The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1890-09-23
BILL NYE'S LETTER.
He WritesAbout the Younger Brothers
The Awfnl Tale of a Precipice.
They We're Very Fond Of Their Fun and
Largely Given to Proyer-SOme-
thing A6out P1odigal Sons
-HoU They Lived, Etc.

hands tor review q rectangular, liver
colOred brochure, issued for the summer
trade, which is a resume of the public SER
vices of the Younger brothers, who, as 1T
will be remembered, were engaged for
some years in soliciting donations Of funds
and goods for the use of persons in need,
and who reside, when at home, mostly in
Clay and Jackson counties Mo.
The book is handsomely gotten up,
though sold at twenty five cents per vol
ume, and breathts a spirit of klndllness
and humanity which should teach u all a
valuable lesson. | have read the entire
book carefully because l did no: desire 10
judge it unfairly. Ny attention was
especially called to it because / had heard
so much o: the deVout spirit manifested
especially by Coleman Younger, both be-
tore and since his incarceration
1t is only fair that the world should
know. the truth about both the Young rs
and the Jameses, and that while they
were at times unconventional and almost
rude, they were really at heart refined
and deVout. Coleman Younger or Cole,
as he vas called by his publishers, who
of course naturally feel most intimate
with him, having no doubt often exchanged
ideas with him as to methods of working
that would oe profitable without involving
too much risk or brain fag, was the son
of Henry Washington Younger, a native
Of Kentucky, who afterwards moved to
Jackson county, Mo. Mr.. Younger ST.,
never did much, aside from becoming the
father of the Younger brothers, that
would serve to pass his name down in
history. Having successfully done this,
ho 6IoH C11AHonlu hy roOI1nCf Of Doonu
citizens. The elder Younger, if such a
term be proper, began to WELD a lasting
influence his sons, however, before
his death for while Cole was at school
he was quite rude, and sometimes fatally
injured his playmates in thOughtless glee,
and as a result of pure animal spirits,
which he car! led almost constantly con-
cealed about his person. AS a result
Of this the tea cher threatened to whip
Coleman. The elder Younger then in
formed the little pallid tutor that if he
did so he, the elder Younger, would whip
the little pale teacher. Many boys with
parents like that have grown up, gone
INTO society, and at last put on the beau
tltul tennis suits worn so extensively at
Sing Sing. Later on, growing heated over
a discussion with the teacher regarding the
question whether " pollena" was or was
not the correct photography f a style OF
overskirt being largely worn in Clay
county the Younger brothers inserted the
tutor in the river, head first, through a
hole IN the ice, and left him there III a
most compromising position. This was
the origin OF the expression 'gettiDg a
man in a hole" which has since come into
popular favor, having bee4 used by
Undertaken Merritt this summer when
DR.. McGOnigal brought him the body of
AnLle Goodwin at 3 a 10. IN his gig, and
asked him to kindly bury it for him.
The tutor was pulled cut by spectators
finally, and he said then to those abou
him that if the Younger boys didn't do
q different" they would come to a bad
end, possibly several of such.
COle Younger has become such an earn
est, consistent Christian since his incar-
c~eration in the penitentlary tat his past
ought not to be raked up here, except it
be, perhaps, to show that he has had a
great deal to overcome in tryiIg to lead
a Christian life IN a ~penitentlary, where
there are many temptations to be frivolous
and gay.
Some years ago there was a robbery o.
the Rock Island road, about fourteen
miles east of Council Bluffs. Cole
Younger and Jesse James planned to
throw" the east bound train at this
point. It was in the drowSy dawn of a
beautiful summer Sabbath that these now
kindly and gentle natures pried up the
rails and let the flying engine pillow into
the cut and wreck the train. it was the
sunrise of that Sabbath morning when
poor Rafferty,, the engineer, with ashley
tace and staring eyeballs turned toward
the quiet sky, lay dead beneath his engine.
He lies in an unknown grave to-day
because he foolishly tried to reverse his
engine and saw his train; whe cas- if he
had been engaged wrecking it people
would have come for thousands Of miles
to see aim and hear him tell how he found
salvation and helped himself to it.
The boys now had the train to them
selves. They began to feel IN the pockets
Of comparative strangers, and get the
time Of day from people with whom they
could have had but a slight acquaintance.
Sometimes a lady who had never been
robbed before, and who had not read the
etiquette of the thing, would thought
lessly shrek, but before she could apoI-
OS1HN HAA' OuASOJ "AOI IL So'Oj SoAAAOO
a Bible with him through all his train rob-
bing career, and always had a good voice
for exhortation said: "Sit down, damn
you! Keep still, or you'll go to LellI'
These are the words testified to by those
present Mr.. Younger always read one
IF the Psalms just before rUbbing a train,
and one of his prayers, it is said, would
have sounded well even in the house Of
representatives.
After the Rock Island train robbery
the YOungers and JameseS scattered in
order to avoid detection. Each took a
peach basket full Of gold watches, so that
he would know what time it was, and
started off IN different directions. Curiously
enough, four of them came together, viz:
Cole, Jim and John Younger and Moore.
The four outlaws had halted in a thick
grove of trees to rest their horses, swap
watches, and pray, when late in the after
noon two deputy sherffs and a constable
who were looking for the train robbers