The Arizona sentinel., 1886-12-25
QUEER AMMUNITION.
Roman Candles as Successful Weapons of
 Ohense and Defense.

| Offense and Defense.
 ''One of my adventures, eh?" began fhe book agent, as the others settled into the'r seats more comfortably. "Well, about eight years ago carried pack of novelties, such as you ire quently see exhibited on the street corners and presided over by sun- burned Italian. With another man and a young fellow of eighteen, 1 travelled through Kansas to the Colorado Inc, selling and trading our wares to the h. dians for any thing marketable in the cities. About the time of our arrival ill the western part of Kansas the mem- orable Ind an outbreak was terrorizing the country. From the south and west came reports of the terrible outrages perpetrated by the Indians and greasers. Houses were burned, the inmates were killed instantly or tortured to death and all the cattle were driven of and scat tered. You may be sure 1 felt consid- erable solicitude concerning the safety of my little party and took extra precautions to find secluded spots when camping. Of course, under the conditions, I deemed it advisable to get out of the neighborhood immedi- ately. To do so we found it necessary to pass through the country most likely to be infested by struggling bands of Indians. Despite the risks we deter mined to make the attempt. After long, hard days tramp, we encamped for the night in one of those small caI- yons so prevalent in Western Kansas. It was an excellent place, too. Our backs were effectually protected by a natural cave in the side oft the bank. the entrance to which was concealed by brush and tall grass. Sam, the boy of the party, was an unusually bright young fellow and very familiar with the tactics of Indian warfare. Just before lying down I noticed him untyng good sized bundle of sticks resembling short broom handles He placed them in easy reach and tumbled down to sleep. I had also noticed him fumbling around the bushes short time before, but didn't pay much attention to his actions The other fellow and myself concluded not to set a guard, as we were in such an excellent place. 1 don't know how long we had slept when we were awakened by Sam shaking us slightly and whispering:
 ".Be quick now, the Indians are get ting ready to slip in on us.
 By. this time we were both wide awake and ready with our rifles.
 "Listen, whispered Sam; hear the dirty scamps slipping up. Put down the rifles, I've got something better
 "He handed us each of the four sticks mentioned, remarking:
 "'Them's Roman candles. I've got pile of whoppers along and I think we can scare these scamps clean out O their hides
 T caught the idea in moment and strained my ears to listen for further demonstrations from the attacking party. We could hear them creeping here and there through the bushes, scarcely making noise, but easily dis tinguished in the silence of the night.
 Now, whispered Sam, take two in each hand and I'll light them
 ''Suit ng the action to the word he contrived to light them in rapid suc- cession. Then we turned them into the bushes and heavens, what sight was revealed as the candles flashed. About fifty villainous-looking savages and greasers were stepping and creeping along toward us At the first flash they stopped as if spell-bound. We turned them So the green and white balls would strike them in their faces. The candles were tremendous affairs, and eight or ten of them popping away apparently independent of human aid was enough to terrorize any one. Our assailants wavered a moment, then, and with a terrible yell, bounded away toward high ground as if the evil one himself was in pursuit. We could hear them scramble up the hillside, mount their horses and gallop away. Sam afterward explained that he had brought the candles along as a side speculation, and he also ex- plained that he had arranged system of strings among the bushes so that no one could approach very close without meeting the obstruction and alarming him. 1t is needless to state that we reached safe ground in due time with out further molestation. ."-On1Gha Herald.