Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-04-05
An interesting Story About No.
torious Jesse James.
A JOURNALIST BY ACCIDENT.
Meets an Unknown Friend Who Acts rs .
Sort of Protection Against Footpsds.
Two Revolvers an Inducement.
"Gone But Not Forgotten"
For the Gazette.


write their favorite paper from the sur
rounding hamlets, and try their
wings by short flights. before soaring
to loftier heights in the journalistic
atmosphere.
"Neighborhood Notes, IDIOTS from D."
and Events at E" have fascination for
me that amounts TO perfect mania. The
anxiety that feel concerning the health of
Aunt Sally, who has been somewhat ailing
for the past week" or the interest
awakened by the information that the
farmers are ell up with their work, or the
satisfaction experienced when learn that
king cotton holds his regal sway over a
larger acreage this year than ever be-
fore, can hardly be expressed within the
compass of this limited article. When
politics are in the ascendant and the village
solons meet in solemn caucus or overflow
ing mass meeting and the scribe INDUCES in
laudatory sulogies concerning his pet can
didate, and darkly hints that the people are
about 10 arise in their might and overthrow
the existing state of things in general, and
the rings and SoulIeSS corporations IN par
ticular. then | tremble for the result.
Just such avenues as these. however lead
to fame, and many u literary favorite and
well paid writer of to-day can recall the time
when with trembling eagcrness he scanned
the columns of his county paper for the
communication mailed by him for pUbliCa-
lIOD the week UetOEc. IL JucIe IS tIN 10Y
equal to that which permeateS the whole
being of an ambitious youth on seeing his
own composition in print l have never
heard of it, or hearing,
REFUSED TO BELIEVE.
The many admirers of well-known
newspaper writer owe the pleasure expert
enced by the perusal of his articles 10 IN
accident which was the cause of his being
launched on the uncertain sea of journalism.
He was attending school at some distance
from home, and having always been
noted for his most horrible penmau-
ship, ne had determined to give his
friends a surprise With this end in view
he wrote home but seldom, and then
briefly and in his worst style. Indeed.
the effort might have been entirely dis
pensed with as the letters were not to be
deciphered, and are to-day an unsolved
mystery to the writer as well as the re-
cipienJS Meanwhile he devoted his whole
time TO the improvement of his ''hand-
rite with such surprising success that
few weeks before the holidays he sent
sample OF his improved penmanship home
to his sister The sister was so aStonished
at his wonderful progress in that line that
she enclosed the sample in letter to an
older brother. 4 broker in New York city,
stating that it was Il sample of the younger
brothers Improvement and asking If it was
not wonderful
In sending this specimen the young
scholar had copied an extract from George
d. Prentis' celebrated poem, ''Ihe Clos
ing Year" The broker, believing that his
young brother was a born poet and
CAPABLE OF MOST ANYTHING,
read the lines as being original with the
youngest member Of his family to q num-
Der OF friends, among whom were
a well known physician, since de-
ceased, lawyer of no mean reputa-
M N.I Id
be well up in literature and, strange to say,
not one among them all recognized the
stanza but all united in pronouncing it
gem and, emdnatlng from one so young,
something wonderful.
The 'pome'' was once more started on it's
travels, this time to the father in distant
state. That good old man, who knew more
about crops and the weather than he did
about either prose or poetry, had it duly
published in the county paper, accompanied
by an explanation from the editor. stating
the name OF the young poet and predicting
for him a brilliant future What
was the young students surprise,
on receiving copy of the paper,
which was regularly mailed to him from his
old home, to find his name appended as au-
thor, to the well-known stanza. Knowing
full well how the mistake must have oc-
Cured and thinking perhaps that in that
out OF the way place none might notice the
mistake, and arguing justly enough that
the laurels thus forced upon him might be
worn with safety and becoming modesty
he resolved to say nothing about it. The
following week
THE BLOW FELL.
Some village admirer of the brilliant
Preutis came TO the defense of his idol, and
in q two column article headed "Plagiar-
ism,'' attacked the innocent victim
of circumstances with such bitter
irony. whitening sarcasm and a whole vo-
cabulary of invectives, that moment the
poet OF a week registered VOW to devote
his life to literary work. if only to give the
lie to the croakings of his assailant, and de-
serve in truth that mede of praise due
successful writer. That he has succeeded,
the reading world now admits.
Apropos of journalism, notice certain
would-be luminary published in another
state is devoting considerable space TO
glancing through its columns am reminded
of The Grip" similar production EN-
anating from the same city, that
fiourished a few years ago and finally fell
by the wayside, smothered in its own filth.
When see paper from which is withheld
the advertising patronage of its own birth
plaza ii is easy to prophesy its ultimate
leeR pit may blaze and buster for awhile
but public opinion eventually supplies an
ANMguisher. That class of papers should
INSTEAD of the headings g. would like to
know" and Chips with the bark on" use
the more eminently proper and decidedly
more truthful ones Of "Stabs in the dark
and Blows from behind
| noticed in the Colorado News a short
time ago that the remaining Ford concerned
in the killing of Jesse james, is still parad-
ing the original pistol" in a wild and
woolly way out in that country. / am re-
minded by that item of an incident | have
never seen in print. When the body of the
dead bandit was visited by
TIE CURIOUS MULTITUDE
from all parts of the country who flocked to
that little house on the hill in St. Joe, Mo.
l was one of four who, OF returning from
viewing the remains, dropped in together
for quiet glass of lager. From the recent
occurrences our conversation drifted
to "reminiscences and anecdotes con-
corning the James and Younger boys
One OF the party-we were all strangers
met by chance on returning from the scene
of the tragrdy-contributed the following:
81 am section foreman" he said, ''and
one night / was in town here with a con-
siderable sum Of money abont me- had
been to a variety show and wanted to leave
on an extra that was going out early in the
morning about O'Clock. It being Satur-
DAY night the saloons, on account Of tenn
perance agitation, all closed at midnight.
had visited one or two on my way to the
depot down in Pateetown, and was dread
came conscious that / was being followed,
and thinking the matter over felt certain
that l had been Swallowed since leaving
the varieties, and suspicion Immediately |
pointed TO two men discharged by me few |
laws previous, one of whom knew that I |