Show I 1 OLD KENTUCKY TAVERN II IMAY MAY REVEAL REVEl MYSTERIES LOUISVILLE K Ky Kentucky's fa far fame Two Mile house a resort kno vi n froni flom ono no end of oi tho state to the thc other probably and mid mid- probably o oldest cst tavern ru in tho thu cIll commonwealth is to be torn tom down and i 1 n modern apartment house built on tho site ite T The Tho o Two 10 Mile ite is Ii right t 0 outside of Louisville on thu tho Bardstown n road load Where once in the tho ol oldon on days fortunes for tunes were won and ani lost lost- loston on tho the turn ol ola of oft a t card or oi n a roll TOn of tim tho where gen JCU gamblers in fittin fitting breeches and 10 bi Inch high h hats dra copiously of sparkling wine WIno or troug strong liquor where Tech of all kinds he held ld full ful sway 53 and many mallY a 1 was WM wa settled d with ith knives or r pistols without the formality always of choosing seconds sec eec c will bo ho elected d homes for the younger Generation of E East Eist st Lo Louisville lis Standing in tho the old orl Bardstown wn road now flow Baxter avenue two miles from front the tho h city lH hall J this famous old inn ha has hs served customers m rs with nith shelter and drink andin and andin andin in years past with many forms of am amusement sem if nt if gambling away aWRY Ji h t fortune for tune time mav may ba br termed such such for for nore 4 I th thin than n half a a. t century c Its history is us IS usI usI I gnarled and tan tangled lc l as a's the tho lYo old nM t tree that shields tho the southwest sid side from tho th thlU sun lU tJ the c wind ani and anil tho the rain No Xo one knows exactly when this old was vis erected and few if any remember re rt member who was the builder That it years tho the civil war is iR la rc recalled b bv se several old ld residents and ind indI I 1 to 10 their b best st recollection its years s number num nurn- her ber sixt sixty or seventy c Witness to Its Age BC Bearing Beiring tf nr witness s to its age J 1 i is tho tho old stono doorstep hollowed and andi i ground round by the tho fN feet ft t of pas passing genera genera- 1 firms of Kentuckians until it shows hs an m cd edge edgo worn six si- iX or more more inches beo below the level el of th the ends If this old step could talk It if e it ii could r recall l a the feet that have o crossed the threshold of ci tho old tavern and cO could IId tell of r the happenings that ba have c contributed con to it its history what a n tale it would how Il how full of romance adS ad adventure venture an and tragedy payl Of Ofin all the records rec rec- of the old place Paco this ste ste. step p alone remains re reo mains mains the tho ta tablet l t upon which i is ind indeli indelibly liA bly engraved n tho tIm kaleidoscopic past of the th old tavern Besides th the actual romance attaching to an ol old building there are many stories storks told tOl of th the thC curious and o often ten sinister happenings in the old inn Positive v date and and ana details f for l' l many of Ol oa- oa currens are lacking a but hut the legends have havo lost none non of their attraction n because be be- causo cause of this If anything perhaps the lack has added interest to events e that in days of their happening wc c commonplace When an old man mm bent with age and showing the results of tho the buffets of this world for ftH half hal a harks back to the old oM da days the wa and md in a t voice voice- trembling with eagerness eager eager- 3 r ness tells of or tw two young roun m nice men n from the tho flower flot of or Kentucky ut k aristocracy in t their veins eins coursing our in t the hc bluest t of the blue blood of tho the south fouth meeting in a room room of an old t tavern lavern and stripped to the waist aist fighting i with th bo boio io knives kni to the tho death tho the talc talo is not detracted from because uso the narrator lies has forgotten tho ho name of the tho maid the supremacy in whose affections caused th the duel or because because be be- ca cause so ho docs cloes not l' l just i st who ho were vero pT present prent I Such uch ucha a tale talc was was' unfolded a a few das days ago RO by hy an an anold old man almost t a h hermit rm t Wh who 1 lives es in a a C half hidden hid den in a 1 grove ro c of beech heech woods wood half a amile I mile fr from the old oM Two Two Milo Mile hOn house e He Ie is 15 called allN Captain Ja Jack k and Iti h his s' s sla la last t name name nanie Davis is s rarely heard heariL Captain Jack is past past t the three mark in r int o of years cu and 4 when he on once o gets Sets to talking of the thc o of the early Caly Jiffies fifties ho shakes off the tho ur en of years and i is once moro more a i young n man nian an Pc Do I o I T remember cl an anything thing of the hist history ry n of the old tavern 7 1 Well I 1 guess Sues I do But Dut I dont don't just r recollect it now no- said aid th the tho old man when approached ap rip for inform information T I do r recall caIl though that duel that was 4 as fought there I cant can't just jusE remember ber r who was in ill it it but it was two young joung fellows who were pretty high rollers Toners in tl oso days The They had 50 some me falling out because of f a 3 woman and went up to the U Two Two Mile MIlo to settle things I wasn't there there- but I b heard ard folks foks tell about it it It If was b foro tho the war and su such h things were 1 soon hushed tip u 4 Those two fellows