Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-06-12
STARTED MANY GnAvEYAEDs.
pulling His Shooting Iron oiten in
Behalf Of Law and Order.

From tho Ne,e York sun.
SILVERToE, Col, June IA crow
following a rather good looking ma
Naround, stopping when he stopped, listen
ling as to an oracle when he had anything
30 say, aud all tho time gaping at him ii
open mouthed wonder, proclaimed tn
fact that an important parsonage was II
town.
"Who is that ducky" an old mine
asked.
''sh-b-hr' replied a companion; "thars
Doc Holiday. He's killed thirty mon IN
mis- day, and there's no telling when neil
turn himself loose again"
Then all hands took another good look
at him, aud after be bad passed on out OF
sight one OF the early settlers said: -'SOme
of YOU fellows VINO have come here lately
have very faint idea Of what Doe HOlll-
day and few others Ike him used to do
in this country. When the Doc ran things
down in Arizona nobody dared say his
soul was his own. | remember one time
in Tombstone he killed two men in one
might, and the next day he called on the
editor OF the paper and said that, as he
was opposed 10 sensational literature, he
hoped there won d be no undue promi-
nence gwen to tue occurrences Of the
evening before.
When the paper came ont IN the after
noon ii had a three-hne item saving that
81 was understood that two men bad been
found dead on the streets. nut that the re-
kporter had not learned their names. The
lsame issue had long editorial article on
1.-THE advantages Of Arizona as a health re-
ksort.
Not long after that the Doc was in
tIucson for two weeks, and killed SIX men
Iduring that time. He would have stayed
laootner wees, but he learned that a move
yment was on foot to mob him, and be le t
suddenly. All along the Southwestern
border for three or four years he was rob-
hing and killing almost continually.
When any particular crime threatened to
make trouble tor him he would skip over
40 Southern California for while. and
once or twice he went TO the lPdian Terri
aOry. He could be tried now in any one
of half dozen States or Territories, and
hanged for murder, but there is no dispo-
ksiton to press him, as it is remembered
that the country was pretty wild in those
bays.
Another man who had been close lis
feBer stepped forward at this point and
said: II had brush with the Doc once
SIN the Calico range, down back of Fort
Yuma. He and twenty-five other horse
and cattle thieves were down there, aud
khey sent word to the Sheriff that they
Fwere spelling for a fight That made the
lset out, being in the party. When we
came on the gang we saw that they out
numbered us two to one, and we con-
hcluded not 20 fight. As soon as the Doc
Fsaw that we were stopping he got mad,
sand, jumping out in front of his party, he
yelled that he could whip US single
bhanded.
''He hadn't any more than said the
word when he began firing. and we ran
like towards. lie killed three Of our
party. though, before we got to cover. ana
we didn't have any anxiety to interview
him again. A little while after that he
left that part of the country, greatly to
the relief of the Sheriff. who used to say
that he never could be chief " hen the Doc
was around"
While this speaker was giving his ex-
5perlence the Doc himself had drawn nigh,
and, after listening to the conclusion Of
the story, he observed: "When any ofyOu
fellows have been hunted from one end Of
the cOuntry 10 the other, as | have been,
you'll understand what a bad mans repu-
fation is huilt0 Ive had credit for more
Killings than l ever dreamt of. Now, I'll
tell you of one little thing that happened
down in Tombstone in the early DAYS.
There was hard crowd there, Of course,
and l happened in. l thought Isaw a
chance to make little money, and so /
opened gambling house. Things went
along all right for a time, but at length
some of the bows got an idea that they
were not winning often enough, aud they
put up job 10 Kill me. l heard OF it, and
the next night when thev came IN, made
them q speech, told ,ht III what / had
fheard, said that SORT OF thing couldn't go
on in any well-regulated community, aud
then, Just to restore order, | gave il to
couple OF them. That settled the whole
trOuble. was ia Tombstone six months
after that and never had another ditacul-
~. It has been that way wherever / have
been. never shoot unless have to.
"DOWn on the border l had two or
three little scrapes, but they didn't
amount TO much. A party Of drunken
Rreasers came elm bling over US one night,
and bad TO tx one or two, and at an
Dther time | had fight with a room full
of them, and started graveyard there,
but it had TO be done in the interest OF
peace. ! claim to have been a benefactor
10 the country. Every crime that occurs
1n a new settlement is always laid on
some one or two men. I've found out
time and again that l had been charged
with murders and robberies when
hadn't been within five hundred miles Of
the place. Down in Arizona once the
Coroner and most of the members Of his
jury had killed and robbed man, and
when they sat on the case they laid il to
LUZ LlolAludI- III OouSt City once L was
charged with burglarizing a store when
abe owner did the job himself. Pve known
army officers who couldn't find vouchers
FOR all their property to put in the plea
that Doc Holiday had stolen it, when
never was inside their lines.
"ltyou take the trouble to examine a
good many OF the crimes that | am
charged With, you will Sad that when L
have been charged with murder have
always been a long way off-never near
iat hand. That looks odd, don't n? But
3t is just because / didn't dOit. I've been
IN nearly all these towns since, and no.
body says anything about arresting me,
simply because they have 10 case. The
claim that make is that some few Of Us
pioneers are entitled 20 credit FOR what
I'VE have done, We have been the fore
Tunners Of government. AS soon as law
and order were established anywhere we
never had any uounle. II It hadn't bean
for me and few like me there never
would have been any governmental some
Of these towns. When have done any
shooting it has always been with this in
Fiew.v
The Docs auditors listened attentiyely.
nodded assent, snd gradually slipped
away. He has been arrested but once
nd nobody here Will undertake the jo0.
APHoNoGRAP PHO NOVELIST.