The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1891-08-15
WILD WEST IN EARNEST.
a story of q Circus Feud Between Indian
and fp

hinerfc1 IMAM 10 INC lettering crowned
heads of Europe, had raised at home a
o of imitatOrs. Every county fair
which was a fair followed up its hoss
racing snaps by 4 terrific discharge OF
blank cartridges in which the pursuing
red-deyils of the untamed prairies, the
heeipg emigrant outfit, and the reset.
err scouts or cowboys infested tho
smoke of battle. Every circus which
was a circus rounded up its entertain.
ment with n similar exhibition. Public
taste clamored for these excitations.
Among others who Int they
knew their business rs men whose
trade it was TO note the general pulse
and prescribe accordingly were tho
brothers Sells. Three years ngo they
had an Indian and cowboy outfit which
professcd to take water from no oppO-
sitiOn. Their Indians were the genuine
Indian article and their cowboys had
been specially imported from lands
where cowboys are epidemic. Their
stock of blank cartridges was immense,
and the amount of noise and smoke
they could create when an appreciativc
audience looked on in wonder was
something quite cut of sight. Wherever
they went they conquered.
The summer driftcd in, and one night
in midheat weather found the Sells
Bros, and their circus, their cowboys,
and their Indians in the little city of
Clinton, la. Twelve thousand people
turned out that night to see the circus
nd 4,--o Al. -. -.
rescue the emigrant maiden from the
clutches of the savagc.
Your Indian Is n man of serious
views. Your cowboy isn't. The latter
has notions which are mixed up with
practical jokes and bursts of sardonic
humor. Some of this sort of thing is
too high for the Indian mentally. The
Indian does not wholly grasp it, and
when he does he fails to like it.
In the Sells Bros show of three
years ago the rampant cowboy spirit
had risen to the fact that the Indian
wa fair game for its exubcrince.
When an Indian became owner of n
cigar or a plug of tobacco upon the
rialto of life within the ring. cowboy
fingers snapped it from his possession.
When an Indian presumed to take the
air on horseback, cowboy ~lariats were
npt to play him ticks. The cowboys
reviled his blanket costumes. The cow
boy made light of many of his u~ncivil-
lied pcculiaritics. Bad blood thickcncd
apace. Some Indian Ears had been
piEched aud some Indian faces had been
ostentatiously slapped by the truculent
cx.herders.
There were mutterings abrew when
the show reached Clinton. One word
that ranklcd in the Indian bosom was
coward" The Indian bosom deter
mined to vindica tc its intrepidity. Very
quietly the Indians loaded their Win
chesters with real instead of mock ear
tridges and at quietly sent word to their
hereditary foes that the battle of the
afternoon would not be Il sham one.
This pleased the plainsmcn. There
was no soul among them with sense of
grace enough 10 deny the challenge or
inform the management that there
awaited il the most singular and foolish
and criminal duel cvcr fought at the ex-
pense of innocent blood. They loaded
their w repeating rifles with ball as
well as powder and cody waited.
When the bell tapped for the Wild
West scene then began the most extra
ordinary conflict witnessed since Nero
looked upon the gladiatOrial steel. The
seats were packed with eager specta-
tors. All the country side had come
out to see. In the usual fashion the
mimic chase occurred. The capture
followed. After hal the rescue. When
the cowboys charged, the Indians fired.
But real bullets flew. hanging upon
their horses tanks, with only one hand
and thigh exposed the combatants cir
cled round the chariot way, exchanging
deadly volumes. Suddenly a panic
seized the great audience. Here a man
fell dead, pierced by Il ball. There an
and yet another still; until the great
tent became a mass of terrified hu-
~Inanity, struggling for escape, scarce
knowing what had occurred, unthink-
ing, desperate for exit.
The audience poured ont as it might
into the exterior darkness. The rifles
had been empticd, and the din Of ex-
ploding powder no longer aided confu-
sion to the tuInultuous cries of the hurt.
Manager Barrett, alert and eager in in
quiry, learned almost before the last
echo of a Winchester found his ears of
what had taken place. No paraphcr-
MALTA of any show on earth eve disap-
peared as did that one Of Sells Bros.
Before the excited citizens of Clinton
really knew what had occurred the
whole circus had been bundled upon
the waiting and adjacent train, and
was speeding fast for the borders of
the state, with orders not to stop until
the frontier had beer crossed. Barrett
himself alone remained behind, and
with him he had so, 600 in cash.
Four persons in that audience were
killed outright by this folly. Two of
them were women, and the body Of one
with a baby still clinging TO Il pulseless
breast There were eleven wounded
mes among the spectators. A dozen of
the combatants were shot in the thigh
or arm. One Indian lost an ear and one
cowboy received a bullet in the jaw.
Barrett's kecnness and his ten thou
sane dollars stood Sells Bros. in great
stead. lie talked mysteriously, bluffed,
bought, paid indemnitics and finally
hushed up the truth. When he was
through his money was all gone, but
the facts were hidden. No n knew
that a terrible accident for which no
n was morally responsible had taken
place. Few know it to-day. The truth
never secured publication, and tie press
reports Of the time dwelt only upon the
results of a mistake of the cartridge
keeper.
But this is the authentic account of
the facts which lie behind Sells Bros
to have n Wild West adjunct to
their present show.-Kansas City Times.
A Growing Head.
Boggs-l understand that Gobbins