Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1886-11-26

TIL, Lesson That Was Taught Them by al
unnbtrnsiya TenderfOOt.

Tn, Lesson That Was Taught Them by an
unobtrnsiye Tenderfoot
There have been Il great many
stor as told of the reckless daring and
abandon of the cowboy. He Is an
American production, and at the sound
of the word cowboy the mind revcrts
h some western locality where law
and order are unknown, and are sup
Piled by rude set of conventionali-
ties, the non-observance of which
means violence without process of
trial. The typical cowboy must be
fearless, ready to shoot ut "A moment 5
warning, wild in his makeup and lang
guagc, and ready To perpetrate joke
on tender-foot" at any time.
But there is often considerable braga.
docia in the cowboy. and good illus
tratiOu of this fact was told Sentinel
reporter by station agent. who had
lived in the west for many years and
had been in the employ of various rail-
roads in localities where cowboys
were numerous.
IL have seen Il good many daring
decd, performed and coarse Jokes per
petratcd by cowboys, said the agent.
''but ! viii tell YOU of little incident
where the wind was taken out of three
cowboys by determined, fearless ten.
derioot. 1t happened only last spring,
| was then station agent and telegraph
operator for the Northern Pacific Rail
road company at n place near the
Montana line. II was not much of
place. rs it consisted only of Il depot.
house or two, and a saloon.
"Onc morning travelling man ar
rived at the depot by stage from mp
north somewhere. He had "a small
sample-casc and sachel. He was be-
low medium height and rather slight,
but was very neatly dressed and wore
silk hat. He was travelling for New
York jcwelry house. lie was about
an hour early for the train east. and he
opened his grip on the platform, took
ono brush. and busted ms clothing
anu shoes. He then drew out an old
newspaper, leaned up against the side
ol the depot with one foot projected in
front of the other, and began reading.
'Meanwhile, however. three cow
boys had sauntered up to the depot.
They all eyed him closely and watch
eel his operations. When he began
reading they huddled together aud
A1Ahfh ~ III III III Alii'iti AVll'. us
entity one of thcm-a biz >iN footer
left the group ana began TO sauntcr
carelessly about the platform with his
head in the air inspecting the posters
ON the building and the cornicc When
lee cot around where the travelling
man stood. nc lifted his biz brogau
aud planted it firmly on the jcweiiN
man foot. No apology was made.
The travelling man merely looked up.
drew his foot back a moment. then
placed it back whore il was. The
cowboy passed back To the other two.
They all chuckled aud joined in the
loW.toncd conversation.
soon the cowboy started ont agaia
VA q similar round, Gaping at the
roof. When he reached the travelling
man he tried to bring down his coarse
boo; ON the extended foot. The travel
inc man jcrked his foot back sudden-
lY. and the brogan came down with a
thump on the platform. Another con
terence and chuckling followed Final
Is the cowboy set out ON the third
round just aS he was about To ra Sc
his foot to plant il on that ct the tray
cling man. the latter looked up quick
IL and said:
See here, there is my foot. and
H. going 20 stay there. lou step ON
10 if you want to. but want To- tell YOU
that before YOU can get OIL of it viii
xiii You.
such yollcy staggered the COW
hoy. He looked NJ the foot. and then
at the small possesSor. and finally
uoved of without stepping on it.
Another consultation followed
The travelling mau calmly read his
paper "a few minutes. and then took
from his sachci three apples. He look
ed az them u moment. and suddenly
threw them a few feet into the air and
then quickly drew "A revolver. fired
three shots, splitting each apple into ~
dozen pieces before they reached the
ground. he replaced the cartridges
in the empty chambers of the revolver,
and returned it to his pocket.
1.-The cowboys witnessed the act
without saving word. and soon, com
pletcly cowed. turned and left the
depot. The travelling man told me
after they left that he would have kilt
ed the three OF them had the fellow
stepped ON his foot again. and think
he would. rs ne was quick as light
ming. He then showed me medal he
carried. which he won as beinE the
most rapid and one oi the best shots
IN New York The story simply
illustrates that there j. sometimes
great deal of fictitious valor and dar-
ing about the COW boy. NtIU0ittee
Sentinel