Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-08-06

No Class of Men in the World More Ut
terly Contemptuous of Death-Dealins
with Unseen Danger-A Total Lack of
Military Discipline.
Doubtless your ears have Initiated, even
at this range, to the vociferous trill of the
cowboy, bowling to be let at 'em This ex-
aberant knight Of the lariat has had to ask
several friends to hold him, right along, lest
he avalanche himself on the CORY hostile and
expunge the Apache race at one fell swipe
And the comical part Of it has been that a
good many worthy folks are impressed
thereby, and yearn for the formation of
sundry cowboy companies, with superlative
faith that SO the problem should be solved
instanter. The proposition has even been
wired to Washington.
Now, the cowboy is good fellow in his
way, and it is a robust, anti-dude way, too
haven't word against him, but, on the
contrary, a lively memory of many kind
nesses at his hands He ID no rougher than
most of us would become by the banging
about in these savage wildernesses His
virtues are more than few, and as virile
as his vices The wholesale damnation piled
upon him by some virtuous people is not
ouly uuJuSt OuG AOOllSu AS al 1uOlau
fighter, however, he is a rank failure He
gallops around at a safe distance, whoops
and swings his hat and shoots to the mortal
detriment of space and paralyzes every
thing but the foe If you fancy from this
that he is coward, you were never worse
fooled. There is no class Of men in the
world, presume, more utterly contemptu-
Gus of death. He will rub noses daily with
ha hnv,xy old NIT H. -
the eyelid
WILL FACE DANGERS HE CAN SEE.
But he wants to know about it to see his
game In the bar-room broil where the
friendly glass spills an ugly word, the word
is echoed back by blow, and the blow gets
answer in the flash of twenty revolvers-
there the cowboy is at home He will stand
like rock and face the murderous music Of
the AIS, his own barking back defiantly.
Shoot him full of holes and he will yet fetch
down his man. Here he is acquainted-in
his own phrase, he "savvies the burro" But
it is 'the danger that we know not of"
which makes towards of us all" What
ever may lie said to the contrary, the cow
boy knows nil about Indians 1t isn't his
business A danger that he can see, he will
face like hero, but when it comes to hunt
unknown, and a mysterious foe-he isn't
there" l don't blame hint is simply hui
man. To lope or creep through country
bleak, rugged and desolate beyond descrip-
ton ami a silence heavy enough to break
the heart; seeing no sign of life; yet know
ing that any innocent tuft of bear grass,
any cactus rosette, any lonely rock may,
without any warning, spit out its little puff
of smoke with leaden message to your
heart-isn't it enough to make any one
leetle shaky. Bravery alone is not an ade-
quate stiifaner-it takes Use and acquaint-
ance.
And there is another point wherein the
cowboy is at a loss. He is without dis
cipline. and without that all the courage in
the world will not effect soldier A
soldier he never will he. Discipline him
and he would be no longer a cowboy, for his
absolute independence and individuality are
himself Ii it would amuse any one to col
lect cowboys and hurl them at the evanes-
cent Apache, probably there will be no OBJ
lection. Neither cowboys or Indians will
suffer, and there will be as much fun as
isn't blood.-Fort Bowie IA IT, Cor. Inter-
Ocean.