St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1897-09-11
|, A FRONTIER DUEL. !!
4 BY MAI. ALFRED n. CALHOUN, !
o@e@ o "a eco o@o@o o@,e

& M
These fellows always go armed, carr,
themselves with a. sWagger and Il gura
lively drag their coat tails on th
ground tEall times in the hope tha
some one will give them an excuse t
shoot.
Fairplay is a very good name for !;
town or camp, and Fairplay, Col, is to
day thriving, law-abiding pace, but
like all western towns, it had to pas:
through all the stages Of social evolu
tion from the absolute barbarity ofits
beginning to the high alvilizationof ths
present.
There are many men not yet beyond
middle life who distinctly remember
the fist hut erected in Fairplay, and
who retain a vivid recollection of the
first hotel, the Great Western, which
was composed of three rooms, one can.
vas, one log and the other unplaned
boards. Though this establishment
claimed to furnish accommodations
for man and beast" it had no stable
for horses, and all its dodgers had to
sleep in bunks in one rooh, while bread
and bacon constituted the bill Of fare,
with now and then sugarless coffee.
The "extras" were composed wholly of
bad cigars, strong chewing tobacco and
whisky of a kind SO mnchyiler than the
ordinary fluid that one drink of it has
been known to produce all the effects
of delirium tremens on "a man unac-
feustomed to it, and it always produced
ia homicidal mania in those who in
fdulged in it as often as once week.
The bar Of the Great Western was
the rendezvous, the headquarters, for
all the miners and teamsters in the
vicinity, and you may be sure that il
was a constant resort for the gamblers
and desperadoes who always swarm
about new mining town like flies
about sugar hogshead in July.
For the accommodation of the latter
1class, with whom he was in full svn3-
pathy, and with an eye to his own gain
--he bad only one eye-the landlord of
the Great Western had fitted up a place
for playing faro, and a number of pine
tables on which those SO inclined-antg
lit was surprising how many were SO
inclined-could play that alluring but
most uncertain game called poker.
At this time there were only two
women in Fairplay, viz, Mrs Chamber
lain, the wife of the principal mine
superintendent, and Lizzy Chanab ber1ain,
her daughter.
Some men, with wives ard taugh ters
Mr. Chamberlain Sl.la for subjecfing Els fam
ily to the bardships iDseparable' from |
such life, but, had they known that |
the devoted wife and daughter insisted |
on accompanying kim and sharing his
trials. they would othaye been 50 hard
in their Judgment.
Arthur Lyons, q fine young fellow of
-four and twenty was Mr.. Cha1nberlain's
assistant, aud as he boarded with his
employer it was pretty generally con
3ceded that he had ttlle inside track SO
far as Idzzy vase concerned, and that
their maria ge was only a question OF
time.
There was, however, in Fairplay, one
Innan who e1nphatically refused to be-
Elieve that Lizzy Chamberlain looked
kindly on elrthur Lyons, and this man
was lznosvhgas 1Red. Snively, the FIRST
name being given to designate his COM
plexion and the sapguine color OF his
hair.
Red Snively wished to be known as
s.The Mountain Terror" and he tried
hard to have the name attach to him
self, bat as the majority OF the miners
looked upon him as nuisance rather
than terror the name did not stick
to any great extent.
Red Sniyely was a swag ggering, ever.
armed braggart. He was supposed obe
"a silent partner IN the Great Western
hotel. and it was a matter of notoriety
that all the gambling features of the
establishment were under his immedi-
ute charge.
He claimed Missouri as his home, and
when he became confidential which
was always thecase when the. game was
poing against him-he would hint that
he was forced to come west f'oWin to a
little euttin' scrape" he had over game
of cards.
With the brazen effrontery OF his
class. Red Sniyely made himself very
Objectionable to Lizzy Chamberlain By
his disgusting attentions; SO much SO
indeed, that she dreaded to venture ol1i
unless accompanied by her father O
Arthur Lyons.
On one occasion the latter told Rec
snively very emphatieally that his con
duct was disagreealale to.Miss Chamber
lain, and that it. must be stopped, am
THIS was said with such calm EN- phasi
that the bully was not left in an,
doubt It's to the young mans nearlin'
nor of his determination TO enforce h
request.
In addition TO IFS many other uses tn
Great Western was the post office
which the weekly-more often th
nonthly--mail was delivered.
one rainy afternoon after the ma
had come in Arthur Lyons went up t
get the e&Gl welcome letters and paper
from the east,
While he was leaning against th
damp bar waiting for the maaNbehin
IT fo look over the addresses of th
parcels that had come by post. hefe
heavy hand on his shoulder, and
the same time he heard Red Sniyel
saving, in mocking. banterfflg tor
fhet meant miseief:
.eCorne, Lyons, join me and We
drink to the health Of the beauty
IFairplay,"
As Arthur shook the fellows htif
r...ss5 \, s..s ~ ~ 5Ya,- no ca; gar