Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-06-19
Ar ARIZONA EPISODE,
A Night Soone In q Nogales Gamblin
Dan.

Den.
NOgalcS is a little town down II
! southern Arizona that is part Ameri
can and part Mexican In more sense:
than one. for it calmly sits upon the
international boundary line and owe:
half to the United States Thus the
resident of Nogales is much better of
than Lieut. Nolan, for instead Of be-
Ing q man without a country, he Is a
man with two countries The bound
ary line between the two republics
runs exactly along the center of the
principal street, so man needn't
leave the town nor walk very far to
plant one foot in Mexican soil and
yet retain purchase upon the land
Of the free, etc. This peculiar situa'
tion is often taken advantage of by
deserting soldiers from the Southern
Arizona forts, who are inclined to be
facetious. They 60 over to the Mex
ican side Of the main street, and when
the Sergeant and his squad who are
In pursuit arrive in town they find
the deserters sitting out in front Of a
saloon enjoying life and making faces
at their pursuers with perfect i'm
punity. For desertlon is not an ex.
traditable offense All the Sergeant
can do is to sit down and patiently
wait. in the hope that the deserter
will imbibe enough mescal or pulque
to render him reckless and bring him
across that invisible but uncrossable
line Nor is Nogales very virutous
town. In fact it is somewhat
tough" Almost every man carries
'gun," and is ready to use 1t when
his rights are trampled upon or his
honor wounded.
During the Geronimo campaign i
Sent down to Nogales to visit friend
If mine and one night he took me
out to see the sights Among other
sports on the elephant was the big.
gest saloon and gambling house in the
town. forget now who ran it, but
that doesn't matter. After passing
around and looking on while at the
various games, we sat down at table
near party OF poker players. ordered
drinks, and watched the animated
scene. was particularly interested
in one Of the players at the table next
to us, who apparently had phenomenal
luck, judging from the pile of gold.
silver and chips in front of him. He
was big. black-bearded, swarthy man,
restless eyes, and as another big, full
bearded man, toying with a huge
pistol, approached the table with
quick stride, I fancied that he sud.
denly grew a shade paler. He made
an almost imperceptible movement
to reach toward his hips, but appar-
emily changed his mind and gazed in.
tently at the cards. By this time the
other big man was opposite him.
$50. you dirty, mean skunk" h..
said, '1've run you down at last,
have II"
The play at once ceased and the
participants IN the game waited
passlvely to hear the outcome This
was a quarrel between two men-a
personal and private matter-and II
would have been impertinenGe and
breach Of etiquette on their part to
have interfered by word or act
Eyes, you've run me down. as yol
put It," replied the other. "What
do you want to say to me? Hurry
up and don't delay the game"
"What do I want to say to you?'
.he other burst out furiously, aud
with a volleY Of oaths, II don't want
to say anything to you, you thief. ]
want to put bullet into your dirty
carcass, and I'm going to doit. Draw
your gun. "1'll give you one chance
Tor your life,"
BY this time the noise had at
racted attention. The players bad
:rowded to the side walls, and there
was clear passage for the bullets
that were momentarily expected to
commence flying. The proprietor OF
the gambling den was fastening to-
ward the disputants. shouting, as he
:ame, a warning to them to desist
''Shoot, II you want to, Bill" salc
me black-bearded man, his face as
pale as death, "but II you do you
murder me, for I haven't a gun on
my person."
"You haven't eh?" replied tn.
1ther, insolently. ''Well, I'll shoot
no man like rat. But, you miser.
able hound, after 4 o'clock this morn
ing I'll kill you on sight, gun or no
gun. Fair warning. Look out for
yourself"
He turned to move away, when
luick as a flash. the black-bearded
nan sprang to his feet, drew a re-
volver and fred at the retreating
figure.
"Look out" shouted some one IL
the crowd who had observed the
movement. The man gave a start
and half turn, and the motion saved
his life. for the bullet grazed his
head and tossed lock of hts thick
hair into the air. Before the black.
bearded man could recover, the other
shot. The bullet crushed through
the gamblers head and he dropped
down dead. In the confusion which
followed my friend and I escaped into
,he street.
/ was obliged to leave Nogales tn,
aext day, but at the first opportunity
I wrote and asked for Information
the outcome of this little
episode, and "what they had done
with the murderer"
"Why, you poor tenderfoot." M,
friend wrote back, '.you wouldn't call
that murder, would you? In the
first place. the man would have been
Justified In shooting, under any cir
cumstances, for the other had robbed
him OF mine In Mexico. And. Sec
ondly, the black-bearded coward shot
first. and when his adversary's back
was turned. and deserved what he
got In return for that alone. What
did they do with the murderer
They gave him the dead mans win
niugs in the poker game."-Free
Press