The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-19

That Il. Pretty Fair for These Days and ~
FIAT ReGfon.

Prom fs Detroit Free Press
Them was pretty good Shots said the old
sheep ruiser when the boys had finished telling
about some glass-ball shooting they had done at
the gun club tournament. but folks nowadays
It do no shootin' like they did a few rears ago.
There was Dan Hardin. now. who ran q sheep
ranch in west Texas in 81. He could shoot"
Pretty good shot. was her asked the boys, to
draw the old nan en-.
We'll, he was q good fair shot for them
times and locality. A Colts As was Dams
favorite. He run about 5000 sheep and q good
many cattle and horses. The ranchers all
marked the ears OF their stock. each man in q
different way. to distinguish their property.
Dams mark was o hole in the left ear and an
underhit in the right, and he never allowed q
knife to be used on his ranch. He marked
every animal himself with his six-shoo-er, ana
he never made q mistake. 1t was \ sight to see
him ~gallopln' across the prairie or his mustang
after q bunch Of lambs or a roundup Of spring
calves, a-placin' his marks with his As, and
never varyin' a sixteenth OF an inch from
where they belonged Dan marked more nav
ericks than anybooy else in the county put to-
sethsr.
drst-rate shot He used to ride along in his
pasture and put his mark on the coyotes and
jack rabbits just to keep his hand in 1t got so
that nine stme7 out OF ten when q man killed q
49, "N N1 . W
tn It's left and an underbit in its right ear, and
he'd always send Dan over u quarter OF VENT
son when he got IL hone. I seen Dan win a
bet Of $50 one day from q tenderfoot. We was
r1din' along the road and we Son the ground
a humpin, up wsere = mole was shown, along
proposition, the tenderfoot took him UP, and
Dams old 10 went OF a couple of times. We
his ears right where they belonged. After q
while I don't think there was . Eyin' thing on
Dams ranch except his wife that didn't aave his
n. trx in irs ears
This habit Of Dams ggt htm OUT Of a pretty
bad scrape one time, Along about 81, when
cutters got to cuttin' the wire fences around
the pastures and give the sheep men lots Of
and he was mad One day he rode oqt without
his gun and saw a low-down rust!er named
IeTpkins siiein, his Fires Ike sddle strings
and 1t out, and Dan rode back % his ranch and
got his gun. He struck ont on Tompkins's trail.
and o~verhauled him about s'IndoHn in the little
town that was the eountyr seat. Dan shot him
quietly. and was about % get Q Guy OF coffee
and start back home when he was surprised by
about the. time rhe hv-and- order gang got to
aisin' Cain in the West and trytn' to set down
They scared UP a Judge and a Jury somewhere,
and held q kind Of court right away TO Try Dan.
the boss thieves and free grnssers, and they
come IN by the dozen and swore that ToInp-
kins hadn't been out Of town for a week. and
dida't 90. Dan had no witnesses, and il began
TO look kind OF funny for him. They had Tomp-
kinS laid out on q able in the courtroom.
Directly Dan went over and looked pretty
sharp at Tompkins. and then he asked one Of
the deputies to go ont to a little jewelry store
across the street and bring a magnifyin' glass.
The deputy went and got II and Dan banded 1t
- the Judge and asked him to step down and
look at sonethin' q minute. There WAS q
mosquito with lis bill fast IN Tompktns's ear,
and Dan asked the Judge TO take q good LOOK at
Il that mosquito didn't have a hole in its left
and an underbit IN its right ear. as shore as
I'm sittin' here Everybody knew Dams mark.
and the Court was convinced that Tompkins
must have been prowIin' around his ranch. It
was what you would call good ctrcumstantia
evidence, and ten minutes afterward Dan was
on his way home