The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-08-12

! The article IN the EAGLE two weeks ago
concerning Buffalo Bill aud w hat Captain
/ Jack Crawford I'D about him, caused
great sensation among Cody's friends.
/ They Immediately went to work through
/ the syndicate plate houses that furnish the
patent inside for country newspapers, to
refute the statements of Mr. Crawford
! which sought TO establish the fact that
| William Mathewson of this city is the
original Buffalo Bill" and that Cody is a
fraud, having stolen the fame and glory
OF Mr.. MatheWson aud made il a source of
his pretty generous liyilhood for twenty
years The article is three columns long
and Mr.. Mathewson IS referred to as a
Wichita banker, which would indicate
that the Cody combination has beea in-
oculated trifs with the virus of Popu-
itsm, for there is sarcastic emphasis on
the word banker"
!, Major Burke, one OF Cody's hackers. is
doing most Of the 'sassing" In an inter-
view vii b the writer of tue article. speak
Ing OF Crawford's letter to John Davis
which was published in the EAGLE, he
says:
WHY did Jack Crawford Che poet them
on his hrsv visit west, seek che shadow Of
Cody's fame and beg his kindly Offices
which were freely grauted-to place him
on the pay roll of the army among the
Scouts, wagOnmen and herGers under his
commend? Why did Captain Jack Craw-
ford afterward follow Cody III his amuse
ment enterprise, accepC his salary and
wnte euloslstIc poems that are still eX-
tant?
Why did he, in 1898. accept the hospitality
OF the Buffalo BIl Wild West camp in
chicago. borrow money from the manager.
be good fellow until he thought he had
pulled the leg too strong aud made it
longer than it really ought TO be?
How would our gallant poet-scout like
TO have repeated the assertion that has
often been made that most of his fame
comes from the fact that he bears the
same name as the famous United States
Army Captain Crawford, who secuted
among the indians of the southwest and
was few years ago killed in Old Mexico.
after brilliant career, the recording of
which illuminated the news columns of
the press OF the country for several years
prior TO his death
Why does the ''DOet" attack a dead man
CIexas Jack7 To help bolster his false
claims?
Now Captain Jack has gone to Scotland
Tor a 81, COJOOO lost Inheritance. | hope
he Will secure 1t. 1t may make him broad !
er-mindsd and more generous of soul. but
L would like TO see him spend portion of
the money with some good SchColmaSter
who would teach him how to spell the
word gratitude.
Ii the Wichita prototype OF the Itch |
borne claimant Is right, why does Colonel |
ana once the king of government |
trallers of the plains still eulogize /
Cody, with whose career he has |
been familiar from boyhood. having /
given To Cody the first position he ever /
held, and paid him the first money be |
ever earned as 9-year-0ld boz? Colonel /
Majors Is Well known member of the |
firm of Russell, Majors q Warddell, who
controlled the freighting pony express rid
ing and mali carrying over the west eru
plains before there were any railroads or
stre ching across that country.
IL was at this time that he employed Cody /
and has ever since been his warm friend 4
and admirer, keeping track of his every
movement and testifyiug TO the genuine
ness Of the man and his right to the title
Of Buff 40 Bill in his book published in
1893, entitled Forty Years on the Plains -
Dogs bay at the moon because it shines
strike at the great that they
may thereby achieve notoriety-the fox
calls the grape sour because 1t hangs too
far out of his unlawful reach All
men of prominence have their detrac. |
tors, and Buffalo Bill Cody can certainly !
stand Crawford aud Mathewsou in their
attempts to pull him of the high plane
tuaJ MS services 10 MS country ana the
gratitude aud appreciation OF his country
men have placed him on.
If MathewsOn Is the Buffalo Bill that |
Crawford plays godfather TO, why do they
not have him recognized by congress, the
army and the people, and Cody correspond
ugly lowered In their esteem?
The skunk is very beautiful animal buC
will never become a family pet, and Is
never fondled By those who have expert
,uce in hunting. The odor arising from
-he swish of its tail Is none the less repul.
'ive because of the beauty of the animal.
The rattlesnake is pretty, but its sting is
usJ as deadly as If 10 were a hideOus mon
ter. But the skunk and the rattlesnake
both give warning, one by smell and tn.
,ther by rattle, of its presence; either one
,r both are preferable as enemies TO the hu-
nau being who viii through envy. spite and
malice attempt TO steal the laurels achiev-
Il by honest endeavOr, good work and low
llty 10 the country and friend.
BY this time the major had expended the
Orce of his feeling and resumed his natur-
lily genial disposition, aud, calling the
}arty To the ic--bOx. said: Now. bows.
ct Us drink 10 the newly discovered hero
Il Wichita, and ihope that his local fame
will help TO maintain aud spread that of
Andreas County, Kan, aHd let Us drink TO
he worlds only Buffalo Bill-William T.
JOdy."