The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1897-12-07
hIhEo A pkepERXno-
yudgs Alexander Thus Gained Hspuss-
tion as q Bad Man.

territory of Oklahoma than all tho
desperadoes in that section take to
cover" said h. G. Sparks-of Kansas
City. "He has the reputation Of be-
ing dangerous man down In thsst
country, and that means something
in place where every other mah
one meets is likely to have record
of n half dozen notches on his gun.
One wouldn't take Alexander to be
as bloodthirsty as nm Apache to
look at him, for ho is a slim man,
with sandy complexion, full red
beard and mustache, dresses stylish
ly and always smiles like a man
who had been married but 4s hours.
He is of middle age and Is as. active
as panther. In Kansas City his
reputation as a mild hammered gen.
tleman is superb--it is only in Okla
homa that he is considered a LAD
man.. When Oklahoma was opened
for settlement in 1888, Mr.. Alexan-
der was then, as now, In the 1umber
business. He was one Of the hrst
boomers TO jump into tho new fard
of promise and cop out his due
portion of the milk and honey by
selling pine board at 3l3 per cent
net profit During those boom days
of 'sooners' and spectators IN Okla.
homa whole towns Of 5000 people
were laid out in single day, and
the pine board business was better
than half tho gold claims in the
Klondike. Mr.. Alexander had a
lumber yard in every city and town
in Oklahoma. He was, in fact, the
lumber king of the now territory.
lie traded in town lots and even
town sites on the side and mixed in
politics too. For instance, he head
cd q procession of boomers that
went into the Cherokee strip when
that excitement was on, and in one
night they laid off town Of white
tents, covered wagons and staked
lots.
Before morning mass meeting
of 1000 people in circus tent elect
ed Mr.. Alexander mayor, and they
christened the town Willow
Springs The next morning the
United States troops came along
and notified the people that the
president Of the United States had
not yet given the order for the set
tlement of the strip, and that they
would have TO skedaddle back fnts
Kansas So the first town sf Willow
Springs, with its LOO inhabitants,
1900 dogs, Mayor Alexander ard
the entire city council, was wiped of
the map in jiffy.
"All this timo Mr.. Alexander WAS
wearing high top boots, a soMbrsro,
brace of six shooters, heavy sywrv,
etc, and was riding bronchc. Whcn
he wanted to do 50, he eos7a 1ook
more dangerous than the vf71sil IA
Dutch drama. In those exciting
times, Madam Rumor says, hfs. Al.
eXander was compelled to tnho =
shot at two or three obstreperous
men, but ho admits himself that hs
never caused an increase In the pop
ulation of cemetery. So far as
craftsmanship goes, Mr.. Alexander,
take it, is something on the order
Of Mark Twain's character IN
Roughing 1t who shot at a tsrgee
and killed decrepit mule 30 yards
to the right. But the peopls IN Ofta-
homa didn't know this. Thsy saia,
why, this Kansas CITY teiir'h
shoot. So they put AlexsHdur deva
as a bad man. He may have bssa
running bluff for aught I know.
but Mr.. Alexander did soaaS-
thing that few people were aware
OF, and thereby he could afford to
be brave. He employed body
guard ia the person of notorious
desperate, who, armed to the teeth
with six shooters, winchester and
G. scalping knife, accompanied him
wherever he went-just like the
lamb did little Mary. This Desperate
had killed II men and had winged
Is that he didn't want to kill. Mr..
Alexander had written contract to
pay this desperate $75 a month to
protect his life, and in the event the
Desperate was killed he was to re-
ceive Christian burial at the ex-
pense of Alexander. In Oklahoma
in those days this sort of protection
beat life insurance all hollow. The
result was that Mr. Alexander, ex-
mayor of the l2-hour- old town OF
Willow Springs, made money in
Oklahoma and lived to lie q judga
IL 4 horse show in st, Louis nine
years later. st. Louis Globe DEM
Ocrat.
Tho Civin Reorganization of japan.
The reorganization of the whole
fabric of public administration was
che of the first cares of the impartial
government after the restoration.
1t may be said III general that tks
aim WAS TO establish sn sAmias-
trative system based as far ~ vrss-
Ecabic upon western mcae4s. An Q
necessary result, the fc~Avi lx-ah
eurrondercd their hefdorxs 10 ~
central government and all thefr az