New-York tribune., 1890-04-20
= ARMED, SAY YOU?"
A CONSIDERATION OF THAT PLEASING
AMERICAN CUSTOM OF CARRYING
A DEADLY WEAPON.

}
therc are No statistics on The subject. But The pro
portion is large enough. and il might be lowered
good deal with beneficial results and similar move
mcnt on the rate Of mortality
very fair percentage OF tho men one meets oh
the street, Of New-Yorll have revovcrs sowei away
somewhere about their persons Probably, too
larger percentage Of those one meets on broadway arc
thus oouippcd than those encountered on that less
rrc,rntlou, thorOughfare known a. Cnerryst. L"i
mad dog for instance, take turn around Union
Square, and the spectator IS astonished 10 see Inc
number of men who will produce firearms from some
Of that multitude Of pockets Win Whch man, aS Col"
str,cted by the tailor. IS endowed The spectator
may " uninitia'cd also be astonshed 10 see ninoy-
nine ont of a hundred OF them miss the dog. ard
marvel that the hundrcdihs shot does not apparently
nroduce any effect on the canine win nina dseasen
bevond making him yelp" little louder ana II he Is
an observing spectator he VIII notice that ABOUT lo
nor cant ~ ,he men shoot other fellow man
through the legs usually. however. with no more
deadly effect than obtained by the better marksmcn
,rho hlt the doc For II IS undcniablc fact that
tbe average Ncv-Yorkcr who carries pistol cannot
Mt ANYTHING with II he shoots more wretchedy, II IL
Is possible than n woman throws sione' want OF
prac,,ce is nrobaly the main reason for ths-and
f. honcd that II he ever concludes 10 practice he VIII
~ into the country 10 do f. Eu intimatcd above,
the avcrare noclet pistol Is not usually very deadly
w.a,on cyccnt of course. when 1t goes oil BY accl-
dent and hits a friend. something of that Kind
Like tho revolver which Mark Twain carried when he
first went 10 Nevada, II shoots pellets about Tho SIC
Of homeopathic pills and 1t takes the whole seven for
\ doec for an adult Take. for instance. the twenty
twocabrc revolver the smallest made with twenty
twocalbrc pistol you may, perhaps. as Hamlet would
say fret q man a LITTLE but you cannot play upon him
with anv marked effect. still there exceptions
To this IL is much easter to revile the twenty-five
calbre when there IS visible than when an cx-
cited man Is pointing one at you. man committed
suicide with ono in siXtocnst. not long AGO. Indeed,
n * fovoritc calibrc with suicides But generally
sncaknc the TWENTY-FIVE -calibic mas be said n lack
cnna II cannot command tho respect accorded 10
the fhrtvwocalbrc nor rivc the attention like The
thirty e chcalibrc. depopulac tho ncichhorhood
nc can the forty four ard forty caibrc These last
two sizes are the affected In Kentucky and The
nonndlcss West There arc, too a vast number Of
cheap revolvers carried I'm NcwYork which can mover
be looked to for any damage except when they cXrodc
in tie hands OF their owncr,-always. Of couisn.
cNcluing the time, when they hrmorously snapped
al a friend n furnishes an element Of surprise too.
for the man who carries OF them when It pllyflly
goes OIL IN his pockei they sometimes vii. Few
things can be more embarrassing iban to have cheap
revolver strike six in yo1r ovcrcoat pocket after you
have sat down IN a crowded elevated car.
But Is there any excuse for carrying deadly
weapon in civilized community Ike Ncw.York
No one has ever presented ono. Il Is safe 10 say.
probably HAT not over in hundred Of thos'
who habI'ually carry a danecrou, weapon IN New
York la fairly good excuse for his practice.
