The midland journal., 1894-03-23
AN ARIZONA TRAGEDY.
How Hawkins Met His Death In
Fly Trap Gulch.


SIT air strange, it air." he was say.
ing as opened the door of the room
where our social little semi-literary So
ciety met; ''but could tell you queer
er things than that 'er-almighty queer
things! You can't tlearn everything
out of books, sirs, nohow. You see, it
amt the men as can string English to-
gether and as has had good eddications
as finds themselves in the queer places
I've been in. They're mostly rough
men, sirs, as can scarce lspeak Alright,
far less tell with pen and ink the things
they've seen; but if they could they'd
make some of your EUROPEANS hair rig
with astonishment. They would, sirs-
you bet''
His name was Jefferson Adams,
believe; know his initials were j. A.. 4,
for you may see them yet deeply whit
tied on the right hand upper panel Of
our smoking-room door. He left us this
legacy, and also some artistic patterns
done in tobacco juice on our Turkey
carpet; but beyond these "reminiscences
our American story teller has van
ished from our ken He cleaned
across our ordinarily quiet conviviality
like some brilliant meteor, and then
was lost in the outer darkness. That
night, however, our New Mexican
friend was in full swing, and quietly
Rt my pipe and dropped into the near
est chair, anxious not to interrupt his
| story.
mind you," he continued, II hain't
got no grudge against your men Of
science likes and respects a chap as
can match every beast and plant, from
a huckleberry to a grizzly, with jaw
breakin' name; but If you wants real
interestin' facts-something bit juicy
you 60 to your whalers and your
frontiersmen, and your scouts and
Hudson bay men, chaps who mostly
can scarce sign their names"
There was pause here, as Mr.. JEFF
ferson Adams produced long cheroot
and lit it. We preserved q strict si-
lence in the room, for we had already
learned that on the slightest interrupt
ton our Yankee drew himself into his
shell again. He glanced round with a
self-satisfied smile as he remarked our
expectant looks, and continued through
a halo of smoke:
"Now, which Of you gentlemen has
ever been in Arizona? None, I'll war
rant. And of all English or Americans
as can put pen to paper, how many has
been to Arizona? Precious few.
ca'c'late. I've been there, sirs--lived
there for years; and when think
what I've seen there, why, can scarce
get myself to believe in it now.
"Ah, there's country! ! was one
of Walkers filibusters, as they chose
to call us; and after we'd busted up,
and the chief was shot, some of US
made tracks and located down there
A regular English and American col.
ony we was, with our wives and chill
dren all complete. I reckon there's
some of the old folks there yet. and
that they hain't forgotten what I'm a.
goin' to tell you No, / warrant they
hain't, never on this side of the grave,
sirs!
II was talking about the country,
though; and guess could astonish
you considerable If spoke Of moth
ing else. To think Of such land being
built for a few 'Greasers' and halt
breeds! It's a misusing of the gifts of
Providence, that's what call it Grass
as hung over chaps head as he rode
through it, and trees so thick that you
couldn't catch glimpse of blue sky for
leagues and leagues, and orchids like
umbrellas! Maybe some on you has
seen plant as they calls the 'fycatch-
err in some parts of the states?'
"Dianoea muscipula," murmured
Dawson, our scientific man par excel.
lence.
"Ah, die near municipal that's
himl You'll see fly stand on that ERE
plant, and then you'll see wosides of a
leaf snap up together ani catch 1t be-
tween them, and grind it up and mash
it to bits, for all the world like some
great sea squid with Its beals; and hours
after, If you open the leaf, you'll see
the body lying half digested and in
bits. Well, I've seen those Ay-traps in
Arizona with leaves eight and ten feet
long, and thorns or teeth foot or
more. Why, they could but, darn It,
Pm going too fast
"Its about the death of Joe Hawkins
I was going to tell you-'bout as queer
thing, reckon. as ever you heard
tell on. There wasn't nobody in Ari-
zona or New Mexico as didn't know OF
Joe NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Joe, aa he
was called there. A reg'lar out-and-
outer he was; bout the hardest case as
man ever clapt eyes on. He was q good
chap enough, as long as you stroked
| him the riOht vav. huk rila him anv.
how, and he were worse nor blizzard.
I've seen him empty six-shooter into
q crowd as CHANGED to jostle him a-going
into Simpsons bar, where there was O
dance on; and he bowied Tom Hooper
'cause he split his liquor over his
weskit by mistake No, he didn't stick
at murder, Joe didn't; and he weren't
man to be trusted when he had the
devils drops in him.
Nov at the time tell on, when Joe
Hawkins was swaggering about the
town and layin' down bylaws with his
shootin' irons there was an Englishman
there of the name of Scott-Tom Scott,
if l rec'lects Alright This chap Scott
was Britisher to his boot heels, and
yet he didn't freeze much to the British
set there, or they didn't freeze much 70
him. He was q quiet, simple man,
Scott was rather too quiet for q rough
lot like that; sneakin, they called him,
but he weren't that. He kept hisseli
mostly apart, an didn't Interfere with
nobody so long as he were left alone.
Some said as how he'd been kinder Ill.
treated at home-been Chartist, OF