The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-10-04
COWBOYS. ARTILLERY.
lExehange.l

O1uC1 AU0sG tu tuC CIky- OSOsCs ID L. Paso sell everything from the proverbiai needle tc an anchor, bu, this one makes ? speciality of rifles, sho;guns and re- volvers.
 While your correspondent vas inspect ing the glistering array oi pistols of all kinds which filled half trs-n show cases, young fellow Of aao4t twenty three entered. He was dressed Tn ap- proved frontier ssyle-sombrero II would lake three days to walk around the rim H, white handkerchief tied loosely around the neck, blue shirt, pants stuck in his boots, and large Mex.csn spurs upon his heels. Jingiing as he walked. He wished to buy gun In the ex- pressive and laconic tongue of the from tier gun" is a revolver, a rife is called by the name of the maker and the weapon of the sportsman, uncur;ailed of it's fair proportions, IS known as shot gun.
 Selecting from case of handsomely mounted Colts -5-caliber revolver the clerk said: How would you like this 1, is the newes, thing out-a double action forty-hven
 Ain't worth row of beans. No man %GPk o tC4iaCfs0OA Wa4k3 tA&k kil0 OA d thing. Give me an old reliable all the time. Ne see man that's used to the old style IS apt to gel fooled-not pull her of in time and then hell be laid out colder'n wedge"
 He was handed out single action Colt's of the same model, which. after careful examining, he proceeded to cock and fire, twirling the pistol around his forehnger and cooking and pressing the trigger the moment the butt came into the palm of his hand. Alter some little kick" about the price the weapon was paid for and the customer lett the store.
 There are few men," observed the clerk as his customer left, tha. can do that trick. have been ten years on the southwest frontier, among the worst classes, and don't know more nor have a dozen. Bill the Kid could co 1t, so can Pat Garre,. former sheriff of Lincoln county: so can Dan Tucker, deputy sheriff of Deming. Curly Bill could do !. best of the iot and that's how he killed Sheriff White 2, Tombstone"
 :" How was .hat:n querried the cores pondent.
 Well, you see Curly Bill was trying to paint the town red, and White heard O: II. and going up to him, covered him with his six shooter and told him he had 70 give up his gun. B,li handed the gun ol, but, first, hu, kep, his finger inside the guard, and as the sheriff reached for i: he gave ii that twis. you've seen, turned her loose, and the sheriff passed in his checks"
 What kin of revoisers are in de- mana.'
 "Foty-6ve and -,,-calibers. Colts models are the favorites: then comes the Smith S Wesson, and new model called the Merwin Hubert The latter is a favorite with men who are often in town ard like to pack gun. Ii has an inter- changeable barrel. The long barrel is taken of and the short one put on, and then t can be carried iu the hip pocket. The great trouble with all these pistols is tha; they are hard on the trigger. The boys get over this by having :he catch flied down. The pistol of the cowboy is as fine on the trigger as were the hair triggers of the dueiing days"
 " Do you sell any of the British buli- dog pistols -
 'Yes. They are chieiiy bought by railroad laborers. tramps and boys. Men who are used to the country either buy a Colts II or carry a +. or 5 m shoulder scabbard."
 aWhat is that
 Well, it's a pistol seabbard with a strap passing over the right shoulder, and supports the pistol under your coat or the left side. It enables you tc draw while man is thinking tha, you are only lookiag for your handkerchief. The bulldog is poor pistol, shoots wild. and can't be depended upon for over fifteen feet"
 Do you ever sell :, and 5,-calibers ?"
 No, that IS 10 say. very seldom. A Texan or New Mexico boy would con- sider such pistols toys. He may stoop as low as II, but there he stops. When man or a boy shoots at another in this climate he shoots to kill, and has no use for such tools"
 "What use have tramps for pistolsy
 Well, they use them to stand of brakeraen and conductors who want to throw them of freight trains while the train is in motion. Boys cary them more because it is the fashion than any thing else, and few men feel safe without something in their pocket"
 How about the lawf"
 "The law againH carrying deadly weapons is intesded to give the officers a bulge on those fehfes who go round fourishing their shooters, get drunk and whoop her up. Officers ain's going to search citizens of any repute for guns, so nearly every man carries one.
 ''l want to show you kind of shot gun that has a limited use," continued the clerk, and he led the way to the back of the store where about half a dozen couble-baueled shos-guns were standing in rack. They had all been GU; of short, the barrels being only aboG, two feet in length, bu, otherwise they were perfect These guns are prime fAvoriies with sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, United States marshals and officers of the law generally, and when they ges the drop on you with one Of them it's case of throw up youy hands. no matter how much sand