The Portland daily press., 1897-05-21
SHERIFF DEsHoNG OF DE SOTO.
The Fly New Workers Started Out to Guy
Him, but He Had All the Fun.

Inc Fly new fOrkefS started Out to Guy
Him, but He Had All the Fun.
New York has been taken in and done
for by q cracker from the remote wilds of
Florida in the person of Sheriff Owen
Higgins Deshong of De Soto county, that
state. The sheriff arrived in New York,
says the Times, on Friday, having James
Fullerton, fugitive from Elmira reform
atory, who had gone to Florida on a bicy-
Gle and been arrested there for robbery,
in tow. SIN tow" expresses the condi-
tions exactly, because the sheriff had har-
messed Fullerton and himself together by
Is pounds of steel chains, stating to his
prisoner, as he explained here, eff you
get away we both get away
When the sheriff appeared at the district
attorneys office on Friday he caused a
sensation. He wore his working clothes,
| the trousers tucked into cowhide boots; a
| sombrero, a pair of enormous revolvers,
| and portentous chin whiskers. Many
young men thought they would have fun
with him. They were supposed to know
all that is to be known in the ''fiyest"
city on earth. One of them was intro
duced as John Jacob Aston, and invited
the sheri IF to go to his house and spend
a few days; others were announced as
| Chauncey M. -Depew, Mayor Strong and
| Gov. Black. The sheriff of De Soto
greeted them all with unmoved counte-
nance. and expressed his qualification AFT
meo+iro +bem An tho ,rbiIa +bo,, ;,,ae.
.'iee's 'i,on, oAe "ii.o oney mag
| lned they mad great deal OF run. Satur-
day the sheriff of De Soto appeared again
| this time he wore suit which would
secure recognition anywhere along Fifth
avenue. His manner was still urbane A
dinner had been arranged for him at
Callahan's restaurant on Elm street, op-
posite the criminal court building
| Everybody was ready to enjoy the green
ness of the cracker from Florida. When
| Sheriff Deshong walked into Callahan s,
Lawyer Haire, who was waiting for him,
looked him over and said to Peter Mat
| thews, the bartender:
''Odds on, he's winner
''What do ye mean?" asked Peter.
"From the looks of him. Lawyer
Haire replied, che is going to fool every
| body. -
| So it turned out The dinner party was
an enjoyable one, but the enjoyment was
not at the expense of the visitor from De
| Soto. The first speaker was Lawyer Ber-
| linger, who had been introduced as Sher.
| iff Hansen. He pathetically recited the
| trials that beset him, expressed his regret
| that tder chail had been owdn and said
he was walking the streets of New York
day and night looking for the men who
| had broken ''owd," and that he thought
| it unfair for the newspapers to 'sroast''
| him because of his bad luck in failing to
| find them. He appealed to his fellow
sheriff from De Soto county, Fla, for
| sympathy. Il
Then Sheriff Deshong arose. As
specimen of after.dinner oratory his speech
| scored the success of the season with
very critical audience. Looking beneyo-
| lently upon his hearers he said that he
had understood fully the attempts to
make a fool of him and had not resented
them, because he knew that they were
| the DEVELOPMENTS of youth and high
| spirits among young men who did not
Judge men. The descriptions, pictures
and stories concerning him which had
| been given to the public through the
newspapers yesterday morningshe regard d
as the greeting of provincial people to q
man who happened to be not according
| to the narrow ideas they had been accus1
toned to-
| Having by these remarks upset all the
calculations of his auditors. the sheriff
proceeded to make speech about North
and South, city and country, and the
union of all under the one flag, using
homeiy figures of speech and SMILES from
the farm and factories and fighting ex-
periences, which carried his meaning
right to the minds of his hearers and can
tured the respect of everybody. The ir :
reverent, unloving and somewhat cynical
party that had assembled to ''have fun"
with the stranger quickly recognized the
real quality in him, and he was applaud
ed with honest enthusiasm and congratu-
lated until he blushed through the tan
that Florida suns have put upon his face
District Attorney Olcott, Assistant Dis
trlct Attorney Mitchell who gave the
dinner; Assistant District ATTORNEYS Os-
born and lingo, State Senator John Ford,
John d: Windolph, vice president of the
board of aldermen, and many others who
spoke recognized that they had been de-
| ceived IN their man., and acknowledged