Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1884-12-05
YARNS BY A HIGHWAYMAN.


YARNS BY A HIGHWAYMAN.
A Fory-Niner Who Did Not Go to Cali.
fornia To Dig Gold-Robbing the Over
land Coach Neatly Captured by n Wom.
an->urrcndering to an Empty Pistol.
II i the proud boast of Jim Smith
o at he has passed thirty-three Christ
masses n the talifornia Penitentiary at
san Quentin. He is not, perhaps. the
only :: er in state Prison, but he is
rr, ably the only one who has been in
stac Prison for some PORTION of every
year since 'i9. He came West with the
Argonauts, and never for moment,
Notwithstanding h 5 long penal servi-
tudr. considers himself unworthy to
rank with the best of them. He thinks
they were the most remarkable men Of
tie century, and his modesty does not
pre- ent him from declaring that he was
with them. Jim Smith is the patriarch
OF the prison. He is the guide, philoso-
pher and friend Of the younger con-
victs. He is a model prisoner. So far
rs anybody has been able to discover,
h. has but one fault. He can not leave
stage coaches alone. Once put him in
a place where no stages are to be found
and he is an exemplary man.
Smith has not been a prisoner at
San Quentin steadily for thirty-three
years. He has been out many times,
lut has returned again so speedily,
convicted Oh the same old charge, tina:
he has not in all that time missed q
hris mas dinner behind the bars.
They gave him sentence the last time
which viii keep him in retiremant con-
s del ably longer than usual, but no one
entcrtains the thought that he can ever
be broken of his habit while a stage
coach runs. His failing is so well
known that jokes are sometimes
cracked with him on the sub ect, and
wien he is permitted to converse he
will refer to some OF his exploits in q
way which shows that no amount of
punishment can ever convince him that
the stopping of coach and the rob
berry OF the passengers is anything to be
ashamed of.
Having little extra liberty on the
Fourth Of July, Smith found time, and
his callers gave him the o casion to talk
freely OF his past life. He had heard
Of some recent exploits of highwaymen
which filled him with disgust. In the
course OF a long conversation he said:
''lt Is enough 10 make 4: er's blood
boil to hear about the operations of
these sneak thieves who are now work.
ing these little country roads. There
sand in him to hold up thoroughbred.
I've pinched members of Congress,
Judges of the supreme Court, ex-Gov-
ernors, argonauts, and big men gen.
orally more'n once. but these fellows
don't know any thing about men of that
quail ty-o only TO dodge them. Staging
ain what it used to be anyway. When
the overland stages were running it
took good man to stop them. In the
first place they were driven by the
most reckless men you ever see, and
the men inside of them were true
Amer cans. If they gave up it was
because they had to-that was all. The
fellows who travel nowadays amt got
the spirit of AZ, or these fellows who
are In the business now never'd get .
color.
~ remember once early in the six
ties went out in Calaveras County
with two partners to see about stage
tina was due ust about then. We al.
had good guns, pis o.s and knives, and
We got them ready to use, for in those
days things Of that kind were not car
ricd for ornaments. The overland
didn't show up rs soon rs was expect
ed some accident had happened to it
In the mountains and when it did
come II took us little sudden. We'd
been fo0ling around for several days,
and got Little careless, must admit.
One day it was warm and sunny, and
we nil got scattered, though we had An
understnn nding that, wherever we were,
We were to keep an eye ON the road
oil the time. ard if any of us discovered
the stage, the one dong SO was to fire
a shot or two as an alarm signal. Along
about the middle OF the afternoon /
heard gun. and q minute later there
came another report that sounded like
. ,ollcy Of musketry. 1t puzzled me
n little, but | grabbed my shoot ng
irons and made for the road. I had
just got a go d position when l heard
another shot little nearer, and then
another volley good deal louder than
the other. Then came the clatter of
horse, and the roll of wheels. 1t wa,
the stage. | could see her a-coming.
You don't see driving like that
these days. She was on two wheels
half the time. and when she
got n 'ar enough to me and the dust
lit 4 little could see the gun barre S
n sticking out Oi her like quills on a
hedge hog. The drver-a hard man
tha KIN W m ghiy well had the lines
for his leaders in h teeth and tn ,se for
tn W erlers t ed to his brake. and he
had pistol in each hand. Inever saw
agrandcr sight in all my life. wanted
TO stop that outfit single handed. just
for the sake OF seeing who was in 1t,
but she had got up a trement GUS mo-
m ntum by the lime she came abreast
Of me. and as she far Y shook the earth
when she tipped pat where l was
hiding. | just ducked my head and let
her go. knew by the way she acted
that there had been trouble II the 70 Il.
anc didn't care to make matters any
worse just then. She was full OF men,
and they all had guns. When the dus!
had settled little and the noise died
out, crept to the roadway and walked
along slowly for a mile and a half,
where found one of my partners with
about pound of lead in him. A little
further on came upon the other one.
He wasn't hurt, .but he was sea ed with
In an inch of his life. He'd never been
on that road before, and as he said if
that was what caliad stopninU an Ovar-