a man or woman he couldn’t break during questioning,” said a Blackwater policeman who requested their identity be kept anonymous. After hours of failing to get anything from the witnesses, Agent Mallicoat left the police station from the back and walked to the Blackwater Saloon accompanied by other agents when a single was fired. The agents quickly went into action, but it was too late. The single shot hit Agent Mallicoat in the head, killing him instantly. Though the agents were quick to move into defensive action, they hesitated before launching a counter strike. The shot came from the south, however, by the time policemen and agents arrived to search the area, the Sniper was gone. A rolling block rifle was found on the short cliffs to Blackwater’s south. “The gun was recovered, it had not be reloaded,” Police Chief Oswald Dunbar said. A trail was picked up and followed toward Thieves Landing, however, the trail was lost there and no witnesses provided any useful information.
Oil field ignited on fire
By Emery Cosberry
The Heartland oil fields caught fire this week, leading to tens of thousands of dollars in property damage, three dead, and a dozen more injured. Authorities are not sure what started the fire, but it started late Tuesday night and continued nearly all day Wednesday. Modern firefighting has yet to reach most New Hanover, however, Cornwall Kerosene & Tar is far more modern than the region it occupies. “Mr. Cornwall had water mains installed for just this reason,” said one of the fireman who assisted in putting the fire out, “we were able to connect hoses to the mains, where a pump pushes water through the hose to our target.” Multiple water mains were built in the last few years, each independently connected to a water source deep underground. By midday Wednesday, the firemen were able to get the fire contained. “Once contained a fire is harmless,” said one of the firefighters. The fire was completely extinguished by evening.
Most of the injuries, including two of the deaths, occurred in the early moments of the fire’s spread. However, a few firefighters and other volunteers were injured. One firefighter died when he bravely entered a smoke filled building to connect a hose to one of the water mains. Though he died of suffocation, he managed to connect the hose before he succumbed to the smoke, as evidenced by the sudden flow of water through the hose. “It took each hose with a team of men to contain this fire, had old Thurman not done what he did, containing the fire would have been harder and taken longer,” said another firefighter, “he saved lives.” Thurman Russell, the deceased firefighter, is survived by a wife and two children. Mr. Cornwall has promised to take care of the Russell family, including a “top notch” education for the children. The surviving firemen and volunteers were treated to drinks at Smithfield’s Saloon in Valentine.
President MacAlister to Attend Saint-Denis Play
By Sofia Kathleen Fairfax (Lead Correspondent)
After a mass lynching, a riot, an insurrection, and a government assassination, our commander in chief feels compelled to visit Lemoyne’s grandest city. Alfred MacAlister is scheduled to visit Saint-Denis in the coming weeks, hoping to bring peace and unity to a city that has been through a lot.
He is expected to give a few speeches and pay tribute to those killed in the many violent incidents over the past year, including slain governor Murphy James. Afterwards, he is expected to attend the Théâtre Râleur for an evening show. The play is expected to be Tom Taylors classic Our American Cousin. The irony of a president attending a play that previously ended with a president’s death is not lost on anyone. Still, the president insisted merely because he likes the play.
Security is expected to be tight; no doubt everyone is watching for the same individual who so cruelly took the life of the previous governor and his family. Also in attendance is the governor, lieutenant governor, mayor, and even industrialist Abigail Meredith Tremaine.
Phantom trains reported across the Five States, authorities stumped for explanations
By Mathilde Orry
For several weeks reports have come in from across the Five States of what are being called “phantom trains.” These trains are not some kind of specter, barely visible and not of the physical world. These trains are physical, though their source and destination remains unknown because these phantom trains seem to appear and disappear randomly. “I was riding the train out of Saint Denis when suddenly the train was gone and I found myself stumbling on the train tracks,” one witness claims, “before I could even catch my bearings the train was back and I was on the floor, having seem to have fallen.” This report alone could not be verified and could easily be written off as the ramblings of a drunkard. However, other similar reports have come in from Ambarino, New Hanover, and even across New Austin.
“I had just caught me a beautiful buck and was headed to camp,” another witness says, “I rode on the tracks as a shortcut, figuring I’d hear the train long before I saw and be able to exit the track.” However, they claim the train suddenly appeared where he was, crushing his horse and sending him sprawling on onto the floor of an empty train car. Another witness was a train engineer themselves. They had been busy driving the train all day when it disappeared beneath him. “My cargo, my crew, everyone was gone but me,” the engineer claimed. He walked into Valentine, his next stop, and found his train sitting there idle with the cargo already unloaded. “I just hopped onto the train and kept on driving, like nobody knew anything odd had happened,” he said. Authorities claim that such a train as described cannot exist, claiming witnesses are drunk or under the influence of some new type of drug. However, a member of the Respawners I came across in Valentine said these stories are likely the result of a “glitch.” “The fake world has trouble processing things, you see,” he explained, “sometimes the trains are needed elsewhere and the game forgets the train is busy, so it moves the train and then sometimes brings it back.” If that made any sense to you, good, it made no sense to me. Fortunately, very few deaths as a result of phantom trains have been reported.
Temperance reformer and suffragist dies in her sleep
By Frederick Vannesse
Frances Willard graduated from the North Western Female College and began teaching all over the United States. She eventual got involved in politics, advocating against the consumption of alcohol and for increased political equality for women. She faced great adversity, both from those who saw women is ill equipped for political participation and also for those who were just upset that she wanted to get rid of their alcohol. Willard recently contract influenza in her travels and her death is attributed to the disease.
Cricket fans were treated to quite a show by star Joe Darling
By Ivy Seager
In the 55th Test Cricket match to ever occur, star player for the Australian team Joe Darling, put on a truly entertaining show for the fans. Darling hit for an impressive 178, including 26 fours and 3 sixes! Darling also performed a feat never before seen, as he managed to hit the ball out of the boundaries of the Adelaide Oval. Darling went on to score a century and led his team to victory by an innings and 13 runs. Australia won the five match series 4-1, but the fans won five straight times as a result of the spectacular match up.
The Five States Herald 