The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1897-03-01
BILL MYE'S EXTRA.
It Was About n Hanging and Was Yer,
Popular In Laramie.

he happened to choose the wilds of Wyo
ming as an inviting field for humor
"Why, bless your heart, / didn't" he
said 81 didn't go out to Wyoming to be
funny. went to Laramie to get rich and
got away again just as soon as l could. In
the meantime tried humor simply in self
defense. Laramie was one of those towns
that never aro--but always are about to be
-blest. When I arrived, found a mush.
room mining town. The population con.
sisted of wboys, Mexicans, rustlers, hall
breeds, Cinnamon and speculative riffraff.
The whole place was sizzling with excite.
ment, and felt sure that Laramie was tc
become second Chicago and Wyoming a
new Eel Dorado. What little money 1 had
went into mining claims. But fancied
had longer head than the average specu.
lator and decided to establish some solid
business. l started paper. I hoped that
in time, as the city grew into metropolitan
proportions, my weekly would blossom
| out into great influential daily, and in
fancy saw myself the Pulitzer of the
west. But the lead of ore played ont and
the town instantly collapsed. Those who
had enough money to get out Of Laramie
| did so. Those who had not staid l 70.
manned.
81 hung on to the paper in the hope that
I could sell 1t some time. But no purchas-
er came my way. The motley crowd OF
stranded spectators left behind by the
boom could not support paper, and, in
fact, large proportion of them couldn't
read anyway. There was no news. Every
little occurrence was seized upon eagerly,
and l spun it out as far as could to fiji up
my paper. dog fight any time was good
for a column. At last in desperation be.
| nj ipr br, eli oh 10 fp
fill up with. OF course had no circua-
ton, but sent the paper to every leading
journal in the country, and in short time
my stuff began to be copied. That was the
beginning of the end.
AT one time, l remember, we had q
hanging scheduled OF course we often
had little informal, impromptu hangings,
but this one was to be a real, genuine, legal
execution. A half drunken miner had shot
down n saloon keeper without the slightest
| provocation. There was no doubt about
the fellows guilt. He admitted it himself
Ordinarily lie would have been lynched
right away, but several Of us talked the
matter over and decided that the murderer
ought not to be wasted We would use him
as AN advertisements. We held that legal
execution would he q good card for the
town and would show the world at large
that Laramie was not wild, lawless place,
| but law abiding city, with esta blished
courts and officials to enforce the law prop
erly.
1.-The murderer himself was nightly
| pleased with the idea. He relished the no.
toriety 1t would give him, land Immediately
became the proudest man in town. There
was no jail. Laramie In those days didn't
need one anyway. Lawbreakers never
were fed at public expense. They were
lynched or given notice to get out of town.
Court was held in the rear room of gro
Gerry. A jury was sworn in, and everything
was done as nearly according to law as
| possible The prisoner was sentenced to
hang, and the day of execution was fixed
for the following Friday. raised an OBJ
lection to this and pointed out to the court
that would require more time in order to
get up a creditable newspaper account Of
the affair in special edition which was ia
be sent broadcast to advertise the town. So
the hanging was postponed for week to
suit the sexigencics of my printing estab-
| lishment
II went right to work on the special
boom edition-wrote up history Of the
man who was murdered gave sketch of
the murderer, printed the judges charge
In full and gave special write ups to every
| IuSilIuST VI tIU anu W III OtnSrS w uO
bad taken part in the trial in any way.
Then l gave an elaborate account of the
hanging itself, told how the prisoner look
ed, gave his dying speech on the gallows,
described the scene when the drop fell and
ended with the results of the post mortem
examination.
"Only one thing really bothered mel
wanted to illustrate the affair, and there
wasn't q cut of any sort within hundreds
of miles. After worrying about the matter
for some time decided to do little wood
| engraving on my own account. / took a
piece of hardwood plank, planed it down
type high, and with chisel cut out a
mans face as nearly as l could. This
placed in the middle of the first page, with
line under 1t stating that it was 'por-
trait of the murderer. Beyond any ques.
ton that was tho oldest specimen of the
sngrayer's art ever turned out in A merion.
The head had more angles than a geometry
ever described; the eye YVES three cor
nered white spot made with the corner OF
the chisel, and the forehead was covered
with bumps which would have given @
phrenologist spasms. But it went al
right. The old rickety press was slow, and
l had to run off tho editorial ahead Of
time. 1t was printed and piled away in O
'ooia warning Aux VIC uppoihUou uhy
to come.
"In the meantime the murderer was
about town as usual, except that he wai
drunken than ordinarily, because overy orc
seemed to feel 1t an honor to drink with d
man who was SO soon to be the center OF
popular interest. Whenever no could walk
he went strutting about town like pea
cock.
1.-Two days before the hanging somebody
learned that my boom edition as printed
and immediately the Office was besiegcd b,
citizens who wanted to see the paper. Al
first l refused, but soon the crowd begai
to offer bonus for the paper, and fount
l could sell out then and realize just M
much as l could by waiting, so ! took il
the cnsh and let the papers go. They wen
like hot cakes. T. he murderer himself wa!
among the first TO get a copy, and al! hougi
he couldn't read, he seemed greatly inter
ested in the wnodcut he cama irtO IL,
Office TO assure himself that there was J.,
mistake about 1t, and told him it was al