The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1894-05-16


only a canvas-walled addition, is the
| dance hall, where are carried on nightly
| such wild and uncouth reveries as can
| be seen only in frontier town.
"Gun plays are less common now that
the population has dwindled from $4,000
to as many hundreds. Every man carries
six-shooter, however, and once in a
while makes "bluff' at using it. When
| the wild rush to settle the strip was on
| and every one was fiLhtiug for his clam
| or quarter section, as it was necessary to
| fight to protect it from ruthless squat
tiers, the ''ping" Of the pistol bullet was
| frequently heard. One white-haired,
bronzed old man said a few days ago, as
| he pointed to thesbullet hole in his SOM
| brero: "Ah! if | could only see Slade and
Colorado Bill now I'd think the g bod old
! days of 40 had come again -
| But the cow-punchers and half-breed
! desperadoeS who seemed at first to hay e
control of the strip were badly fooled in
| their estimate of the settlers who went
there with the determinati n of making
homes. No drawer set of men in the
protection of their rights ever lived.
When they realized that there was no law
but that of force they refused to be in
undated by the swagger and protruding
revolver hits of the DULLES. If their
rights were infringed they lost no time
| in useless argument. They shot, and
shot quickly. Half a dozen or more
nameless graves and the absence of as
many familiar faces among the ranks Of
the desperadoes pretty nearly settled the
fact that the legitimate settlers were
there to stay. Most of the other class,
therefore, sought more congenial fields.
AS IN all newly settled western COM
munities the con tempt and hatred OF
''tenderfo0t'' knows no bounds in Perry.
When a well-dressed, begloved youth
stepped from the train the second week
of the towns existence, the news spread
like wildfire, and soon the rough element
formed a conspiracy to edo him. as
they expressed it. But they had planned
without their host. The biggest bully
of the lot planted the heel of his cow
hide boot on the dainty patent leather
shoes of the stranger, and was promptly
knocked down for his pains.
When he extricated himself from the
very undignifed heap into which he had
fallen, his mind instinctively slipped
around to his right hip, he looked up
sQuarely into the muzLle of loaded re
v0lver. 1t was enough. From despised
tenderfoot this dapper youth had be-
come the lion of the day. Had he re-
NAMED in Perry he would have been
mayor before now.
vENAL UNITED STATES MARsHALs.
Though there is no law in the strip
there are officers sworn to preserve the
peace to the best of their ability and at
the cost of their lives if necessary.
United States deputy marshalS are as
thick as huckleberries IN a river bottom.
Proud of their little brief authority, they
swagger about with badge displayed and
Winchester loaded. Their control over
the negroes and ignorant whites is abso
lutte.
That they use their authority for per-
sonal benefit, however is a fact so we'll
understood there that it excites no COM
ment. Only the other day one of these
officers approached citizen who was
watching the erection of building and
demanded in the name of the law that he
iismount and surrender his pony, one of
the best IN the town, that he might use
it in the purtuit of his own animal,
which had broken its halter and escaped.
Upon an indignant refusal the marshal
left, threatening all sorts of dire ven
geance. A little later he was seen speed
ing away on the back of fleet little
broncho belonging a negro, who owned
two of the b st ami nals IN the strip.
The horse was almost ridden to cath
before its return, but not word of pro
test was uttered by its owner.
There are far more women in the town
of Perry and throughout the strip gen
orally than are generally met with in
such an unsettled region. They are, one
and all, to be pitied. Accustomed, as
they have been, to lives of toll, which to
the more civilized community would
seem positive slavely, their present state
is worss than the first. They are forced
to bear exposure and hardships of almos.
every conceivable kind. Before daylight
in the morning they are up preparing
breakfast for their lords and masters.
They collect and split such wood as can
be found, and many of them are the only
real workers of the family. Kicks and
curses are the thanks frequently received
for their unremitting labor.
Such is life in the strip, and such are
the people who have settled it, their
habits, their sufferings, and their pleas
ures. The attraction of the life seemed
strong enough to lure many men from
the great cities of the east to seek their
fortunes here, who now regret that they
ever heard that oft repeated advice of
Horace Greeley: $50 west, young man,
go westw
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