Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-04-18
THE COWBOY ON HAND.
He Is Both Numerous and Lively and Pu
On GsnrN A ir..

He Is Both Numerous and Lively and Puts
on Cory Airs.
ARKANSAS CITY, Kan, April 1S.-If the
bearing and general get-up of the men who
have arrived here thus far go for anything it
may be pretty safely assumed that Okla
homa after the opening days, will be the
scene of many bloody conflicts The streets
of Arkansas City are filled with men, each
one of whom is in himself walking arsenal.
Some carry guns i'll their han Is, others have
belts around their waists stuck full of pistols,
bowie-knives, cartridges, and other imple-
ments of destruction. In fact, nearly every
body has apparently beloved it necessary to
rig up cowboy fashion and to be ready at
moments notice to murder another.
Every man regards his neighbor with dis
trust and even the most peaceably inclined
have apparently deemed it essential to their
protection to put on the most staggering
and warlike air possible.
That wild and unruly element which has
always thrown halo of romance over Dor
der life is not wanting here Hardy, sun
burned men, whose lives have been spent in
the saddle or in conflict with the redskins,
al y W 10 occh ~ SApupS CNSi "htiCs anu
wherever they are they are pretty sure to
have things their own way A tenderfoot
and there are many of them here, has but
poor chance in the struggle for wealth with
these hardy denizens of the plains. A from
tiersman does not take much trouble even
at the best of times to conceal his contempt
for the "tenderfoot," but when under the in
fiuence of liquor he avails himself of every
opportunity to make that contempt felt.
just "A Little Pleasantly.
A scene that was ludicrous enough in its
way, but that would have had fatal ending
to any one obiecting, took place III a saloon
and restaurant yesterday afternoon, which
gives "a good illustration of this fact A party
of boomers from the east We're engaged in
partaking of some refreshments at the lower
end of the premises, while at the bar, which
stood nearer the entrance, was group of half
drunken frontiersmen. One of the fasteners
took up piece of pie and commenced to eat
it out of his hand. A borderman can't stand
the sight of a man eating pie. He looks upon
the pie-eater as the average Chicagoan does
upon a dude, but the feeling in the former
case is one of considerably more aversion
"Guess I'll knock the bark off that feller's
fingers" grunted cowbow, drawing a re-
volver about eighteen inches long There
was flash, and the bullet struck the section
of pie between the fasteners fingers and his
teeth, knocking the blackberries all over his
face
The latter's friend, and indeed he himself,
for moment imagined from the spectacle
presented by his face that he was shot, and
howl of terror and rage was Immediately
raised. The cowboys remained perfectly
cool, but the one who had raised all the row
at once invited the eastern man to dance. The
latter of course Indignantly refused, whereat
the plainsman commenced to fire in such
close proximity to the tenderfoOt's toes that
the latter involuntarily went through some
thing like a Comanche war-dance. When
this was over the frontiersmeu had another
drink, laughed hilariously over the discom-
future of the pie-eaters, who were too scared
to dream of retaliation, and staggered out.
A Solid Wall of boomers
AT present there is solid wall of boomers
on three sides of Oklahoma, and every mile
along the border is thick with wagon trains
On the north side are congregated boomers
from the Arkansas City entrance, on the east
those from the Fort Smith entrance, and south
from Texas. The west side is comparatively
clear, but land is poor and the line is care
fully guarded by troops from Fort RenB