Wichita eagle., 1888-06-29
A CURIOUS AFFAIR.
AN INCIDENT WHICH OCCURRED
IN A MEXICAN GAMBLING TOWN.

Had Great Need of It-An ExpIana
ton.
good many years ago. when the Mex
lean Central railroad was under way. con.
structlon stopped for several months OF
an arid, desert plain south of Chihuahua
Almost instantly a town sprung MP a;
that point, fand was christened Tracks
End, after many similar mushrooms.
The town consisted OF one side Of a street
and some scattering adobe suburbs, and
when II was learned that the road would
rot advance for some time, great horde
Of outlaws and adventurous who lived OF
the railroad men, and followed the line
as coyotes follow a provision train,
came docking there They were nearly
all American fugitives, and found them
selves for the first time in their lives
where there was absolutely no law, no
military, no police, nothing except the
dictates OF each mans particular deviltry.
Sodom and Gomorrah was q Chautau-
qua circle by comparison. The gamblers
soon robbed eli the workirgnen of every
thing they had. ard then, for want of
other victims, they fell to rending each
other. 1t was in this particular epoch in
Tracks Ends brief history that arrived
in the place.
} remembered the old prCverb about
Roman etiquette when You are in Rome
and sauntered into the hotel with all the
noncha!ance | could command. Ii was a
miserable den, half " COD and hall adobe,
ana the landlord was as promising Il look
ing villain us ever laid nv ewes on. I
registered by wiping my hands On the
oillce towel, and took a mental note to
sleep with one eye open. After going
through the motions OF eating supper |
took lock at my six shooter and strofled
out TO see the town, but in few moments
found myself helplessiy wedged in s crowd
and temporarily anchored in a large
saloon and gambling house that / Judged
to- he the principal resort of the place
Directly IA front of me was faro table
and presently | forgot Iny annoyance in
watching little scene which was in prog
resS there. The players were mostly
mbiers, judged. from their Dallor and
the understandable ear marks of the profes-
sion, but among them, playing his
money rather recklossly, was another
stamp of man. He was Il brawnv.
thick set fellow, with the hands of a coal
HEAVIER and curiously innocent looking
face, in spite of the bushy beard that COW
cred most of it.
This player was in bad luck and pal
pably nervous. He moved his bets in
hesitating, half hearted sort of way. and
1puttered under his breath and swallowed
III his throat when he lost, as he repeatedly
did. In few moments his last chip was
gone, and, pushing back his chair, he
leaned over the table and said something
| could not catch, pointing to the silver
box from which the cards were dealt.
YOU'RE crazy" exclaimed the dealer
loudly, half rising
What followed happened all in a flash.
The thick set man reached over. seized the
box and held it to the light Whether he
discovered some unfair mechanism | do
not know, but he wheeled with an oath
and dashed it into the dealers face. A
roaz Of excitement rose from the crowd
l was swayed this way and that, and for
a moment lost sight OF the table, and when
l saw it again the dealer was wiping the
blood from his face and the man who had
struck him was gone
That was enough for me. went back
to the hotel, but had barely seated my
self and lit a cigar when heard sound
people running, then a hoarse jangle of
voices, followed instantly by two loud re-
ports and just two words:
"Oh, don't
l think l never heard so pitifuI cry.
1t struck right into my heart and turned
me sick, for instinctively associated it
with the big, brawny man with the child
ish face; and right enough l was. The
IL I = -
lowed him ont and killed him. In little
while the hotel was full of people talking
about the tragedy, and one of them
vouchsafed some details to me-
Ellis name was Ben White,'' he said,
land he was n square man. He was n
section boss on the railroad and had saved
some money, but the gamblers got hold
of him and it all went. They say he
found out tonight they were robbiag
him, and that's how it started The
queer thing about it is that when Newton
cornered him he got out his pistol first
and snapped all six chambers, but it
wouldn't go off. Nobody understands
that ~
This was strange, to say the least, and
the next day it wac the talk of the town.
The failure Of the weapon had cost this
man his life, and yet nothing seemed to be
the matter with it On the contrary, it
was in perfect order; only the cartridges,
for some inexplicable reason, wouldn't ex
plode in it. Everybody tried it and every
body gave il up. The same shells, placed
in other pistols exactly like it, were fred
without trouble and half the gamblers in
Track End firmly believed that the
weapon was bewitcned or "loodooed, F" az
they ll8d Z.
SIX months sFterVard. When Tracks
End was g rem niSeeace only and It's
prominent citizens had been divided be-
tween the cemeteries and the penitenti-
aries Of the state, the sequel of that
tragedy came drifting 10 me through
strange channel. / was talking 20
Mexican lawyer in Chihuahua, when he
said:
by the way. l have curiosity TO
show you. Do You see anything the mat
ter with that pistol
AS he spoke be opened door and
handed me a six shooter-the identical
weapon which Ben White carried when
he was killed. took it with consider
able repugnance, aud then he told me a
curious story. The hammer of the pistol,
like all those of large caliber, terminated
in poinr, which strikes the cartridge IN
the center. Over this point file had
been drawn. taking off about the Thick !
ness OF card; not enough to be seen, but
enough to prevent It from touching the !,
sheE. This completely disabled the
weapon, yet left II, to all outward ap- |
pearances, IN perfect order, and was in |
Tact devihsh piece Of ingenuity.
"It SEEMS said the LAWYER, "tha. |
Newton had been expecting trouble with 1
this man, and some days before obtained 1
possession OF MS pistol uHsnown 10 him, !