The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-06
VERY TOUGH r
some or the Foruner Inhabitants or ellsworth
and HAYS CltJ.

From the Indianapolis Journal.
Ellsworth - shouted n brakeman on the
Union Pacific Railway, Kansas division, as tho
train swept through n prairie valley and slowed
up at a sleepy, cottonwood.shaded. prairie-en-
circlcd western Kansas town. To the left could
be seen n largo and peculiar building located on
the outskirts OF the village.
what Is that building r. l asked Of the gray.
bearded man who had shared my seat for the
last twenty miles.
THAT Is the Grand Army grounds and build
ing" he said. ut belongs to the old soldiers.
and they hold n reunion there every summer"
They have picked on a very quiet town in
which to rendezvous. l remarked.
YES; this is n quiet town now. but I can re-
member, thirty years ago, when Ellsworth was
hell's half acre; yes, worse than that, for all tho
couldn't have boon crowded on to less than hcll's
half section. Times was mighty dull in Ellis
the Coroner six days in the week. and he gener-
ally had TO work overtime on Sundays. II was
taSG iG me1sS on Rl" %s. on n tnS P Phs ii H"Iil t tSaE Ef,,.
gamblers, md their female companions followed
on to Hays City. Then the carnival Of crime and
the contract for nlling tho graveyard was trans
fcrred to HAYS. But toby both towns are as
quiet and, orderly rs q New England village.
in Ellsworth permanently and became quiet citi-
zens-after they became residents Of the grave
Apache Biii, scout and tough. took up a por.
manent residence out yondcr because q bar.
tender got the drop on him one night and added
OF lead placed where It would do tho most good.
Comstock Charley. a half-hreed Cheyenne scout,
came n quiet citizen OF the place whore they
planted 'cm In those days. on account Of q. pune
Curly Marshall. another bad man, Was also a
killer from killSrstown, but one night ho went
% %P ss1 ihs ai Iass SSls ended { TS %Si,n ssSG iarnisihe spa d
job for the Coroner. Nolan was arrested In
Texas, brought to Ellsworth, tried and acquitted
s%f i 'P mie ifSa'p "Wiidy Bin gained his fame at
Why i S,.s' % Sn sh %, hS Sndi x n,s0 B s,a f Popt Garr nn
actor, at Marshall, Tcx. l knew jim Curry
when ne was an engineer on this road. He be;
they settled down in Hays City. keeping a little
restaurant there. There was q regiment of
groes took offence at Jim because he refused to
serve them with meals at his house, They came
shooting, and when he quit, Uncle. SANS army
was decinatcd to some extent; four OF them
were removed from the pay roll.
"Wild Bill wns u nervy man and did some
killing IN his day. and he might have lived
longer on II he had not grown careless You see,
pecting trouble. and was always on, guard. Bill
for years had never allowed himself to get into
yer were not master OF tho situation. but he did
allow the drop to be got on him twice to my
the next fiimonweii. Bill W Was ! gone m%S himself when
the second time came to a climax.
IL will tell you the story of the time ! was
to kill unless it was in self-dcfcnse or there was
no other way to secure the peace and quiet Bin
IL he could. forcibly II he must. Jim Curry was
a coward. but he was determined to acquire a
reputation as a bad man. and MS Bill Hickok
held tho championship of the world at that time
as a killer. Curry, thought he might safely run, q
blur on Wild Bin. So ne sent Bill word he would
kill him on sight. not that he had anything
against Bill. but Curry had gone into the killing
business, and he proposed to hold the centre of
orgy and aptitude in his business. Bill paid no
attention to Curry's talk, not considering him in
his class.
excitablc German. Wild Bills tall form and
long. black hair doomed up at a table in the back
part Of the room. His back. YVES toward Curry
standing directly behind Bill. Before any one
suspected what he would do he had his gun
against Bills head. and said. Now, you long.
die nilll never batted an eye, nor moved a
muscle, but said. You wouldn't shoot u man
down without givin' him a, show to defend his
life. would your 'wouldn'tI II What show did
you ever give any one, you ---
TT Dutchman was dancing around like
mnd. imploTing Jim to put up bis gun. and for
ton was finally accepted. Wild Bill and jim
Curry shook hands. after which Bill said: Now,
Jim. l got nothin' agin you. and ! don't want to
ton. there's a town full OF tenderfeet here and
lots o sassy Niger soldiers. Go practice on
them; you'll have to git more of EN- to give you
a reputation. and 1t will take more time to git
thar than il you held a discussion with me. blu,
! think you will live longer TO enjoy 1t. and be
happier than il you kept up projectin' with me
So now less ies, drop this. or l may get the idea
into my head that you're in earnest, an that
might be bad for you.'