TIE fact that you NAV be sandbacscd AMI robbed i'
no reason for carrying a rcyOycs-h only make,
another thing fJr tie robbcr Then. after he get
H. he may shoot yoI with f.. and. beside. should
not put arms into the hands Of tie dangerous cln -cS
No, one man In ten who carries pistol has II where
10 can get a. quickly enough to be Of any use 10
him. IS a general thing. Tie sandbagscr IS quick
and mpusivc and seldom wait fr his victim 20
unbuiion his ovcicolt and Prince Albert AMI drag out
a nickel plated revolver. Then not or.c man I'm ten
can hit tie Produce Exchange Building after he does
get his pistol out TIC final result usually is ina;
he shoot, himself in the foot and Is fined 80 for
carrying concealed weapons. Better sink your pistol
in the North River aul hire cheap bl' s'a" ar.
purilst to 60 along with You and irotoc' yoi from
tie supcriluous foctpad
our Interesting British cousin firmly believes tha'
all Americans when at home 60 aholf wearing w.d"
leather belt in which from two TO six Ievols'rs are
Inserted. each with calibic Ike the aqucdnc'.
But this Irion also thinks that whcn 60 10 The
opera trousers lost in the tops Of our ample
boots that We wear little bells tho hflm, Of our
bucAslin hats and that Ma sacLusc,, is the capital
of omaha. And II hc could be dropped down Ia
Harlan Con.ty KcntucAy, soisr day when court We
I'm session the Turner'S and Howards vcr, feeling
ItiIc suspicious Of another. he ml-ht tliul D."
was .Ot much IN about the rcvolvcrs AZ least.
But where thcrc (. fcud IN active state Of crip-
ia on The extreme Western frontier. when wcaIons
are carried at all they carried opcnly, whc is
certainly preferable many respects I" CONGO tmcni.
f,ut the area where ieyolNcrs ca iicd opcaly
a regular part Of mans dlc-s Is constantly de-
crcasns; and ther, Will be- such region n a fcw
year TIE motion prevailing IA some lais Of the
East that every man wc-t Of the Mississippi. Who
has 4 mine or 4 hcri Of cattle habtuaily sleep, with
his spuis on and carries big revolver + almost
vide Of the mark a, thai 81 our Biiish f. end NO
understand, that the -shou.dcrcd buffalo SIN
ufcsts Madison Square sill It must be admitted that
the lar.c.si1ed pistol IS quite mime Gus amos western
.foclucn Eut 1t IS carried largely out Of respect 10
t~,at.on II also scrvos TO keep the ranch cook In
proper state OF subIccon, thl' worthy chef having
an utter contempt for an uiiraeD man. who, thcre.
fore. gets nothing 10 cat
Win The narrowing down OF the sections where arms
arc carried the custom is also losing much OF its
rlcfrre.qucncss Formerly men engaged In different
occupations Affected different weapons. Tic Mssis
sinri raft,mau. for instance, seldom carried re
yo,vcr but depended upon knife with good
bovc knife IN his bootleg another down the back Of
bt. neck and "A Iar Of bras lnucklcs I'm his pocket
he felt that be could meet his fellow men and drink
with them In perfect confidence. Bat the ra'isman
is nearly extinct. and the knife Is lluc carried any
,lcr. In tine country. though there SIN Isolated
communities. especially In tho southwc,t. where
Colonel Bowie IT, looked being great in
you,o, ~ Robert Fulton. Tho late Judge Terry pinned
hl faith fo the bowie knife. but the other fellow
Acquainted with the Judge.
Then, is siill considerable pcturcsqucncss left In
the nomenclature of where carried by good
proportion OF the general public. In The West. where
the big revolver popular 1t IS never spoken OF
such but always referred to IN general way a
~eunp and specifically a a siNshoOcr' All other
terms. unless It be such iancul name shooting
iron.7 are unknown. = rifc no matter what MS
make. is always known wInchc.fcr.7 and It is
uof uncommon to hear Of " Colt Winchester" or "A
= ballard Winchester These intcret ting weapons
shoot fifteen times without rcloadng, and the most
deadly fire arms producci by the c!vlzing hand OF
man. There Is also a large section Of the country
where every gentleman Of course " totes weapon.
sab 70 defend me honah' There Is also a certain
rleasant feature of rcributlon for the man In the
West who gets into habit Of shooting his brother
other than strictly I'm sclfdeience. He Is invariably
shot himself An Illustration IS afforded by tho late
Jesse James and his slayer Jesse. after killing a