Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-05-13
AN ODD INSPIRATION.
"BiIly the Kids" influence on The Story
of Ben Hur.

x
his new book that he had when he
wrote his Tale OF the Christ" said an
, ardent admirer of Gen. Lew Wallace
while conversing with some friends
| upon the forthcoming war book tho
soldier-author is nov preparing.
"How,s that?" was asked BY gen.
tleman present. Il never heard that
there was any ESP -cial warlike inspir-
| alton connected with his other work.
1t was just good story well told. II
| remember correctly, Gen. Wallace
| wrote most of it in Turkey when he
was our Minister at Constantinople.
What do you mean by warlike inspira-
| ton in this case, anyway"
well, my remark was not wholly
meaningless, was the reply. Il mean
that when Gen. Lew Wallace wrote
Ben Hur,' or at least part of it, he
| had reason to be in state of great
nervous excitement. Whether he was
or not of course cannot say, as can
| only Judge from circumstances. AndI
may add that your assumption that
| Ben Hur' was written in Turkey is not
correct. Many of the pages and proof
| sheets of the work were written and
| read by the General in Santa Fe, N.
| NJ. He was Governor of that Territory
before being sent to Turkey, and it
was in the historic old place, the former
home of the Captain-Geueral, that the
author of Ben Hur' reveled in visions
of the Holy Land and evolved his pop
ular story. A misty old place, that
place, and well fitted for day-dreams.
Col. Ingerscll once said that Santa Fe
| reminded him of some town of the
| Orient which had worked itself up
through the center of the earth and
only succeeded in getting one story
above ground"
"But the warlike inspiration, how
| about that?"
I'm coming to that. When Ben
| Hur' was at the zenith of its popular
ity many anecdotes of Gen. Lew Wal
lace were related The work had not
been expected of him, and the squib-
bers never wearied of telling stories of
| the author. But they missed the one
| am about to tell you. Can you i'm,
agine the sedate author, soldier, and
| statesman preparing for mortal COM
bat with SO unworthy yet formidable
an antagonist as Billy the KidP' Pict-
ure Gov. Wallace in a corral in the
rear of the palace firing at the figure
of Billy the Kid chalked on the adobe
wall. True as | am alive, every
morning. The Governor took his pistol
and started for the corral to practice.
| A few shots at the chalked figure OF
the outlaw and then a struggle with
Ben Hur' That was the routine Of
Gov. Wailace's life. as the duties of
his office were lighter. Why Was ha
shooting at the .Kid'P Not only Gov
Wallace, bat many other WeIl-poNlrd
men in New Mexico expected that
! within il short time the Governor
would 3e called upon TO protect him
self from the little desperate. When
Billy the Kid broke Jail in Lincoln
County, after killing two guards, he
SET oul on a mission Of blood. He said
he expected to be killed or hanged but
that before he passed in his checks he
would kill Gov. Wallace and several
others. He swore that he would ride
into Santa Fe, hitch his horse to the
plaza fence, and walk into Gov. WAL
lace's office and fill him full of bullets.
This was the original Billy the Kid
The West has teemed with wOuld-be
bad me- # that name since, but this
was tha little Boston lad, who bOasted
that he had killed n man for every
year of his life. Everybody who knew
the Kid believed that he would carry
out his threat. Gen. Wallace certainly
did, and from the time the KID secur-
ed his freedom the Generals revolver
was always within reach. While he
was at work in his office it was on the
table Mt his side, and no doubt many q
! well-rounded sentence of Ben Hur'
was interrupted by a nervous glance
at the door as some one approached.
While the book was being written
Billy the Kid occupied a large share
of the attention of the author, and IL
is not unlikely that the little demoni
may have had an influence upon the
trend of the novel. Gov. Wallace
made no secret of his apprehensive-,
ness. Like brave man he said:i
! 'Forewarned, forearmed,' and he set
about perfccting himself in pistol prac-
tice so that he would be able to cope
with his enemy. So expert did he be-
come that it would have been a haz-
ardous thing for the Kid to have ven
tured into the palace. When Sheriff
Pat Garrett of Lincoln County, the
Kids arch enemy, set out in pursuit
VI lllliy 'iNli- " ttllctCt ottilt W iHt- ~
is an even chance which one OF those
two men will be killed. If they ever
meet it is my firm belief that one Of
them will bite the dust. The Kid is
dead shot, and filed with the cour-
age of desperation, while the Sheriff is
man of great determination, and ex-
pert with pistol and rifle, and fired by
revenge for the death of his two best
friends, Bob Ollinger and John Bell,
whom Billy killed when he broke jail.
| shall watch this pursuit with the
deepest interest. Its result may have
some effect on my own future
Gen. Wallace laughed as he made,
this last remark, but the kid and his
threats were nevertheless annoying.
The prediction that either Garrett or
the outlaw would be killed was yeri-
fed. a pistol in the hands of Garrett
sent a bullet through the Kids heart
in little house near Fort Sumner,
N. NJ. When this happened Gov. Wall
lace had gone to Constantinople, but
have no doubt that even there be was
reioiced at the news of the kids
death"
Snails' eggs absorb moisture. Inc