Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1872-04-12
A Kansas Town.

since il was a railroad station, overrun
with gamblers, blacklegs and wholesale
murderers. 1t has been the great cattle
mart of Kansas, and in consequence has
gathered to itself hordes of "greasers," "
a name that is Synonymous with every
thing that is wild, barbarous and wick
ed and these have attracted swarms Of
vile women. Gambling houses and bag
MOS lined the streets, till it was place
fit only for the worst kind of despera-
does of the Plains, and these focked in
there in such numbers that decent men
Stunned the place, and as bad as abb
lene" became the proverb.
While the full tide of the Texican
cattle trade flowed into Abilene it was
given up to the worst features of reck-
less abandoned life; there was no secu-
rity to either life or property-like a
town in time of siege, every man wore
his pistols by his side, and the least prov
ocation called for an exchange of shots,
which was almost always attended by
death on one side and sometimes on both,
The elements of law-abiding citizens
was SO small that any effort to suppress
this lawlessness was attended only by
wretched failure and ridicule. Only as
short time ago as last summer, one
might walk through the streets of the
city, and through the wide open doors
see the gaming tables covered with piles
of greenbacks, sometimes with little pyr-
amids of gold and silver, and inevitably
with revolver at each players right
hand. Twenty-eight of these establish
ments were in full bloom last summer
in this city of about seven hundred in
habitants, and these twenty-eight gam
ing houses supported nearly an equal
number of brothels. Liquor might be
said to have run stream from the bung
holes of the barrels down the parched
and thirsty Threats of the people.
With such state of society imagine
a marshal attempting an arrest. Yet,
when the influx of people seeking homes
began last spring, there was an attempt
to bring offenders to justice. The mar.
shall was selected for his great size,
strength and courage, and the people
agreed to stand by him in every crisis.
He was powerful man, and so we'll ac-
customed to the wildlif upon the Plains,
that he promised to reduce the city to
state of order. Numerous arrests we're
made, caliboose came largely into requi-
sition. 1t is stated that when row oc-
Cured the marshal would walk into the
midst of the crowd-if the way was
blocked he would clear it by the right
and left-hand blows of his strong arms
and reaching the heart Of the crowd,
would seize the combatants, one in each
hand, and march them off to the cali
boose and lock them up. So fearless
was he, and gifted with such strength, he
became a terror to evil-doers, for they
dreaded the weight of the marshals
clenched fist more than the butt of re-
yolver in the hands of an ordinary man
He was fast reducing the number of
shooting matches and street brawls, only
he essayed not to put a stop to the gam
bling as yet, when a party of despera-
does resolved to kill him. To do this
openly would certainly have cost them
their lives, for he was accompanied by
number of men who knew we'll how to
pull the trigger, nor wanted second
bidding to do so when their chief was in
danger, and besides this be had inaugu-
rated such an orderly change in the mu-
nicipal affairs as had given an advan,
tage to the law and peace-loving citi-
zens; but they, six or more of them. en-
ticed him to house in the outskirts to
arrest a so-called drunken man. Sus-
pecting nothing, he went alone. strobe
into the house, when he was dropped to
the ground by six balls through the
breast from the hidden murderers, who
then, butcher-like, chopped off his head
with an ak and fled. This was a severe
blow to the welfare of the city. The
murderers escaped hanging because they
were in the majority, and for time the
Did regime was revived.
The Hearth and Home tells tho. fol |