The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1894-07-19
lad FUN WITH The pR,ru,.
rho Knight of the Gripsack Cas-
Well as Could he E.u...e Out A.,

Well as Could be Expected. 'ot y
I'm 1882" said Harry Carmel
Of Missouri, ~ was drumminn.aers
St Louis hardware firm mug in iUt a
Texas 1t was In the sto, "este,i
OF free-grass agitation. Theray Gays
general uprising against the fen was
IN OF large tracts Ct grazing IsuS NJ
which the small cattle owners ana 90
had from time immemorial s.ock
gratis. The people were IN in .ured
because grass was no Longer - Gfms
free commodity. To emphasize We a
d~ispleasure and to discouraoo' nelr
fencing in Of the lands thew lne
in many counties west Of For, WS.tsani,
to cut the barbed wire fenciUn'n'
that their longhorns could 50
roam at sweet will over tho asala
acres thickiy carpeted with the Mug ortaa
tious mesquite grass. Ofi'
'Of curse the owners no =,
fenced territory objected, and a co ne
many shooting scrapes followed eTpu
knight Of the nippers,' as the fon ne
cutters were called. came in coIli.ioe
with the law. but still they NAVY
vered ic their work, and in the siJen,
hours of the night, on the desola.S
stretches Of the prairie, bands OF ras
olute fellows would lay low mias
upon miles Of detested wire. Einai
ly the Governor OF the state called .
special session Of the Legislatur'
which made wire cutting a feIonv
and gradually the business was
broken up
Nv lille the excitement was at i.s
height l was making ole Of nv reS'
ular trips, journeyinH in a buggy. as
there was no railroad in that section
then, and on a certain August after.
noon was nearing Brownwood, the
county seat Of Brown County. in
which there was the tiercest opnosi.
ton to FENCING up the land. Asl
got within about three miles of town
there came advancing toward me a
band OF at least twenty rOugh.lookinp
fellows on native ponies, every man
of them carrying a Winchester rifle.
There was nothing to alarm me in
this, however, as stockmen in that
country usually carry their guns with
them, and there was no reason to
apprehend danger. But in a few
seconds l was undeceived, and will
frankly OWL to being one of the worst
scared men that ever felt his heart
sink down into his boots. l was or.
dered to halt in language made
pointed by reason of its irreverence,
and the leader Of the company re.
quested me to throw up my hands.
/ they went, and l expected to be
perforated by bullets every second.
"NOw, you d. tenderloOt, tell US
what you are; declare yourself right
here ii you expect to see another sun
rise. Are We fur Tree grass or agin
it,"
ut was a critical moment, and |
did some rapid thinking. l felt a
little bit OF relief in knowing that l
hadn't encountered a gang of robbers,
nut how to answer that question
stumped me. If l answered wrong
1 might as well say my prayers. |
couldn't guess whether the crowd
had suffered from the depredaUions Of
the free graZers or in sympathy with
them.
"a bright idea struck me. and
without asking permission TO drop
my hands l hauled out my bag Of
samples, opened it hurriedly, and be-
gan to crate: Gentlemen, pardon. l
beg you, a stranger in the land from
expressing any positive views on a
subject that he does not comprehend
like yourselves Please take a glance
at my samples. You will, l know,
excuse a poor St Louis drummer
from taxing sides, but you a get
here anything you like. l am pre-
pared to sell you barbed wire and
wire stretchers. or il you prefer
hatchets and wire cutters it would
afford me equal pleasure to supply
your wants in that line
Then I made a low bow and tried
to smile, but l guess it was a sickiy
effort, for l still wasn't sure but that
Id be as~sassinated. When the en-
tire gang, that had looked solemn as
owls all the time, broke into bolster
u laughter as soon as my speech
was ended l felt that my life was
saved. The rascals had only been
having a little fun with me, but the
fun was all on one side"