The Russellville Democrat., 1892-03-31
The RUSSElIWLLE DEMOCRAT
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BIZ
Democrat Printing Co.
RUSSELLvIILE, AK.
THE TEXAN RANGERS.


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Their marvellous Facility with Fire Arms.
Richard Harding Davis, in Har-
per's Weekly, describes the Texas
Rangers, the body Of State troops
employed to keep order on the from
tier He says;
The rangers were the biggest men
/ saw in Texas, the state of big men.
And some Of them were remarkably
handsome in sun-burned, broad
shouldered, easy, manly way.
They were also somewhat
shy with stranger, listening
very intently, and then in
slow, gentle voice, and as they
spoke so seldom, they seemed to
think what they had to say was too
valuable to spoil by profanity.
When General Mabry found they
would not tell Of their adventures,
he asked them to show how they
could shoot, and as this was some
thing they could do, and not some
thing already done, they went about
it as gleefully as school boys at re-
cess doing "stunts." They placed
board, foot wide and two feet
high, some sixty feet off in the
prairie, and Sheriff Scheeley opened
hostilities by wiping out his revolver
turning it in the air, and shooting,
with the sights upside down, into
the bull s-eye OF the impromptu
target. He did this without discon-
tinuing what he was saying to me,
but rather as though he we're pune
tuating his remarks with audible
commas.
Then he said: ~ didn't think a.
you Rangers would let little one
penny sheriff get in the first shot on
YOU He could afford to say this,
because he had been a Ranger him.
self, and his brother Joe was one Of
the best captains the Rangers have
had, and he and all of his six
brothers are over six feet high. But
the taunt produced an instantaneous
volley from every man in the com
pany; they did not take the trouble
to rise, but shot from where they
happened to be sitting or lying and
talking together, and the air rang
with the reports and hundred quick
vibrating little gasps, like the sing
ing Of wire string when it is
tightened on a banjo.
They exhibited some most wonder
full shooting. They shot with both
hands at the same time, with the
hammer underneath, holding the
rifle in one hand, and never, when
it was revolver they were using,
with glance at the sights. They
would sometimes fire four shots from
Winchester between the time they
had picked it up from the ground
and before it had nestled comfort
ably against their shoulder. They
also sent one man ON pony racing
around tree about as thick as a
mans leg, and were dissatisfied be-
cause he only put four out of six
shots into it. Then General Mabry,
who seemed to think / did not fully
appreciate what they were doing,
gave Winchester rife to Captain
Brooks and myself and told us to
show which of us could first put
eight shots into the target
It seems that to shoot Winches-
ter you have to pull trigger one
way and work lever backward and
forward this would naturally sug-
gest that there are three movements
--one to throw out the empty shell,
one to replace it with another car
fridge, and the third to explode this
cartridge. Captain Brooks, as far
as / could make out from the sound,
used only one movement for his
entire eight shots. As / guessed,
the trial was more to show Captain
Brooks quickness rather than his
craftsmanship. paid no attention
to the target, but devoted myself
assiduously to manipulating the
lever and trigger, and aimed blankly
at the prairie. When | had fred
two shots into space, the captain
had put his eight into the board.
They sounded as they went off like
firecrackers well started in a barrel,
and mine. in comparison. like min
ute-guns at sea. The rangers, |
found, after / saw more of them,
could shoot as rapidly with revolt
yer as with rifle, and had become
so expert with the smaller weapon
that instead Of pressing the trigger
for each shot, they would pull
steadily on it, and snap the hammer
until the six shots were exhausted.
Twenty-Five In Custody.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo-, March &c.