The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-02-10

notches on his stick. Public curiosity was
on tiptOe TO see how the marshal would
ncauit himself, aud betting was about even
as TO whether be would "nunk" or stand
game. The question was never settled.
Wilson killed Bowers, but he did il in a
way TO rob the exploit OF much OF
its glory. aud to leave doubt in many
minds whether he was 'dead game or only
a shifty pretender. The light occurred in
| the Red Light saloon, which In all its ap-
| pointmentS was a counterpart OF every
other Red Light saloon seen IN every other
/ border town in this country. Wilson had
gone in TO see that there was no
disturbance in sight, when Bowers
entered az a side door. Seeing Wilson he
called out TO him to defend himself, and at
/ once pulled his own weapon. Wilson sprang
to the side OF billiard table opposite the one
on which Bowers was standing, placing the
table between himself and his opponent. AS
Bowers leveled his weapon, Wilson dropped
behind the table. Bowers held his weapon
downward. and the bullet, striking the
cushion, buried itself in it. Before Bowers
could fire again Wilson was on his feet, and
firing straight at Bowers, shot him through
the breast, with almost immediate fatal
effect.
THE LEADER OF A GANG.
| He had killed bis man, and although
there was a cloud upon his title to laurels
his reign thereafter was undisputed. As mis-
prestige and power became more generally
recognized and freely conceded. he lost all
sense of responsit ility aud became one Of
the worst criminals OF the community. He
gathered about him a band of thieves, who
| operated not only in Tombstone, but
throughout the territory of Arizona. VIII
son was the acknowledged bead of the gang
and made no particular effort to conceal
| his connection with il, His official position
| r1lu HE uals nj lon,
portuDities of plumber, but il also enabled
him to shield his confederates In guilt from
detection, pursuit and capture, both in
| Tombstone and out of il.
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE.
In this emergency the vigilance commit
tee came as naturally as the procession of
the equInoxes. 1t had its appointed place in
the evolution Of the city and territory and
it dropped into it and filed it. It was
necessary, however, when the committee
was first organized to work in secret and
under cover. The terrorism With which the
marshal had inspired the community, the de-
votion of his followers, who were not few in
number, aud a general spirit of resistance
| to law and order made it necessary to be
| quiet as we'll as expeditions. The society
! was organized not only in Tombstone but
in all parts OF the territory, aud its various
| branches communicated with each other as
<
and finally determined upon that the first
| blow must be struck at Tombstone and that
! Wilson must be the first man TO be dealt
| with. Just as the committee was ready to
| deal with him providence took the job out
of its hands, and in a very dramatic and
sensational way seldom eQualed in Tomb
stone annals. hu
DEATH OF WILSON.
For months previous to his final ending
Wilson had been entirely neglectful of his
official duties. He held office simply
| through sufferance and knew it. He took
advantage of his position to impose upon
saloons and gambling houses. Every night
he would enter nearly all the resorts In
town, take stack of chips without paying
for them, rake in the bets if he won, while
refusing to stand for loss. This con-
tinued for much longer time than it would
naturally be supposed that such a com.
munity would tolerate it. Finally
one night in joint saloon and
gambling hell, where Wilson was sitting
In the game without paying for the ante,
and had raked in several large hands, it
was resolved to get rad of him. The game
was brought to a conclusion as speedily as
possible. Wilson was the only one Of the
four mon who had been playing to remain
at the table. he sat there in a half-drunken
| stupor while the other three stood at the
bar few feet off and threw dice to see
which of them would kill him that night.
The choice fell upon Jack Lantis, who at
once proceeded to prepare for the work.
Loading a double-barreled shotgun full OF
heavy buckshot he walked to side door,
| through which, by sticking the muzzle OF
| the weapon, he could shoot Wilson
from behind. His two confederates went
into the street in front of the place, began a
mock quarrel in loud voices and shot their
pistols into the air. Everybody in the
saloon, except Wilson. rushed out, and at
that moment louder report than that of
the revolvers was heard In the alley. 1t
was Lantis. When the crowd came back it
found Wilson still sitting in the chair, but
with his head almost off. The bucksho6 had
struck the neck and, ranging downward,
had penetrated the breast. There was a
vacancy il the city ms-shalship.
THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEES WORK.
| 1t was supposed, in vigilance circles, that
after the death Of Wilson there would be
no further difficulty with his pals. The
mistake of this view was not allowed to live
long, for on the very morning following
| Wilson's murder one of his men shot and
killed William Arnott a respectable citizen
and who was believed by the criminal ele-
ment to be identified with the vigilance
| committee. The murderer made an escape
from Tombstone. but fell into the hands of
another branch of the vigilantes about fifty
miles away, who had been APP
prised of his crime by courier, and
who had appointed a reception COM
mittee to meet him. He was not hanged
upon tree, but upon gallows. consisting