went into a lit lit- ll tle go room stripped to the waist and c each ch charmed armed with a Boio knife There wasn't Jsn t any nn- light in there thera and all the furniture had been taken out The Thedoor door was locked and then they the started When the door was opened they the were ere both of cm din dying almost cu cut to pieces ud And I can tell you Jou that created quite a aAu fui at tho the time Captain Cartain Jack also recalled that in tho the troublous war times tho the old tavern got gota a sinister reputation and only onh- tho the most T would show bow a roll roU in tho the thobal bar bal The TIn old bo house sc was as a 3 great r rest at stop stop- lin place for stockmen bound for Louisville l and on the return trip with withA i A their pockets full of greenbacks tho they often orten stopped fot tot a shako of tho dice or ori i H good stiff game amo of draw It t L was after several eral of these stock stock- men mysteriously disappeared after heing he- he ing seen in the neighborhood of the Two Mile that superstition took tooka H a i hold bold on the people and the place was shunned I Stories of r Mystery It wai was 35 rc recounted that several cral men crossed that worn wom old door stono stone and andi i wore never neter seen again How much is truth truth- and how much is fiction no on oncan ono i can be suro sure of tf Some somo of the tho old resi- resi I S I Bents of t the c neighborhood say say the place was notorious S and andl some say it it was n not t Some Somo tell teU of if f tho the quiet games for mod modest cst est fi sums een 8 between stockmen and other trav travelers l le s rs between Louisville fl and Bardstown Bards Bards- j town and sonic some tell teU of games for fOl fab Lab 11 Millions lm 5 sums slimS where frequently the tho win- win r ner was yas thc the oser loser in the end paying end paying for or his s wi winnings with his bis life Ufe That T at there is some foundation for the tho stories stones romantic tragic and 1 I ous ous there seems little HUlo doubt for even young m. m men cI employed pJ around tho the lav- lav at at the present nt It time timo re recall stories k told thom them by b their fathers and grandfathers grand grand- lathers fathers of big bIt games gaines duels shootings s and 7 revels of a n wildness un unknown un- un known at the present day Several e old men who frequently visit th Ibo the place now nov continuing a habit formed thirty or forty years ears a ago o will vill shake shak their then heads and declare that when the old oId place is torn tom down it will lJ bo be that all t the P stories o of mysterious and disappearances arc are not I So often havo hayo these predications ic been made that many await with ith tho the tIn day when tho old oM foundations ton shall bo ho razed and the tho excava excava- tieni hons for lor now new buildings started rho Tho wild reckless scenes supposed to havo been witnessed by tho the walls of t tho ho old building are arc beyond tho the ken of tho t present pre owner Andy or of his Ius brother Louis Louis' Zehnder who now conducts the tho pla place o as a saloon They have havo heard tales but icing of ofa ofa a matter of fact lurn turn of mind they laugh a h hat at them and say y it could ll not t have havo been The Thio bo r j inn inn n was uIrt owned by bv the theold old old 14 Slaughter estate i and h was t sold ld to tu Italian named and it was r during during- his nis das davs as proprietor that most for tho dramatic tal tales s arc are told 1 supposed to have como come from Now il orl and land seemed well supplied with fw 1 my V. V He lIe ran the tho inn for f r. r ral y yi i t f tV 1 V years and retired retire with ith still more mono mone money According According- to 91 old rac raconteurs was was was' forced to gl give e up hit place because of the military authorities s of f the state I It is told that a battalion of soldiers was as encamped across tho the road fi from m the tavern in the v.- v. wo woods ds at the tho timo limo of the war war var and several l men disappeared each In ease easo they were known wll to to have money Tho officers officers' started an investigation investigation VS n and soon afterward sold old his interests ts to the Zehnder Lamus' Lamus Lam fam- U us' us tho the took hold of the tavern tho the wild days davs and wilder ni nights were done away with and as at the timo time of its earliest service as a t tavern it be became amo the stopping Place for stockmen stockmen stock stock- men mou who quartered their herds in in tho the spacious pens and refreshed l themselves cs with tall beakers of foaming beer ri and andale andale 1 ale and ana with stories of tho the gay and tra tragic ic times that were n no nd more The fhe tavern passe passed from froin father to son on and md remained in the family To persons of the tho youn younger cr generation it it itis itis i is known b by irs' no o other name than der's ders but hut to the old men and old women who lived d in the thc troubled troubled trou trou- bled war ar times it is still the tho Two TwoMile TwoMile Mile lile house kNo No longer loner do the halls hall's and walls rin ring ring- with gay ray and aud car careless less 8 laughter The or ot silken skirts and the sound of wild seductive music are ara h heard ard no more Modern Modem laws law and regulations have stamped out tho the old games gamos' where thousands chan changed ed hands in the tho time of the tho tellin telling |