Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-01-03
A FRISCO TRAGEDY RECALLED.
How Jim Dobson. tho Terror. Came Near
Dying with His Boots On.


How Jim Dobson, tho Terror, Came Near
Dying with His Boots On.
"This is the man who killed Jim Dobson,n
said my friend. as we crossed Twenty-third
street at the junction of Broadway and Fifth
avenue the other afternoon.
This recalled the life and death of one of
the worst men that ever set foot on the Pa
cific coast.
Every town in California, Nevada and
Colorado, especially in their early days, has
had its terror. Jim Dobson was for many
years the terror" of San Francisco He
was hydra headed terror" too Wher.
ever there were races. fairs. billiard matches,
prize fights or excitement of any kind, Jim
Dobson was there. He had killed several
men and attempted to kill many mora he
never paid for anything. and was generally
well supplied with funds, although he never
did stroke Of work Honest men Stunned
him, and many Of those who knew him feared
him Els associates were OF tho lowest of
both sexes.
In one of his shooting scrapes, during a
debauch some twenty years ago, his aim was
SO inaccurate that he emptied the seven
chambers of his revolver in trying to kill his
adversary, without hitting him. Throwing
his revolver on tine floor he exclaimed:
Here, you - you shoot I'll
DO - if can"
When Rudolph went to San Francisco,
about nineteen years ago, to play John Deery
for the billiard championship of America
an audience OF nearly 3,003 persons gathered
i'll the Mechanics pavilion to witness the
game OF course Dobson was there He had
bet heavily on Deery When it became ap
parent that Rudolph would win-he having
but 10 to SO, with the Tails in hand, to
Deery's lG3-Dobson stepped up to the table
just as Rudolph was about to shoot, and,
grabbing o:o OF the object balls, threw it at
random among the audience. Some one
caught it-on tho nose. Although Deery was
the favorite the audience wanted fair play.
Cries of Put him out" proceeded from all
parts of tho hall Turning to the audience,
Dobson said:
There amt - here who can
put me out. II any one attempts it I'll put
daylight through him.
No one attempted it The ball was brought
back and placed on the table, and Rudolph
ran the game out.
These ARE only two instances of many of
similar nature, but they will suffice to indi-
cate the mans desperate disposition. 1t was
about year later that he met his death
quiet, inoffensive amateur billiarlist of some
repute, They had met at fancy ball about
a week previously. Dobson, WAC had been
'bucAing tue tiger" that night with indiffer-
ent success, asked for loan OF SEQ, which
was refused. With an oath the rmf-
fan told tae man who had dared refuse
to comply with his wishes that he had better
keep or OF his way ir the future, as he
would Kill him on sight.
''Oh, guess Frisco is large enough to hold
US both" was the calm reply
On the following Saturday the tHo men
met on Montgomery street, near Market.
Dobson stepped Up to the other man and
calculated:
II thought told you to keep out of my
way. Now Pm going to kill you'll" And he
made motion az if to draw his pistol.
You wouldn't shoot an unarmed man.
would youf' inquired tho billiardist, calmly,
We'll, if You a;n't hecled you go and heel
yourself, you - for the next time
meet you I'll shoot you anyhow"
The billiardist, knowing the desperate
character of the man whose enmity he had
incurred, procured q pistol forthwith. He
then went to the Occidental hotel and PLAYED
few games of billiards. On going out he
saw Dobson half block distant coming
toward him. Thinking he had been seen, he
know it would be useless to retreat, so he
awaited Dobson's coming i'll the hotel vesti-
bule. When tho latter had got within few
feet Of him the billiardist stepped out and
fired two bullets in quick succession into
Dobsons body before the latter had time to
cock his revolver. Dobson dropped on the
sidewalk, exclaiming:
81 never thought you'd do thisn
WELL" said the other, Il thought you
would, and SO | made up my mind to GET
ahead of you if couldn
Dobson was then carried into drug store
across the street.
Pull my boots off, he said family to the
bystanders and as soon as this was done he
expired.
He had often been told that he would "die
with his boots on" as is generally the case
with desperadoes Of his ilk In the west, but
even in this he cheated public opinion
The man who thus rid the community Of
Jim Dobsons abnoxious presence was not
only promptly acquitted, but even made a
hero of by many and complimented by some
of tho daily papers. I, who had seen Dobson
on Calistoga train compel the conductor to
give him change for $40, when he had given
him only $40 for his fare, always looked upon
the killing as an act Of self defense and upon
the billiardist as q brave man.-New York
Herald.