The morning news., 1897-11-30
THE MAN WITH A PLUG HAT.
BAT MAsTERsoN'S VISIT To RENO
IN IT'S TOUGH DAYS.

which n Famous Gun Fighter Was
Cranky-Trsfies That Have Pre-
vented Homicide in the West.
Washington Cor. New York Sun.
shooting bees that might have proved
wicked and deadly have often been switch
ed off and prevented by narrow margins,
often by mere accident. out in the Rocky
towns and camps" said Joe Forsythe of
Reno. New. 1--WE seen three or four in
stances of this myself. In 1886 1 was run
ming a small hotel in Reno, about a block
from the railroad station. Reno wasn't a
reform town at that time by a whole lot
and it isn't an especially long-eared town
now, for that matter But ten years ago
the boys in Reno used to plug away at
each other on smaller provocation, and a
good deal oftener than they do now, for
the best to be had out there at that time
was sagebrush whisky. that burns holes in
limestone, and it KIND o kept their nerves
on edge.
lone January day Reno got into the
middle of pretty bad blizzard, and the
snow piled up to about foot and a half on
the level. The express train from the east
hours late 1t was due to stop at Reno at
o'clock in the evening. but it did not naul
into the station until a bit after g. Reno
wasn't yet over the holiday drunk, and
the town was pretty lively. About fifty of
the men were down at the station to see
the train come in and to give male arrivals
at Reno warm reception, should there
be any There was one. He was q. compact
ly built man with grayish hair and a Sc
rious countenance. He looked like one of
those whisky drummers that never sample
their own goods. He was logged out in
swell eastern style. He wore a fine chin
chilla ulster that reached almost to his
heels, and was trimmed with sealskin, pat
ent leather shoes, and-a plug hat!
Now, that mans situation when he got
off the train and clutched his two big
grips was not one that I'd have cared to
be ina plug hat in Reno when Reno was
still rasting with the regula ton three
weeks holiday jag, and all of the boys
right on the spot into the bargain The
poor man stepped from the train with his
TWO grips The boys wasted no time in
giving him the hoot. They didn't make
any hostile demons trations, nor dance
around him, nor attempt TO perforate the
hat with forty-eights, but they just howled
in unison as he walked along the platform
with a grip in each hand The man with
the plug hat didn't pay the slightest at
tention to them. He looked neither to the
right nor to the left. Not a muscle of his
serious face twitched. He kept right on
his way down the platform, bound for my
hotel. This GOODNESS on the part of the
man with the plug hat did not please the
boys. They wanted him to get mad and
say things in order that they might have
fun with him.
What kind of tenderfoot is this,
cd tba
new arrival disappeared around the cor
ner of the sta ton. And where do we get
the worth of our money out O. him?'
They all made a rush for the end of
the station around which the man with
the plug hat had disappeared. He had not
gone more than fifty feet from the sta
ton, for there were some pretty heavy
snowdrifts along the path to my hotel,
and his satchels were heavy. The hat
looked tempting, and the snow was every
where at hand. The boys began to pelt
at the plug hat with snowballs. Most of
them had hands on 'em like hams, capable
of crushing a handful of snow into a ball
of ice with one crunch. The whole fifty
of them pegged away at the hat But the
man probably wore a charm inside the
lining of the hat. 1t simply could not be
hit The man was hit everywhere e.se
from the nape of his neck to the heels.
but his hat was untouched, although per-
maps LOCO snowballs were heaVed by men
with trained marksmen's eyes. The man
underneath the plug hat didn't turn
around once He plodded right along to
the door of my hotel with his two grips
He didn't even drop the grips to feel of
his neck and ears when the snowballs
pasted him there.
II was behind the hotel desk when the
man with the plug hat came in. He walk
ed up to the desk and planted his two grips
down on it,
How are your said he to me.
Then he took off his plug hat and laid
1t down carefully on the desk. Then he un-
buttoned his ulster and his cutaway coat
underneath it, and peeled off both at the
same time. As he stood for a minute pull
ing up the sleeve of his shirt my eve
caught sight of gold star with big da-
mond set in the center of it, pinned to his
left suspender, that had slipped a bit from
beneath his waistcoat. And when he turn
81 around and made for the door at which
he had come in, saw in each Of mis- hind
pockets a gun that was not built for
Fourth of July business.
"Bareheaded and in his shirt sleeves,
and with sort of Pickering smile at the
corners of his mouth, the man who had
worn the plug hat went out the door. The
street was well lighted all the way down
TO the station. He diVed into snow bank
in the middle of the road and began to
make snowballs like a man who had Of
ten made EN- before He piled up a stack
of twenty or thirty good ones before the
fellows who had been pelting him a cou-
le of minutes before, and were now COM
ing in his direction, got on to him. Then
he began to heave his snowballs at the
gang Every SNOWFALL he threw hit
man. The gang set up howl of delight,
and began to pelt him in return. They hit
him everywhere from the top of his head
to the toes of his shoes, but he didn't
mind it little bit apparently, and con-
uuued firing 'em back at them one man
a-ainst fifty, for twenty minutes. He got
a lot of 'em right in the eye, too.
When he got tired of the game he
walked coolly into the hotel again and
went over to a washstaud in the corner
to wash up, without saying anything.
Then he gang came in in body, look
ing for the man who had worn the plug
hat, whom they approved and admired.
They admired and approved him a bit
more when they saw the two big guns
srphing out of his hind pockets, aud they
looked like they were still wondering what
kind of a tenderfoot he was. Three or four
of the boys went up to the stranger
You're all right, Cap they said to