The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1896-05-25
TURNER AND HIS GUN
ooUsLE-L Eek. TIE cowsoV. AND
his MODEST RECORD CLAIM.

spirit Wa Nonnuoro0 a AAA0 AA@A~
nsred Soldier with . wInehsstsr.
Now and then bad man" tries 20
cultivate something which be mistakes
for humor. One Of these devotces Of isT-
ity used TO haunt the cattle range Of
western Kansas. and every fall and
spring he appeared in Dodge City at the
general roundup" Every time he
came to town he left some proof Of =
faoetious mind. and was very sure Of be-
ing talked about by every idle man aud
most Of the busy ones who remained
when the rush was over.
His name was Eek Turner. though
Dodge City viii best remember him BY
the title Doubled Eek. 4" the duplicated
capital being Leonard g. Loughrain's
brand. and he being one Of their best
riders In fact, Turner might have been
foreman If he had cared for the position.
for he could ride well, and there were
few more expert with the rope and prob
ably none who could bear fatigue and
hardship more patiently than he.
But the trouble was he wanted recon-
pense for the dull life Of n cowboy. he
didn't care for money. Amy wages going
were acceptable to him But when the
cattle got rounded mp and there was half
a days escape from the tedium Of labor
Eek Turner wanted his fling. And he al
ways went into town and had IL.
Now, foreman cannot do these
things he must stay by the herd all the
time, preserve clear head and firm
place in the saddle. he is the represent
ative Of the owner-the custodian Of
much weAlti-and dissipation il not to
be thought of.
One Of Eek Turner'S 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 20 see
hOrsemen go by ON the trot. IL was in \
cowboy country. and cowboys galloped,
whether or not they were i'm a hurry.
And IL the rider had n habit Of iris
ing in the stirrups. as conventional
trotters often do. Eek Turner hated him
violently. So that when he came down
Main street one day and saw n rather
well dressed man 20 by trOtting and
rising" with the motion Of his horse
Eek called general attention to the spec-
,acle.
Really the trotter was not very good
hOrseman- IL was possible. as Eek OBJ
served, TO ''see daylight under him" ev-
cry time he rose in the saddle And the
glimpses Of that recurring daylight"
provoked Eek To a bit of pistol practice.
i II bet. said he. watching the rider
and reaching for a large revolver. pretty
we'll hack ON his belt. II bet can shoot
between him and the saddle and never
touch feather. "
( he had been drinking in SO decorous
manner rs TO be dangerous. and 80 no
! We interfered. The rider was half a
I block away when Eek fired, and the
Z bullet must have gone true. for the rider
passed ON unconscious. while a sign di-
3 agOually across the street was shattered
/ by the shot.
He tried il again later in tho day and
aculOusly-es-aped tho
infiiction of injury. Dodge City talked
about Double-L Eek and his new joke
all summer, and in the autumn he came
in and tried il again.
The first shot he made he hit a man
in the leg and was very indignant be-
cause they would not give him another
chance, assuring the crippled victim it
was an accident. and urging him to
mount and trot past Just one time more.
rising no higher than he had done. and
guaranteeing to put three shots out Of
five between him and the saddle or buy
the drinks for the crowd.
But il was the uncertainty about the
other two shots that iEterfered with ne
gOtiations-that aud the trotting man q
persistent endcavor 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 Of Texas
fever" swept over Kansas in 1850. kill
ing of 30 many Of the Kansas cattle, n
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 70 shoot
the top of a mans plug hat i'm Colorado
Springs because he insisted the fashion
was two inches shorter than the man
was wearing.
At In Veta 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 sho,
of the end Of Eck's thumb. alleging a.
a sufficient reason the fact that no man
with two good thumbs could be real.
ly bad man. Eek replied in kind, and
there were no applicants for the position
the marshal's demise left vacant until II
was known that Eek had left that region
and gone to Arizona
At Fort WinSate he had the misfor.
tune TO shoot into an ambulance driven
by very lnild mannered private sol
dier. who pulled mp n winchester and
cripulel Eek for life. DESTROYING the use.