Evening star., 1895-06-01
JACK KINGS FUNERAL
Y
BY ALFRED HENRY LEWIS.
Written Exclusively for The Evening Star

l
This yere which I'm mentionin'," said
the old cattlemans "was the first funeral
| the town had had! Of course. some of the
| boys had been downed one time an anoth-
| er, an gone shoutin' home to heaven by
various trails, but the remainders had been
freighted east or west every time an
| the camp got left. 1t was hard luck, but
| one day it came toward US, an We were
with a corpse all ourn an no partnership
| with nobody nor nuthin'.
| 1t Is the chance of our Hfe,' said the
postmaster. an we plays it. There's nuthin'
too rich for our blood, an We'll show Mutt
an Rinccn an sech hamIets they amt in
it compared with Deming'
| so we begins to draw in our belts an
| get big ready. Jack King was the corpse,
emersin' out of game of poker as such.
He'd been peevish an irritable an pest
erin an pervadin' round for several days.
| The town stood heap of trouble with
him, an tried to smooth it along by giving
him his whisky an his way about as he
wanted them, hcpin for change. But
man is only human, an when Jack started
in one night to make flush beat tray
full for 800 he asked too much.
! There warE't no undertakers, so We call
ed the camp to order, and knowin' he'd
| take pride In it, an do the slam-up thing,
| We put In the postmaster to deal the game
| unanimous.
/
present position / feel the compliments
paid In the selection. 1 shall act for the
| credit OF the camp, an l need your help.
l want these rites to be howlin' success.
don't want people comm round next
| week allowin' there amt been no funeral,
| an don't reckon much they will. We've
got the corpse, an If We fall fiat now it's
our fault
| so We 'pinted Jim Sweet an French
Paul to go to the Santa Fe shop for box
Tor Jack. an detailed a couple Of niggers
from the corral to dig grave:
| An mind you alls," said the postmas-
! ter. I wants that hole at least mile from
| town. In order to make a funeral a sue
! cess you need distance almost as much as
| spread an show up. You couldn't make a
| funeral success or imposn' an have 1t
come off in your back yard
| Everything went smooth right off the
! reel We got a box an grave all ready, an
the postmaster stuck up a notice on the
post office door settin' the hilarity for 3
| O'Clock the next day. Prompt at the drop
of the hat the camp let go all holts an
| turned loose in body to put Jack through
| right He was laid out in great shape in
| the New York store, with nuthin' to COM
| plain of If he'd been asked to make the
\ kick himself He'd new silk necktie, blue
! shirt an pearl buttons trousers an boots
Some one-Whisky Sue, I think-had pasted
| some court plaster over the hole on his
| cheek bone where the bullet got in. an.
| all around, Jack looked better than ever
| saw him.
| LET the meetin' come to order said
| the postmaster, sittin' down on a box Of
| boots up at Jacks head; AN. many as
| can, please get something to sit on. Now, my
| friends he continued, thar amt no need
of my putin on any frills or gettin' in any
| scroll work. The object of this convention
Is plain and straight Mister King, here
| present is dead.o Deceased was very
headstrong person. and persisted yesterday
| in entsrtainin' views to the value of a
| club flush, queen at the head. which re-
It<l 1,
| Is racket full of solemnity. We want
| nuthin' but good words. Don't mind about
| the truth. We know. his record. How he
| stole boss at Rincon an robbed man
| last fall at Fort Craig; how he downed
man at Los Cruces, and how that scar on
| his neck he got from Wells-Fargo's people.
| But today we don't copper nary bet At
| o'clock yesterday mornin', accomp anied by
| the report of a Colts 45, Mr.. John King,
| who lies here cool an easy, left the dance
| hall and entered In behind the great white
shining gates which swing inward to glory
| eternal. 1t is a great setback at this time
| that there amt a sky pilot in the camp. 1t
saws a big hoss ento US. but we'll do our
best At time like this I've heard that
singin' is good, safe, break. an Therefore
calls on that little gal from Lake valley to
give us 1.-The Dyin Ranger
80 the little Lake valley gal cleared her
valves with a drink an gives US the song.
cards on the last verse it did everybody
good.
"Far away from his dear old Texas
We laid him down to rest,
With his saddle for a pillow
And his gun across his breast.
Then the postmaster got out Testa-
ment. Tn goin' to read a chapter out Of
this here Testament he says. I amt
maxim no claim for 1t, cause it's part of
the game an accordin' to Hoyle. If there
was a preacher here he'd do 1t, but there
bein no sech on this range, I makes 1t as
forced play myself
80 he read US chapter. an everybody
took 1t in mighty owly for, of course.
that was the lead to make. an we knew 1t.
Then the postmaster said he'd like to
hear from any one under the head Of good
of order.
"'Mr. Undertaken and chairman says
Jim Hamilton. this thing weighs on me
heavy. OF course, as keeper of the daice
| hall, saw a heap of the corpse an knew
him we'll Mr. King was my friend, an
while his moods were variab BILE and unsar-
tin an 1t was clearly worth while to wear
your gun while he hoveIed near, loved
him. He had weaknesses, as do we all.
A disposition to make new rules he
played along for those games of chance
which enjoyed his notice was perhaps
his greatest fault. His giving way to this
habit yesterday was primarily the cause
of his being gathered to his fathers. I
hope he'll get along thar an will make
a side bet, even money, he WILL He may
alter his play an stand way up in G with
| them people up thar. an II a word from
me could fix it, I'd put 1t in. I would say
further that after consultin with Billy
Burns, who keeps the other saloon, we
have, in honor of the dead an to mark
the occasion of his cashin in, agreed upon
business departure of interest to you
ALL This departure Mr.. Burns will state
"'Mr. Postmaster says Burns, I know
ed deceased. He was a good man an
dead game sport from way back. A pro-
tracted struggle with the recklessly COM
pounded drinks of the frontier had begun
to tell on him, an for a year or so he vas
liable to have spells; that was all. Re
ferrin' to the remarks of Mr.. Hamilton, I
states that by agreement between us an
in honor to the departed the price of whis-
ky in this yere camp from now en- will be
two drinks for quarter instead of one. as
previous. We don't want TO disturb val
ues nor unsettle trade. and we don't be-
lieve this will. We makes 1t as a ray of
light in the darkness and gloom of the
hour
after these remarks, which were well
received, we formed the procession. Two
buglers from Fort Cummings took the lead,
with Jack in one of the Silver City stage
ct aches comm next The six pallbearers
were on horses next in line an the rest of
the town strung along permiscus on horse
hack an in wagons.
"This is a great day for Deming,' says
the postma ster as he rode I'D an down