Evening star., 1896-01-18
DOC. HOLIDAYS WAYS.
One of Them Was Always to Wear .
Boiled Shirt.


Boiled Shirt.
From the Chicago Daily Tribune.
Like all professional man killers, his face
was as immobile as that of a craven image.
and his lips were those of a sphinx. There
was no color in his cheeks, and he was
devoid of nerves Tall, thin and almost
fragile in appearance, he was delicately
wrought piece of fine steel upon which
danger acted as a magnet. Such was
DOC" Holiday.
g Less than. twenty years ago this man
dropped to the burning sands of Arizona
from nobody knew where and began
career that necessitated the use of a yard
stick in notching the fatalities for which he
was responsible. Lives were cheap at
the time in that place, and Holiday did
nothing to put a premium on them. At
the outset there was friction between him
self and the rest of the territory's popula-
ton because doc" gently but firmly de-
clined to doff his white shirt and don a
wooden one, with other habiliments to
match. He was polite about it, but the
rude sombreroed men of the west misuu-
derstood him, and 1T was only after the
sacrifice Of great quantity OF ammuni-
tion that he was permitted to maintain
in peace his status as correctly dressed
gentleman. There can still be found in
Arizona little mounds of sand, each six
feet long, which serve as monuments to
over leather-leggined barbarism. What
followed this victory serves as well as any
thing else to illustrate Holidays true
character. He did not grow arrogant or
dctatorial; he did not insist, as was the
conqueror's right, that everybody else
should wear white shirts as he did and
forever eschew the coarse wool. He let
the populace wear whatever it pleased-he
attended strictly to his OWL business
1t is not strange that his fame Travelled
as fast as fleet broncos could carry 1t.
man who could turn social usage and
ethics topsy-turvy. make an institution Of
the bath and hurl deadly bullets with
hand as beautiful as a woman's-and all
without a word, a smile or a scowl-was
far above the ordinary. and bound to be-
come noted and marked Thus it was
that few daring and congenial spirits
were attracted to him, drawn by his repu-
tation tor GOODNESS and bravery, and that
there was unconsciously organized as de-
termined and dangerous band of men as
ever adjusted the sights of a Winchester.
Some of them are living today.
For more than a half dozen years this
entire communities, which were then under
the shotgun rule. They were more feared
than a regiment Of soldiers, and 1t was the
lawless, not the law-abiding, who feared
them. Those were troublous times and
the territory had long been scourSed by
desperadoes, cutthroats, bandits and cattle
thieves. The latter, especially, were bold
and unconquerable, and their depredations
were invariably attended with murder and
sometimes worse. The authorities sought
the aid of the fearless DOC" Holiday and
his friends and from that time until they
left the territory they were the chief in
struments used in enforcing the law. They
| served as city marshals. chiefs of police
and deputy marshals of the United States,
generally the latter. and not for one mo-
ment were their lives secure. Their opera
tions were far-reaching covering Arizona
and parts Of New Mexico. western Kansas
and southern Colorado. but they did their
| work well, and at the end the "rustlers,"
as the organized cattle thieves were called.
| were dead or behind prison bars. 1t was
| during this time that they found 1t neces-
sary to sharpen their knives many times
| in order not to forego the pleasure of cut
ting deep notches in their sticks Of fate.
| They too suffered, but they did not COM
| plain. That was what, they were hired
| for.
When it was all over they separated.
and Doc Holiday gravitated to Lead
Vile and Denver, then to Montana. and
finally back to Denver. where he is today.
with a snow-capped mountain range for a
| headstone. One day, after leaving Arizona
and mingling with men who dressed as
he long before had insisted men should
himself from speedy DEATH Consumption
had fastened itself upon him. Liquor
changed the man. His belief in the eff
cacy of his physicians prescriptions ap-
preached fanaticism, and when he dosed
| himself repeatedly he became brawler.
AS Doc Holidays appetite for liquor
! grew so did his recklessness. Formerly
he had been brave. but never reckless;
| times he had never tempted fate. One
instance will suffice to show to what
j lengths he would go in those latter days
| He made the mistake of easily forming
friendships and enmities-something he
| would never have thought of doing with an
| unclouded brain-and among others, culti-
| waited a violent attachment for the prose
| cutting attorney of the county in which he
| died-a politician who himself had many
friends and enemies, personal and political
In some way this official incurred the dis
like of the editor OF one OF the newspapers
of the city, and every morning he came in
| for a column of as bitter vituperation al
ever appeared in newspaper where per
sona1 journalism is seen at its best. This
when the daily attack had been more Sc
we're than usual and pointedly personal
Doc arose from his consumptive's bee
and sought his friend.
not Ike of course-'Ike, 1 think can set
tie this for good and believe I'll do it."
''How?" queried the attorney.
every simple" returned DOC" "Tl
just walk into his office and kill him
That's how Oh, I'll give him chance,
he hurried to explain when he saw hi
friends deprecatory gesture. "1'n Civ
him all the show a white man shoald have
| and that Is more than he deserves. It'll
be fair fight, but I'll kill him sure" Ike
vetoed the scheme emphatically. but DOC
was not to be deferred.
at stands just this way Ike" con
tinued DOC" in wheedling but argumen
tative tone. I'm dying. It's question o
few weeks 1T the most You're my frien
and I'd like 70 do something for you befor
go. I'll kill him. What's life more o
! less in my case? They'll call it murder
! of course, and arrest me, but that's a.
right. You're the prosecuting attorney, an
\ will conduct the case against me- All yo
have to do Is to get some mitigating Gil
cumstances on which to hang bail bono
I'll go back to bed and the sand will ru
out of my glass and I'll die, and that
wind up the whole business satisfactoril
to everybody concerned I want to do thi
simply friend, 1ke'-.simply as a
But Ike gathered few Of his friend!
and every hour they watched the hom
c.dal Doc until he was too weak to move
ard later they bore him to his unwer
grave
Further Information Wanted.
From the Boston Home Journal
: very devout gentleman of Boston ha
recently undertaken to teach a Sunda