The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-06-25

The manager of the bale took these little
incidents as matter of course and only on
one occasion seemed disconcertcd An
American had been flirting with Il senorita
This aroused the jealousy of her Mexican
admirer. While ON the floor dancing the
cachuca, the treachcrous aud cowar,lly Mex
lean, approached the American from be-
hind and stabbed him to death The blood
of the murdered man ran Ill over the floor
The Mexican woman tainted and fell upon
the corpse, sGturating her white dress with
the blood SIZED by her treachcrouS lover
The master of ceremonies had he corpse re-
moved into an adjoining room, and after
tho blood had been washed from he floor he
ordered the dance to proceed. The musicians
struck up n lively air. but not lively enough
to drown the echoes of the tragedy The
ladies' were too frightened to continue.
and with regret a; losing IL good nights
patronage the bale was closed for the night
incidentally it might he mcnt toned that no
eooncr had the murderer gained the street
than he was riddled with bullets, his hide
resem bling the top of a pepper box. Under
the circumstances they were no doubt ex-
cused for not observing the etiquette of the
ballroom by leaving their rcvolvers with
the bark eeper.
The gambling house was orderly COM
pared TO the bale. In the one there was
only the passion Of gaming that infiamed
the patrons To deeds Of desperation. as or
dinarily whisky had very little if any cf-
feet upon such men. But in the other there
was aroused the passion OF jealousy. the
most intense of all. 1t frequently happened
that he belle of the ball." whose admira-
ton was sought by rival cowboys, would
he told to choose bctWe the two She
would naturally select the man whom she
thought had the most money, or rather who
had not Yet been nccccd The successful
snitor would claim the "lady's" hand for
the nest dance and invite all hands up to
the bar to take drink, including the re-
Jccted rival. who would yet even by taking
Il drink with his competitor, after which he
would shoot out the lights and then adjourn
TO the gambling house. doubtless believing,
with Armand Duval III Camille" I'm
lucky with women. lucky ut cards" And
here, perhaps maddcncd at jealousy and
his losses, he would engage in II hroil with
the faro dealer and get his own light shot
cut
Usually this was the preliminary step for
robbing the bank When several cow
boys OF the same herd" would get broke.
they would take several additional drinks.
go out into the street and hold n caucus
They would re-cntcr the gambling house
with a yell and begin firing ut the lamps.
Immediately there was II stampede. Those
who could not get out of the door or win
dows would get ndcrthe tables and chairs.
and others would lie fiat on the floor until
the excitement was over. Two or three
who were i'll with the scheme would he bet
ting at the faro table, SO as to be within
easy reach OF the bank" while one or two
others would drop down and get under the
table ut the critical moment the lights
went out so as TO upset it.
I'l....
gold on the table in tempting piles, so as to
attract the attention and sharpen the ava
rice of visitors. From 5000 to $4,000 was
the average display advertisement. OF
course the dealer and the lookout" were
heavily armcC and were always ready for
n hOld 'holdup, bat rot for a surprise
until 1t had been played two or three times
The second time this scheme was ATTEMPTED
In the early days of "Hell's Half Acre" it
was more OF farce han tragedy. Among
The 'dcspcradoes'' was Il character known
In Chicago, st. Louis, Kansas City, New
Orleans and elsewhere as Bill Broadus. He
posed az n gambler among those who did
not know him. The fraternity" knew
hlm as one OF the tin horn variety. He
wore his hair long and affected the swagger
OF the desperate and styled himself Buck
skin Bill the Desperate" He murdered u
man i'll Omaha about 20 years ago and
served five years in the Nebraska state
prison, after which he drfted west.
In this attempt TO raid the bank lie with
Others entered with yell and began shoot
Ing Mt the lamps. With one bound the
lookout jumped over the table, but be-
fore he had reached Broadus that "desper-
ado had ceased firing and was making for
the door. The lookout" gave him few
KICKS, which sent him into the street with
dis partly loaded revolver in his hand and
hnotherin his belt. The dealer had scooped
the treasure into the table drawer and the