The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1897-08-20

He Killed . Friend Who Tried 10 Pen
suade Him to surrender--Brought Down
by = Bullet From = Miiiti~msn's Ran
One OF Mark Twain's Desper~does.
Ellis name was included In the little
list Of Nevada desperadoes made by
Marx Twain in ~'Roughing It," said
the Nevada pioneer. He did not say
MARX Twain. F" by the way, but Sam
Clemens. " the name by which all old
Nevadans and C~alifornians knew the
famous humorist. The pioneer wa talk
ing OF men Of his time who had died
with their boots on. and Billy Mulligan
was the character who just o was to
the front. Some Of the hostile mix ups
and shooting matches In which that
young Irishman had taken q hand had
been related. and now the narrator had
come to TIE day Of his taking of.
BILLY Mulligan had run a long
string and lasted good while for a man
of his temper and practices. for be 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 narrow
chances with the law and lynchers aft
erward. He was a brave, desperate man.
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 desperado. when the strain
80 l.r.o~ ..I eLo .0nk co.~t
drinking and excitement got the better
of his nerves and judgment. When a
desperate gets that way, there are two
courses that he may take-Quit the
country, quit drinking and get to work
at an honest calling or stay and get
killed. The last was what Mulligan
chose, but he kept the business in his
own hands and forced the pace to the
end.
1T was at Carson City that the end
came to Billy Mulligan. The cards had
gone against him all night The liquor
he had drunk had made him ugly az he
walked out Of the Esmeralda saloon one
morning. Next door was a laundry, and
q Chinaman. ironing clothes, lifted his
face to the window just a. Nulligan
was passing. Without a word the des-
perado drew his pistol and Aired through
the glass, blowing the Chinaman's
brains out. then went ON to the hotel
where he was staying. and up stairs to
his room in the top story. The door Of
his room opened nea the head Of the
stairway, and when the sherif's off,
GERS came 10 arrest him for killing the
Chinaman he stood them of 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. q par
ticular friend Of Mulligan. who was
with them, tried to persuade him to
surrender.
"'No use, John said Mulligan. I
shan't be taken alive. This IL my last
day. and the game'll end RICH. here.
You keep away and don't get mixed up
in 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
with his pistols all the time. A crowd
gathered In the hotel and the public
square which il 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 70 call out the
militia company and take the desperate
in his stronghold by regular assault.
1.-THE troops were mustered in double
line in the public square, facing the ho-
tel and waiting the order TO advance.
Through the window Of his in the
third story Mulligan could be seer now
and then as he walked 10 and fro be-
the stairway and the window,
keeping watch against q surprise in
either direction. Then, ~ the face Of
the desperado appeared once more at the
w ihuoWs OAlc Vi tno bOAulcIb nIeu WAtu
his rife, killing him instantly. IL was
an unexpected shot which undoubtedly
saved several lives that would almost
certainly have been sacrificed in carry
ing the room by storm.
BILLY Mulligsn was a New Yorker
by birth and was q typical representa-
tive Of the old time California tough
gambler class which got its tone and
from the New York Of the vol
unteer fremen and Dead Rabbit days.
Quick Of motion-some Of them could
pick q fly from the wall with the thumb
and finger four times out Of five-stern
and short spoken except where IL was
part Of their game to be suave, rough
and tumble fighters. fashionably
dressed. with more Of ornaments than
southern gamblers often wear and dis
tinguished by heavy black mustaches.
they ran their course In San Francisco,
which was headquarters from which
they went 70 the new mining communi
ties, to stay while these Hourished or
until they were driven out. They had
their day--most Of them were shot or