The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-26
LIKED TO CHANGE GHOSTS.
THAT, Mr.. ALICE SAID, WAS WHY
HE KILLED so MANY MEN.

A Texas DeaperndO with n senoo or Humor ana
. Ready Pistol-EiEht Ghosts In His Train
Tho Last an Editor who YVES Eloquent
Whom Drunk ana Repentant when Sober.
Once upon a time when Alfred Alice was half
drunk and wholly good.naturcd a San Antonio
man asked him why he had killed 80 many per
sons. Leaning with his back against the bar
counter. with his hands thrust deep into his
pockets and a queer look on his ugly face, he
made answer.
Because I like to change ghosts"
He 10 q ghost himself now. A year ago, in
Laredo. three Mcxicans who hated him found
him in his shirt sleeves, weaponless and in
toxicated. They set to work on him with
knives. He was incapable Of resistance. and
said nothing more than:
Don't do thati You don't know what you
nre doing. Don't do thatr'
He had eight wounds on him when picked up,
and every ono OF them went to the hollow. He
was q thoroughly butchered man. Each of tho
knife stabs represented a life that he had taken.
Alice was an accurate shot. remarkably
swift with his pistol, and one of the
most coolly desperate men tho Rio Grande
frontier has known. The passion for slaughter
seemed to grow on him. and In the last decade
Of his life he killed four men in ARRAYS. For
each OF these killings he stood trial in the courts
and was acquitted. sometimes on the plea Of
self-defcnce and sometimes for no reason at all
that any one could seq Occasionally he was
drunk when making his record, but not always.
He was a merciless man at all times. and whis-
key did not make him any moro or any less
murderous.
Alfred Alice was born In northwestern Texas,
and followed the business of all natives. That
Is to say, he was a ranchman. He had only n
common school education, and early developed
traits OF wildness. He consorted habitually
I xrtth tIa 49,, atlor ,n - = ~ tha an, 40, orl ,-oo
a frequent figure at dances, horse races, and
cockhghts. He was a desperate gambler when
once engaged, and those who dealt for him were
careful to deal square," More than once he
was accused of standing in with the many gangs
of cattle thieves with which the country was in
tested. but this was never proved. 1t is certain
that he was q rigidly upright man in business.
and his word was as good as his bono.
The first four murders with which he was
charged were ordinary affairs Of the ranch. the
cow camp, and tho cattle trail. The victims
were Mexicans or cowboys Of no prominence.
and they brought their slayer no great amount
Of reputation. He was known as a man who
would shoot quickly and well. and one upon
whom it was hard to get the drop. but he was
not classed with the gilt-edged killers, of whom
something like a dozen owned the Rio Grande
country. Alice was not brought into immediate
the oven tenor OF his way. killing an obscure
person now and then. but exciting no special
About this time he moved to Pesrsall. the
shipping. cattle. 1t was at tho height Of the
"nester" excitement Pasture fences were cut
nightly. cattle were stolen by the hundred head
The ranchmen Of Frio county formed tho Cat
tlemen's Protective Association, and made 9
business of running down the thieves. Some OF
them were tried and sent TO the pcnltentiary,
bn good many more quietly Disappeared. 4
a ts HoaS nt the p%ontSa Of o 5ead,ef and No1anb sr
vultures were plentiful about the mesquite
grown pastures of Frio county. Now and then
foated down the Frio River. simultaneously
the cattle business began to pay larger diyt
Seeasiv d de Wse eGt t SR9w Ai,e eee WAS out ont IL s spt tSs
most trusted and effective. agents Of the Cattle
mems Protective Association. His former init
tionsl advantages, and he Utilized them. 4
choice was offered to him. and he wisely dc
order.
Rc.established in the good graces Of thu
them. his desire to kill somebody not q rustlei
got the better Of him. Tho affair brought hin
Into Rto State Pr PsOmine nice, = The ~ Iie5i II ?, !; was 7 nance =
Pearsall. He reached for his pistol. but Alle'
had him covered before his fingers touched thu
butt and he went dead in his tracks. Rhode
was well connected in the lower counties ant
his slayer, was bitterly prosecuted: Self,dofenc'
was ~ plcd hhu IubLlllNprO Nv lub y
dict. This affair cost Alice all tho money b,
had made from the cattlemen and he went t,
Boarding an International and Great North
ern passenger train At Cotulla, La Sale county
one night, he Gnarrelled With a negro car porter y
put him OF the train. Alice killed him. o
course. was arrested. and gave bail. Once NOR
! to look upon him as worthy t, wear the mantle
of Ben Thompson and Bill Longley and San
Bass and a host of other worthless who had gon
before.
A ! that time train robbery in Texas was
Distributed their favors impartinlly among tn
various lines. II a Oouid train was held up on
, ,roi6 w It Tss se q se fSGGT tai mSyot that Well hun savsrn
humorous features wore introduced whicl
. marked the crimes as the product of one maste
clothes was forced to surrender his coat. waist
coat q H. trousers; shirt shirt; CAR "a and shGSs; ana brinI
7 express messenger proved obstinate abou
o]peniHF. his safe, and bis sars were sul
! in the left. An, ancient maiden lady OF prinn
> ness and p%ropriety was made to play q grila
. rSso% craving p6o to a G sEnE aHyef +, ie esms to 70 8
j.. known that the fuG'l9yinE leader was
2 6ers, called him Capt. Dick. The country
tbinly settled. %coverei with chnpparal an
=, Capt: DICKS operations increased in Soidnes
= and frequency until rewa: Ids aggregating 81, 90
. An entire company Of STATE Hangers wa
= = put upon his trail. as well as a hundred sp'
, him that he quit train robbing and devote
I AL his time to dodgipC about in tho brush,
! Alice. whom lie had known well in the old day
q He could not have made a worse move, allie
y n told him that he could camp. in the ranch yar'
was preparing his breakfast. and took a sea, 0
q pleosIntly for awhile. As the train robbt
! stepped to lift a pot OF coffee from the Goa
q Alice shot him through the brain. and he fe
u with his face In the ashes. This asssssinI
tion brought the FTio county man still MOI
fame. He was co graduated up0n having ri
the country of a very desperate villain, and co
lected the rewards.
A man named ". G. Bowen ran a week.
paper called the Ledger In the little town of G
b tuila. twenty miles from Pearsall. Bowen WI
OF a type not infrequent among country editor
lie had ideas about standing in The forefront
the battle for the rights OF man: he regarded Il
press in general, and the, Ledger In particula
as the palladium of our liberties; no thought
his duty to act as censor of the public, and |
y would write things when drunk that would tuI
"a Nh, y,1a 10 rand Iyhan gnhar Ho unf IN inIn IA