The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1895-10-02
TURNER AND HIS GUN
DouBLE-L Eek, THE COW6oY, AND
HIS MODEST RECORD CLAIM.

nered soldier with :. Winchester.
Now and then a bad man. tries 20
cultivate something which he mistakes
for Luncr One of these dcvOtces Of lev
itv used 70 haunt tho cattle range OF
western Kar.,is. and every fall and
spring he appeared in Dodge C..y ut the
general -. ludap.' Evcrr urne he
came to town he left some 1of Of
facetious mind. and vas very are Of be
ing talked about by every Idle man and
most Of the hasy ones who remained
whom the rush Vas over.
HIS nalro vas LEX Turner. though
Dodge City viii teSt remember hiln by
the title "Doubic-L Eek. the duplicated
capital being Leonard & LaugEra.n's
brand. and he beng one of their best
riders. In fact, Turner might have been
foreman if Lc had cared far the position,
for he could ride well, and tl1c'r were
few rlo-o expert with the rope m.l prob-
ably none who could bear fatigue and
hardship more patiently than he.
Bat the trouble WAS he wanted recon-
pense Tor the dull life Of cowboy lie
didn't care for money. Any wages gu.ig
were acccrtabic to him. Bat when the
catele got rounded MP and there was half
a day S cs,-;lFc from the tedium Of labor
Eek Turner wanted his fling. And he al
ways went into town and had it.
Now. foreman cannot do these
things. He must stay by the herd al the
time. preserve clear head and firm
place IN the -ad!le He is the represent
ative Of the owner-the custodian Of
Il. L 80,
be thought of.
One Of Eel Turner ) pet bits Of hu-
NOR was TO pick out people whose ap-
pearance displeased him and shoot just
near enough to them TO express his sen
timents. He particularly disliked TO see
horsemcn 90 by on the trut. 1t was in n
cowboy country, and cowboys galloped,
whether or not they were in a hurry.
And if the rider had a habit of iris
ing Ill the stirrups, rs convcn'ic-id
tru,,els often do, Eek Turner hc c.- am
violently So that when he CO... down
Main street one day and saw . rather
well dressed man go by trotting and
''risiI.g" with the motion of his horse
Eek called general attention to the spec-
tacle.
lAtd1AN tD8 AAhANFA " tAo AlAl "a NNl kNVA
horseinan. 1t was possible, rs Eek OBJ
served. to "See daylight under him ev-
cry t.lnc ho r1>c IN the saddle. And tho
slimpses OF that recurring daylight -
provoked Eek to bit Of pistol practice.
Il bet. said he, watching the rider
and reaching for large revolver, pretty
well back On his belt, Il bet 1 can shoot
between hiln and the saddle and never
touch feather.
He had been drinking i'll so decorOus
a manner as TO be dangerous, and SO no
one ntcrfcrcd. The rider was half a
block away when Eek fired, and the
bullet must have gone true. for the rider
passed on unconscious, while a sign di-
agoually across the street was shattered
by the shot.
He tried 1t again later III the day aud
acknowledgement the
infiction Of injury Dodge City talked
4 about Doub!c-L Eek and his new Joke
+ all summer, and in the autumn he came
III and tried it again.
The first shot lie made he a man
i'll the leg and was very III ant be-
: cause they would not give another
; chance, assuring the crippl . victim it
was an accident, and urging him 10
mount and trot past Just one time more,
rising no higher than he had done, aud
guaranteeing to put three shots out Of
five between him and the saddle or buy
the drinks for the crowd.
But it was the uncertainty abOut the
: other two shots that irterfcrcd with ne
gotiatiuns-that and the trotting man S
persistent endeavor to enjoy the freedom
Of his own pistol arm while Eek re-
manned in his presence.
Eek thought il was funny, and that
hallucination grew On him till he got
into trouble. When the wave If Texas
fever swept over Kansas III 1850. kill
ing off so many of the Kansas cattle, 4
state law stopped those drives" which
, had been the life of western Kansas and
Eek Turner lost his occupation. He went
farther west and south and tried % shoot
the top off a mans plug hat III Colorado
Springs because he insisted the fashion
, was two inches shorter than the man
was wearing.
At La Vcta he took exception TO the
sputtering sound occasionally made by
an electric lamp and went about shoot
ing the carbons in two till the city
marshal engaged in repartee and shot
off the end of Eck's thumb. alleging as
a sufficient reason the fact that no man
with two good thumbs could be a real
ly bad man. " Eek replied in kind, and
there were no applicants for the position
the marshal's demise left vacant until il
was known that Eek had left that region
; and gone to Arizona.
At Fort WinGate he had the misfor-
tune 20 shoot into an ambulance driven
by very mild hammered private sol
dier, who pulled up winchester and
: crippled Eek for life, destroying the use
fulness of both shoulders and incidental
| " putting ont his right eve.