The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1889-05-07
ARIZONA STORIES,


) For / got Tired Of lhIening then,
Il And came sway,
ARIZONA STORIES,
How "JudEs" Meyers DiSpsnlSd JuiticS I
4 the Early Days Of Tucson.
Captain Bourke, Of the army, iS an in
I tsresting story-tellef, and possesses
: rich fund Of reminiscence and apecdote
says the Washington correspondent o
! the New York Tribune, He was sittinl
/ In q group OF neWBpaperme q few night
ago discussing the situation in Oklahoma
and the prospect Of laWleisnesH ant
violence there,
Twenty years ago." said the captain
" was In Tucson, No place was eve
Worse governed, Outlaws abounded
and they did about as they pleased
Finally the good citizens Of the place
the merchants and men Of property
determined to bring about q reform, and
the way they decided TO do 1t was r
elect q Judge who would deal honestly
with the scalawags who were running
the town and corrlpting the courts, 81
they chose man named Charlie Meyer
10 BE- Judge. Charlie was druggist
who knew nothing about. law, but he
was perfectly honest, and that was the
only qualification the citizens deaired,
Accordingly, Charlie set up q
law dispensary in the same
building with his drug store, and
dealt out Justice and patent medicines
with equal grace, In his court he e.
tablished q library OF calt,bound books,
consisting chiefly OF the meterla medlca
and Somebody on Fractured Bones. He
engaged as an officer Of the court o man
who was afraid Of nothing or nobody
old Jimmy Douglas, who carried in bis
leg bullet that he had picked up at
Gettysburg, and who walked with some
difficulty and with apeculiar though
not q graceful limp. The fret thing
that Charlie did was TO establish q
chain gang, and sentence 10 various
terms In It's service every offender that
was brought before him. The shyster
lawyers who had run the town before
this as a violation Of the constitution Of
the United States, but they protested in
silenCe-in fact, TO protest was useless, The
process Of the judge was rather summa-
ry, but the result was very gratifying 10
the good citizens OF Tucson. The wild,
rough characters who had ruled the
town were now engaged in cleaning the
streets, and Tucson was seeing an area
Of prosperity that II had not known
since It's foundation. But II the business
men were pleased, the lawyers were pro-
portionateiy disguised. The court re-
fused to recognize them, and their bust
ness was gone. One day, however, one
OF them plucked up spirit enough to 60
before the court In behalf OF bis client
and demanded trial by jury. The court
was about TO sentence the prisoner TO q
term in the changing when the lawyer
interposed ademurrer. MY client, he
said, objects to being tried by this court
on the ground Of prejudice, and demands
to be tried by jury.
dot shuryH
"'He demands said the lawyer, 10
be tried by bis peers
ooh, he does, does he p said Charlie.
Well, Isendence him TO two weeks in
the shain.gang and / sentence you To
one week. Now how you like dot trial
by shury2' And into the chain.gang the
lawyer went and there he staid until his
term was up.
zone day o man named Wolf was
brought before the court for cheating
some Indians out Of s.. he was an I'M.
scrupulous man, but q shrewd one, and
he knew oil the tricksof the law. Char
lie felt that In his case the materia
medica was not sufficient authority, and
80 he adjourned the court to get an op.
portunity to consult some books on the
law or to obtain advice from somebody
with a knowledge Of II. As he declared
the case postponed and the court adj
Ijourned, however, he turned 10 the pris-
oner and said: Wolf, 1t Is the unanimous
opinion OF dis community dot you are q
- tief, and dis court comedies fully In
dot opinion
"Wolf lost color, and raising his fist,
be said: Judge, i don't let anyone
speak to me in that way
-"Dis court fines you $40 for raising
your fist against II, said Charlie, and
you stands committed TO the shain.gans
until It Is paid
"Wolf knew that there was no re-
course and he reluctantly paid the SO.
The Judge gravely took II and after di.
yiding s. between himself and Jimmy
Douglas, he gave s. to the Indians.
And To this day, In the annals Of the In
dian tribe, Charlie Meyers 10 the most
righteous judge that ever held court, fot
did they not sue for s. before him and
recover $52
NThe Quartz Rock saloon was the most
unsayory place in Tucson. It was 4
gambling hell and the resort Of all the
worst toughs and criminals In the place
One night Charlie heard a knocking a
the door Of his house. He had beer
warned that he would be assassinated Il
HE remained In town and continued 4
preside over the court, 90 he was o LITTLE
cautious whom he admitted TO bis resi-
dence. He went down Btairs and open
ed only o little lookout with which al
the doors OF Tucson houses were pro
vided.
"tWho's derep' he said.
"'A friend, was the reply.
"'vat you wantf said the Judge eau
al want TO give myself up, said th,
stranger. i Just killed 0 man down q
the Quartz Rock saloon
MYou killed mani' queried th,
Yes, / killed him. He called me
liar, and you know, Judge, there ar
some things q gentleman can't stand o
/ out with my gun and killed him. Ant
now want 70 give myself up.
"'You say you killed him down at d
Quartz Rock saloon?' said the Judge
ben, my friend, you can 90 back an
kill another oneI aud he turned an
went up staip 70 bed. In the mornin
The body Of the dead man was found 4
the streets and the murderer had q
capped" 0
probably a case q suicide.
1sthaaes. (, I'D.
UWere there any deadly Weapons COZ