Show A STRANGE HISTORY FANNY CROACHER DESERTED LIVES IN THE FOREST A forton made mad by left alan WM miss croucher takes take C V a and ud urn lives for far eighteen years A alan ion in u the tb plus pine rort superior wis WIB letter N the old military wagon road about 0 five miles from the city ot of superior in 1 the midst of a J T 1 dense pine forest and bidden fro from in the view ot of trav travelers 01 by a cluster ot of towering firs fire standa staad it a quaint old log cabin which has been tor for eighteen years and is now the home ot of an eccentric and most interesting feminine character her real name Is unknown and strange to say never has been known during her eighteen years of residence in this section ot of the country years ago she was known knon all over the head ot of the lake i legion eglon as croacher Cr the homesteader she came hero here with a man mall named croacher from pennsylvania and resided with him for or a few months at the old superior house she was supposed to be the old gentle mans daughter but after his desertion of her she denied all relationship to him and took up tip her residence upon ft homestead tract of land always alays after she objected to any mention of the name croacher and requested that acquaintances quain cull call ler her just fust plain fannie gradually time relieved her of the bated appellation and substituted A aall ain FANNIE CROACHER ER name that better suited her fancy and condition rannie queer is the name under which she ehe now lives but occasionally in an old acquaintance excites her ire by politely saluting I 1 miss croacher fannie queer Is one of the deit card players that ever sat at the table round she has fought many a desperate battle of chance with men in all stations of life she has won and lost A dozen fortunes but a cool head and good judgment together with a boldness marveled at by the card sharks with whom she had come in contact invariably prevailed over discourage ment her course differed from the usual one of the professional gambler and today to day she is a rich woman though still engaged in the caid aid business and living a life of seclusion with the solves and other wild animals of the forest as neighbors fannie Is 35 years of age but retains the beauty for which she was noted eighteen years ago though as hoc with all classes of people principally of the masculine gender during her long residence in the wilderness der ness and experiencing many of the tips lips and downs and hardships and inconveniences usually attendant upon a backwoods life miss queer la Is not only a disciple of modesty but is at the head of the lake as aa the possessor of thoroughbred thorough bied manners and as an intelligent thorough lady with perhaps the one tailing failing that from which she has derived the little fortune which Is supposed to be stored away whet e the eye ef ct man can never gaze upon it except by her own will she Is a brunette abw always tys neatly but not lavishly dressed anti and the long black hair that depends from a knot on the back of her well formed head is the only feature not modern about her makeup make up when she located upon the homestead claim her object in so doing was waa to acquire the timber standing thereon which she was told would bring not less than 1000 1 during the period of five years which she was required by the government to remain upon the claim she came in contact with many residents identa of superior besides hundreds of men employed in the pine forests surrounding her home she learned to play nearly every card game that was ever invented and learned to lo play them well but she never played tor for money because she had but little money to play with until one evening a oung woodsman who had received his pay for a season a work woric happened that way with a number of friends and requested lodging for the night situated as she was on a well traveled road in the center of logging operations she had made a practice of supplying food and lodging to travelers and dertil deriving rig considerable income this young man in question with hla his friends was cordially received on a raw march night and to pass away te time a game of cards was played it was poker for money and tile the young lady was a novice but she proved an apt scholar and a lucky one she won forty or fifty dollars this gave her a start and after that day the fascination for card playing gained the better of her at the end of five years bhe sold her timber for 4 and for a few yeara after that she met with arith very poor luck in n her h er card bh she b 10 came known among the lumbermen as a sucker bucker and the lumber jack that have the money often bor rowed it to get into a utu little rame game with fannie they were usually successful but after a time her luck began to change then canto came a period of th most extraordinary dumess that ever befell a poker player some raid cald ahe ach cheated but they watched her closely and discovered nothing others said she was bewitched but all respected iter her and agreed that she wits was a great player and an exceptionally good bluffer she bad accumulated at one time but there rame came another change and again she was looked upon as an a sucker gucker although she had loot loat every cent cant of at her accumulations she did not want kant for backers and in six months thereafter she ehe was worth 5 she was wan always willing to bet to her limit and at one time was known to have staked 3 on a pair of deuces compelling her opponent to lay down a full house her fortune grow grew steadily year after year and in the spring of 1893 she was supposed to be worth about the common wage lumberman had almost ceased to call at her home but the professional card players of milwaukee chicago minneapolis and other western estern cities had determined to secure a slice of her snug little fortune and they did succeed by forming a combination that opting in reducing her limit to A year later she came in contact with a party of fishermen from chicago they well supplied with ino money ney and the iada lad succeeded in lel leving them of within a weeks time they accused her of cheating find and threatened to raid the place pio providing viding she did not refund the amount of her winnings but a colts dexterously dexter outly brandished brandishes bran dished the gentlemen that card placing ing was waa not the sole achievement invoked by their hostess in the matter of getting along in the world the only person in this vicinity win claims to know anything about the past history of this mysterious loua person Is a colored woman known as aunty aulty grant who now resides at superior she claims to know that mica queer was the daughter of a wealthy philadelphian delp blan who ho came west on a tour of speculation and brought his bis daugn dauga ter with him in superior lie became infatuated with a married woman and left with ith her for the east without saying baying good be to the daughter the tha girl a mother had died the year previous so that there wits was no loving relative left to give her comfort or to guide her she wrote home for money to travel east with and received a check for with instructions to Is ie main west and shift for heibult she did so BO and the eighteen years of lite life on a pine claim has been the result |