The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1873-08-15

A writer In the Overland MoatAly d.
lates upon the eagerness which the Brit
ish manifest for thrilling stories OF adven-
ture, saying that the American OF the far
West, In the respectable British imagina-
ton, Is reckless, blood-thirsty, impetu-
Gus, vindictive being, hung with six
shooters and bowie-knives. He goes on
to relate reply which he once made TO
two gentlemen, who had asked him Ii
there was not great deal Of cutting and
sh ooting among his people.
/ perceived that these men were huH-
CRY for meal of wild, Western, bloody
fiction. 1t was cruel to deny them.
i said: Certainly. We shoot much.
We shoot often. We shoot socially. II.
for Instance, the company be sitting about
the stove In the Ride Saloon, and the con-
versati0n flags, and things generally are
duh, nothing Is more common than for a
gentleman TO get up, stretch himself,
draw his revolver, cock IL, flourish 1t ABOUT
his head. and proclaim himself the royal
Bengal tiger OF the southern mines. Then
the sluggish blood begins to quicken in
the veins Of some other gentleman. and
he gets up, stretches himself, draws his
revolver, cocks Ii. flourishes 1t about, and
proclaims himself another royal Bengal
tiger of the southern mines. Then are
heard ten or twelve short, sharp reports.
The lights are blown out by the concus-
sions. The rival Bengal tigers shoot about
at random in the dark, and hit everybody
else save themselves. The unhurt por-
ton of the company scramble behind the
bar and under the billiard tables. and cry
out, Don't shoot this way! When the
barrels of both revolvers are emptied, the
combatants clinch, and, as they imagine,
cut each other all to pieces with bowie
knives; although, when the lights are
brought, 1t turns out to be somebody ell &c.
Then the two royal Bengals shake hands,
fraternize over drink, and go Off to-
gether to the gunsmith's to get
their pistols reloaded. The surviv-
ors pick up the dead and wound
ed. There Is great deal Of talk over
the affair for several days. The bodies
are kept until Sunday. Then there is
splendid funeral. The Odd Fellows. the
Masons, the military companies, and the
temperance societies, all turn out, with
music and banners. The Sunday-school
children, dressed in white, appear in the
procession, singing There is a happy
land, far far away etc. The minister
very careful not to say anything to wound
stand in the front pew overlooking the
collins as quiet mourners, holding togeth-
er by their left hands the same hymn-book,
as they sing out of it, while the right of
either grasps his revolver, ready to send
a ball through the clerical organization,
should he say anything In the funeral
sermon personally offensive to them.
Everybody for twenty miles around
comes on horseback and in buggies. The
saloons and shops do good business, and
the day commonly winds up with grand
ball and supper. AL the young ladies are
proud to dance with the two Bengals, all
the young men envy them, and resolve to
kill somebody at the first convenient oppor-
tunity. Before morning there are prob
ably two or three more fatal ARRAYS and
so the life and excitement peculiar to our
free, easy, unconventional society Is sus-
tanned from month to month and year to
year.
"When all this Is over, subscription is
generally set on foot i'm the camp for
erecting monuments over the graves, and
when the money is all raised. the man to
whom 1t Is intrusted goes to San Francisco
to buy the marbles, and there he falls in
with old friends, and drinks and sprees,
and CANDLES all the money away. Ii he
comes back and makes confession, we
either blow the top of his head off. or say,
No matter. II you had good time it is
just as well. Bob. Jim, and Tom will rest
quite as easy without any monuments
Then we put over them cheap wooden
with pretty verse painted
on it. These boards, after few years,
rot away at the lower end, and the goats
and cows, pastured in our burying-ground,
rub against them and knock them over,
and finally we gather and split them up
for stove kindling."
They liked this sketch of California life.
They relished it. They picked its very
bones clean.