The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-20


OF a presudigitateur. 1t must have been
less than minute before it was all over,
though 1t seemed a quarter of an hour
as l watched. The half breed made a
teint at the others neck, as he jumped
forward, but changed the direction of the
blow as he delivered it, so that the thrust
was really at his right side. The negro,
however, parted it so well that the sparks
new as the two knives clashed. He par
RED with downward stroke, and swing
ing his arm around in a quick return,
twisted his wrist over, so as to bring his
cage forward in a back-handed awkward
looking slash at the others jugular.
Awkward as it looked, it was the wick
edest blow l ever saw struck. and must
nave been either an inspiration or the re-
suit OF long study and practice. His elbow
was raised in bringing the knife back as
ne aid, and the half breed. unable to get
MS knife back quickly enough to parry
atter 1t mad been struck downwards, duck
ed Just IN time to save his neck, but got
a slahcing blow across the scalp that laid
1t open. Closing in, after this frightful
oeginning, they broke each others guard
anu stabbed and slashed till they both fell.
The half breeds knife was driven souare-
~ into the negroes heart, and his victim
never moved after he fell Twas no vic
Tory however, for the negro, as he got
ms death blow, avenged himself with a
terrl1c slash across the throat that half
oeneaded his enemy. and after few sec
ohus ana one or two convulsive shudders
ne, too, was dead"
Ihere was little pause after this story
ana the drummer lighted fresh cigar
presently some one asked him to tell an
other - 'eAi SAi-
was in Leadville soon after the carbon
ave ieVer had made that place the hottest
s.1, Where near the great divide" he said.
on see, our firm makes a specialtv of
Small arms. which fq vuhxy I
much attention to them. Fully one-third
OF my trade is in reviewers, and nick I'M
great many orders In any new place
where there is rush, for, of course. eyery
man VINO goes thinks he needs a pistol.
whether ne does or not, and although he
Is certain to carry one with him, he is very
hKely' Tor some reason or another, to buy
a new one when he gets a chance and the
local traders all keep them in stock. 1 sup
pose LeadVille for the first year or so after
the rush began was about as 'wide-open' as
any town ever was. The boom was
mighty one, and there was more money
there than was really conducive of moral
lty. L stayed there two or three DAYS
longer than 1 really needed to, for 1 was
interested, and l wanted to learn as much
as possible about 1t, knowing that II the
growth continued 1 would have to go there
frequently.
"One day had Just finished dinner when
a stranger spoke to me in the hotel OF
course, he invited me to drink That's the
way you introduce yourself in such places
when you seek a friendly acquaintance.
ana there are no other circums tances to
lead to conversation. We chatted for
a minute or two. and then the stranger,
whose name afterward learned was Har-
ry Common, or Black Harry for short, ask
ed me If was not selling hardware. I
told him was and he said he wanted to
hllV knife L said ha bit ovwrst1
me, but only as samples, and that. of
couse, l never sold samples. WELL, he
said, that's the reason / came to you. /
hunted the town over this morning to find
knife, and l couldn't find one that was
worth carrying. I thought probably you
might have one or two good ones and
that you would sell one don't care what
the price is, SO 1t suits me- still refused,
but he persisted so urgently that finally
consented to show him what had, think
ing that when he had picked out the one he
wanted could make some excuse for re-
fusing to sell it. So we went to my room
and looked over my samples.
l never saw a man examine a knife as
he did one that he selected. / had, per-
haps, forty different ones. but he gave
only glance at the lot, and picked out
the best one there in an instant. Pick
ing 1t up he weighed it in his hand, turn
ed 1t over and over ran the edge of II
across the back of his thumb nail as
barber tries razor, fiicked the point with
his nail, scrutinized every fractional part
of the blade and hilt, and then, grasping
ii firmly swung his arm In the prettiest
sort of knife-play, as If testing its weight
and balance still more carefully. Then
stepping over to a northumberland chair
he drove the blade squarely through the
inch-and-a-half wood with a powerful
blow. 1t was a remarkable display of
strength, but nothing to what followed
for it was comparatively easy to drive the
blade in, but l did not think it could be
pulled out without splitting the wood
Connor, however, put his left hand on the
chair near the knife, and pulled it out
without trouble.
Then he threw II at a knot In the wood
en- partition that separated my room from
the next, and left the knife sticking
squarely in the knot. 1 exclaimed in sur
prise, for he had thrown distance of at
least twelve feet. and he looked at me
with a little smile which / didn't at first
understand.
That's a pretty good throw said
DO you think so?' he answered indiffer-
emily, and when / said yes he stepped
over to the partition and drew out the
knife, still smiling, and stepping back
twelve feet again threw it again.
This time l was amazed, for he had
struck the exact spot he had hit at first ;.
but one mark after he had drawn the
knife out the second time. 'Oh! That's
nothing he said. and with the point of
the knife he scratched rough circle on the
wood about the size of a mans hand.
Stepping back to where he stood before,
he returned his back to the target, and
then, looking at II over his right shoulder,
he threw the knife over his left. sticking
IL fairly in the target. Then he reversed
the trick, throwing over his right shout
der, and finally, planting himself care
fully in the same place, he looked quickly
over his shoulder, and then, turning his
face directly away, threw the knife over
his head, striking the same target and
leaving the knife an inch deep in the wood.
L want that knift," he said, rather per-
emptory,, and / want 1t just $50 worth
And he pulled $50 greenback bill out OF
his pocket and laid 1t on the table. took
the money. l thought man who could
use a knife like that ought to have a good
one. And then / was travelling to make
money, and the price was a long one,
even for that knife, and it was the best
/ had. l was very sorry, though, before
the next day, that had broken my rule
not to sell samples.
Men walked in the middle OF the street
at night in Leadville at that time but the