The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1897-09-02
4oni9an, Chief Of Police.
BY WARREN McvEIGH.

OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
7 ONIGAN was the chief Of police of
Ia the great and aourishing town of
Boulder, Ariz. He was no ordinary
man, either in appearance or in deeds.
He was over six feet five inches tall,
about as thick through the chest as he
was through the legs, and his legs were
nothing to speak of. He weighed, in
fact, at the least, IS or 100 pounds.
Lonigan never owned horse, but he
had racing burro, Nancy Hanks, and
when the burro got tired Lonigan had
but to put his feet down on the ground
and carry the burro along under him
until he was rested.
Lonigan had never had much chance
to prove what his merits as a policeman
were, in Boulder, for an ordinance
was passed the very first thing that, to
insure the growth of the town, no shoot
ing would be tolerated by the COM
munity. The male population was not
very large. We all had the welfare of
the town at heart, and it would not do
to kill off our own population. 1t was
therefore generally understood that
murder, justifiable or not, meant lynch
ing.
Lonigan's duties, therefore, up to the
time of which am about to write, con-
sisted merely of keeping the dogs off
the grass, which, it was understood,
would grow in our plaza if it had half
chance. Every morning at eight
o'clock Lonigan would assemble at po-
lice headquarters, an elegant room in
the capacious town hall, call the roll
which didn't take long, for Lorigan
was the whole police force-and then
he would go to work.
Lonigan thirsted for glory. He
would tell us of his great deeds, and
anyone with half an ear could under
stand how much Lonigan was anxious
for good murder mystery. And final
ly the desired opportunity came along.
Snip Wilkins shot and instantly killed
Bud Gaylord. Snip did not wait long
to get out Of town. Half an hour after
the murder was committed he was no.
where to be found.
The chief of police was on the
ground at once. He asked great
many questions, and examined the
blood-stains with a small magnifying
glass. He shook his head great many
times, and by not telling anyone what
he thought about it ali, naturally Great
ed a good impression. A half-hour's
examination and cross-examinatio
convinced him that he knew all about
the murder.
'Snip done it," he declared, finally,
to the crowd.
you darned old fool,' said Tom
Gable, tive knew that half an hour ago."
''Leave him alone" said Cross, the
newspaper man. "Every man on a jury
knows that a murder has been commit
ted, but has to sit for weeks and find
it out. He's done the jury work in half
an hour
''I'll catch him." said the chief.
Then he called to Manuel, his servant,
to bring Nancy Hanks around.
Nancy, all saddled and ready for a
long trip, was trotted out, and the
chief took reef in his legs and mount
ed, his steed.
IF I send for anything" he said, "let
me have it, at once. Depend upon me.
I didn't find out who stole that leak
in the gas-pipe at Texarkana for moth
ing"
Then he kicked Nancy in the ribs and
rode off in a cloud of dust. We cheered
him to the echo, and he disappeared
over the desert to the southeast.
That was the last we saw or heard of
him for a week. Gaylord had been
buried with military honors, and Boul-
der had almost forgotten all about his
murder and the chief of police, the first
birth having come along about that
time to give us fresh excitement to
talk about. In fact, we had just about
decided that the lion Lonigan and the
lamb Wilkins had lain down together,
and that the lion had awakened on the
wrong side of the lamb, when one fine
day we received d telegram from him.
The telegram was dated Arcadia, Tex,
and read:
''Send down the cannon to me by ex-
press at once.'
The cannon was one of Boulder's insti-
tutions. It had once belonged at Fort
Marcy, in New Mexico, where it had
done some service against the Indians.
The cannon stood in front of the new
courthouse, and on the Fourth of July
played a star part in our celebrations.
We could not imagine what Lonigan
could possibly want with it, but as it
was the middle of the winter season,
the Fourth of July some six months
off, and the Apaches at peace with the
surrounding country, we decided to
send it to Lonigan, and the next day
the whole town saw it of on the ex-
press train, bound for Arcadia, Tex.
A week passed, and then we got an
other telegram from Lonigan. It read;
GIVE got him, and will arrive on the
$3.50 train tonight"
A great cheer rent the air, and Judge
Breeder was at once elected chairman
of the vigilance committee. Tom Gable,
the undertaken, had already made the
coffin, and so all we had to do was to
wait for Lonigan. While waiting we
held a meeting and decided that as it
wa winter time and not much going