Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1890-09-12
DIVIDED DISCOURSE,
A DRUMMER'S REMARKS ON THE PLUG
HATS MARCH INTERRUPTED.

The High Hat Marks the Progress of
Civilization-The Cowboys No Longer
Shoot at It-But the Old Water Tank
Recalled Cruder Methods.
"No, sir" said the drummer, "there is
not a place in the %countrs 3av where a
man who behaves himself n't wear o
plug hat. don't mean to sag that there
are no lively towns, but there is practically
no frontier such as there used to be.
The cowboy still occasionally drops into
the saloon and shoots the lights out; he
likes now and then to shoot the insulators
off the telegraph poles, and there are other
eccentric and sometimes boisterous forms of
amusement that still find favor with him,
but it is no longer considered good form any
where to evince disapprobation of the wear
ing of a plug hat by shooting it off the
head of the wearer.
ACCEPTING THE WHITE SHIRT.
"In some places this pleasing condition
of affairs has been brought about by the
active work of a single man, aided in a
measure, doubtless, by the natural fair
ness of men when their feelings are prop
erly appealed to-. For example, in one
camp after it had been discovered by the
man who conveyed the remonstrance of
the older inhabitants that the quiet, unas-
Stunning stranger who had persisted in wear
ing a white shirt had an arm as big around
as an oyster keg, muscles of steel, the
heart of Il lion and the tigers suddenness
OF movement, there arose a feeling that
possibly the shirt question was debatable,
and some men went so far as to say openly
that a man ought to be permitted to wear
a white shirt if he wanted to-; and when
the quiet man had in quick succession
knocked out seven supporters of the mega
tive side the change Of sentiment was so
great that it amounted practically to a re-
versal of public opinion, and by common
consent he was permitted to wear his shirt.
"The fact is that although men are as
lntleNiblc as ever on vital questions and as
ready as ever to fight when the cause is
really worth fighting for, the great major
ity are becoming more and more disposed
to concede to each citizen the free enjoy
ment of his personal rights. In these re-
moter parts the principal causes contrib
uting to this broader enlightenment have
been the gradual settlement of the coun-
try, the more extended and frequent
means of communication and the conse-
quent general spread of civilization. You
Seen-
The speaker was a New York drummer
who had Travelled the country over and
again from one corner to the other. His
discourse was delivered in the smoking
room of Il sleeping car on Il far western
railroad. His sole auditor was the report
~, Hn-r l, 81
porarily interrupted by the gripping of the
air brakes and by the passing of the con-
ductor through the car at the same mo-
ment. We both asked what station we
were coming to, and when the conductor
named it We recognized it as a place where
some time before Il train had been held up
/ by robbers. 1t was a little place where
engines stopped for water. The robbers
had boarded the engine as it stood at the
tank and overpowered the engineer and
fireman, and after another fight they had
robbed the express and mail cars, but they
had not molested the passengers.
1t WAS not long after nightfall when we
approached the station, but the night was
very dark. AS the train passed slowly
through the pine woods it seemed as
though the great gaunt trees were moving
together for Il companionship that might
prove less gloomy than standing alone.
Naturally our talk was of train rObbing,
We agreed that the modern way of rob-
hing the express and mail cars only was
more i'll keeping with the general growth
of progressive methods, and that it was
undoubtedly pleasanter for the passengers.
The train halted with the engine along
: side the tank. 1t did seem as though it
took the engine a long time to drink, but
it was 4 big engine. Now the train starts,
and we begin to settle down to continue
the Journey when the brakes grip again,
and the train stops suddenly. Now our
car is just abreast of the tank from behind
which the robbers had emerged. We sur
vey it from the dripping spout in front as
far around as the eye will reach, but in the
most casual manner, just as we might have
looked at u shed or a fence anywhere else.
FELT A LITTLE CURIOUS"
1t was a little curious, of course, that the
train should pull up suddenly at that par
ticular spot after having once started, but
beyond the commonplace "Wonuer what's
up now?" neither of the passengers in the
smoking room betrayed any particular in
terest in the situation. The brakeman
went out. Everything around seemed very
still, but the drummer and reporter con-
GlIlueu Ill eaSy conversation. hat under
current of thought there might be in the
drummer's mind the newspaper man didn't
know, but he found time himself to think
that if the stop did mean robbers it might
be that they were men who still pursued
the cruder methods of personal robbery.
When the train had started again, as it
did very soon, and, quickly gathering head
way, had left the water tank and its dismal
surroundings far behind, the two men still
talked on in the sameq quiet MANNER though
q close observer might have noticed in their
bearing just a trace of added b%uoyancy,
which almost approached animation when
the conductor came in. Without being in
the smallest degree foppish, the conductor
was distinctly natty in appearance, and he
was also a quick, self reliant and energetic
man.. 1t was, perhaps, his breezy activity
of movement that stirred the two passen-
gers, for they ceased their conversation,
and both asked in the same moment:
what did we stop for?"
1t was simple enough. The conductor
had stood at the tar for a moment after
giving the engineer the signal to go ahead
and had taken another glance at the for
ward cars as they slowly passed him. On
the forward platform of the baggage car
he SAW q tramD He iumpad IN A., ,