The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-07-24

~~o ~AASN q Frlenu VINO Ir1eQ TO f0r-
suade Him to surrender-Brough Down
by Bullet From nIilitiaman's Rihe.
One of Mark Twain's Desperadoes.
His name was included in the little
list Of Nevada desperadoes made by
Mark Twain in 'Roughing It., said
the Nevada pioneer. He did not say
Mark Twain" by the way, but ''Sam
Clemens" the name by which all old
Nevadans and Californians knew the
famous humorist. The pioneer was talk
ing OF men Of his time who had died
with their boots on, and Billy Mulligan
was the character who just now was to
the front. Some of the hostile mix ups
and shooting matches in which that
young lrlshman had taken hand had
been related, and now the narrator had
come to the day of his taking off.
Billy Mulligan had run long
string and lasted good while for man
OF his temper and practices, for he was
tough out and out" continued the pio-
neer. His neck was in danger in the
days OF the San Francisco vigilance
committee, and he ran some marrow
chances with the law and lynchers aft
q
handy with weapons, and would fight
at the drop of the hat But he pulled
through all trouble until the time came,
which seems sooner or later to befall al
most every desperate. when the strain
of danger and the effect of constant
drinking and excitement got the better
OF his nerves and Judgment. When
desperate gets that way, thoro are two
courses that he may take-quit the
country, quit drinking and get to work
ut IN honest calling or stay and get
killed. The last was what Mulligan
chose, but he kept the business in his
own hands and forced tho pace to tho
end.
ut was Mt Carson City that the end
came to Billy Mulligan. The cards had
gone against him all night Tho liquor
he had drunk had made him ugly as he
walked ont of the Esmeralda saloon ono
morning. Next door was laundry, and
Chlnaman, ironing clothes, lifted his
face to the window just as Mulligan
was passing. Without word the des-
perado drew his pistol and fired through
the glass, blowing tho Chinaman's
brains out, then went on to the hotel
~-N '"' oessJ AhGt ethU UP otuiio w
his room i'll tho top story. Tho door of
his room opened near tho head of tho
stairway, and when the sheriff's Off
GERS camo to arrest him for killing the
Chinaman no stood them off with his
revolvers. They knew it meant certain
death to some Of them to try to rush up
the stairway, and they stopped at the
foot to consider. John Coleman, par
ticular friend of Mulligan, who was
with them, tried to persuade him to
surrender.
No use, john said Mulligan. L
shan't be taken alive. This is my last
day. and the game'll end right here
You keep away and dom get mixed up
i'll the trouble.
Coleman was working along up the
stairway as he talked, with the object,
perhaps, Of getting near enough to the
desperate to disarm him.
Stop where you are John, said
Mulligan. One step nearer and I'll kill
you.
Coleman made another step forward,
and Mulligan shot him through the
heart He permitted the others to take
the body away, keeping them covered
Will PAotOaS al lIlt tlDlc. ~ CROWN
gathered in tho hotel and tho public
square which it faced, and plans were
discussed for capturing Mulligan, but
his character for deadly desperation
was such that volunteers were scarce.
| AT last it was decided to call out the
militia company and take the desperate
Ill his stronghold by regular assault.
1.-The troops were mustered in double
line i'll the public square, facing the ho-
tel and waiting tho order to advance.
Through the window of his room in the
third story Mulligan could be seen now
and then as he walked to and fro be-
tween the stairway and the window,
keeping watch against surprise in
either direction. Then, as the face of
the desperate appeared once moro at the
window, one Of the soldiers fired with
his rifle, killing him instantly. 1t was
an unexpected shot which undoubtedly
saved several lives that would almost
ing the room by storm.
Billy Mulligan was New Yorker
by birth and was Ii typical representa-
! two of the old time California tough
| ganbler-a class which got its tono and
manners from the New York of the vol
unteer firemen and Dead Rabbit DAYS.
| Quick OF motion-some of them could
pick fly from the wall with tho thumb
and finger four times out of five-stern
and short spoken except where it was
part OF their gamo to be suave, rough
and tumble fighters, fashionably
dressed, with more of ornaments than
southern gamblers often wear and dis