The times., 1898-06-26
BOWIE AND HIS KNIFE.
The Necessity Which Gave Birth to
the Invention.
tFrom Harper's Magazine.)

The Necessity which Gave Birth to
the Invention.
(From Harpers Magazine.)
AS hunter James Bowie did more than
credit TO his blood and training Off
hand with rifle ne could bring down a
wild goose flying high overhead and put
| the bullet in the neck five times out of
seven. But craftsmanship bordering on
! the marvellous was a common attribute
thereabout- What gave the young saw
| yer distinction was another story.
Several sorts of another story, in fact
| He could not merely shoot deer running
| but lasso them in fair chase over the
prairie give them fall. and if it pleased
| him so to do, fetch them in alive and un-
! harmed. He could likewise lasso a horse
from the wild herds, mount him without
| anybody's help. and stay upon his back.
no matter what was done, until the terri
| fled beast had run himself tame. By way
! of variety, sometimes the asso was cast
over big bun alligator waddling from
! swamp to swamp. When it had been
drawn taut, holding tail and jaws in
/ leash. young Bowie mounted the scaly
back and rode there, laughing and shout
/ ing. while the astounded saurian went
/ believing with rage toward his swampy
/ haunts.
/ The United States had not long suo-
pressed the slave trade. There were pIen-
~, STILL of lowdand planters, with money
| in both pockets ready TO buy whatever
/ of black ivory" other men would fetch
| in. LATTE. the Louisiana pirate, kept up
| the business of such fetching in. His
1 heunts Were no great ways from the
/ Bowie habitat; moreover, yonng James
was in the way of coming upon the Di-
/ rate whenever the business of board
| rafting took him 10 New Orleans He was
too sarcwdly American not TO grudge
| such fair profits TO a pack OF foreigners.
In company with his brother, Rein
Bowie. jr., and two others of like ad-
venturous minds. he undertook to get
al fair sharing in it.
Money was needed 10 begin Bowie
sold mis- land 10 get il. Then the four
entered into treaty with Lafitte He sold
them sound and likely blacks off his
slayeships at the rate OF dollar a pound
/ That made the average price something
like hundred and forty dollars the head.
1 In the open market the blacks r-ouhi
fetch from FIVE hundred TO a thousand
each But there was another and bet
| ter chance Of gain, which the trading
! crew were quick TO seize upon. Under
the laws then standing. all Africans
brought in in violation of the statute were
confiscated and sold out of hand one
haf the price going 10 the authorities,
the other 10 the informer. Bowie and
his comrades made a practice OF inform
ing upon themselves; then when the
slaves were seized and sold they bid them
in pocketed half the money they paid
and found themselves free 10 offer their
purchases whereSOeYer they chose. For
he blacks were now lawfully within
United States boundaries. and com
modify as staple and as marketable a
cotton.
The profit was enormous-nobody ever
i'd against the partners at the forced
tles, though there We're a lively CRYING
tnd a swift mounting of prices al the
later Vendings. Altogether the company
realized profit of some $4,000 within
couple of years But the business in
volved such mummery and hummery of
false names. pretended disguises. and
pretended seizures that the Bowies pret-
" soon tired of il. They dissolved it.
ana at least set about spending as siren
uously as they had gone about making.
! Upon fine Summer day James Bowie
found himself unarmed yet attacked
shot and left for dead. II was in what
was upon the surface i political quarrel
Bowie was not ambitious for himself but
had an inveterate habit of backing and
defending friends Of his own party Most
| likely some tang of personal affront or
grievance gave edge and acridness TO the
peraments that mind a blow less than
the memory of contemptuous laugh
Bowie had perhaps laughed once too Oft
en-, and came near to paying for it with
his life.
Three months of wrestling with fever.
deliTium. weakness as of a child and ne
was up. riding hard. betting high swear
ing great oaths altogether himself again.
/ But with difference. He began to spec
ulate in land. with fair success: further
he was never unarmed. 1t was before the
time of bulldogs. swamp angels and the
ike hip-pocket friends. Either the horse
pistol or the hair-trigger duelling pistol
was i'll to carry about ones daily con-
Germs. Bowie found a way out of that.
For his hunting no had made a local
! blacksmith forge him sharp. keen knife
from what had been originally the black
smiths own rasp. II had a two-edged
blade, nine inches long, OF a family curv-
ed outline, and thick enough at the back
where it Joined the handle to serve for
sturdy hammerlng. For this he caused
neat spring-sheath to be made, attached
il to a belt and wore it constantly.
To the public mind duels were really
a necessity. The man who would not
fight 'at the drop of a hat. and drop it
himself, was soon made to feel that he
had very much better not have been born.
There were progressive duels too. from
which the popular mind no more revolt
ed than 1t does in this era from progress
i've whist or euchre. 1t was one of
them which gave Bowie and his knife TO
fame. In some way there had come to
be bad blood. black and bitter between
him and a certain Col Norris Wright
After long pickering it was agreed to
meet upon the levee opposite NatCheZ.
Miss. each with half a dozen friends,
duly armed, and there shoot the matter
, out. There were a dozen on each side
when it came to fighting. The battle
was arranged to begin with threes, the
rest standing by, and coming in only
when those of the first fight were dead
, | or disabled. But they had mscalcuiated
their own self-control. After the first
fire there was a general melee-the re-
serves to a man gripped pistols hard.
drew knife-belts to a handy clutch, and
went into the combat to do or die.
In Texas he set his hand to another
sort of fighting. In 1881. with his brother
Rein six other men. and a boy, he set
out upon raiding and exploring eXpe-
, dition through the heart of the Co
manche country. AT six days travel from
possible succor he found his party as
sailed by 500 mounted warriors. CO.
. manches ALL who rode like wind. yet
! shot with deadly aim. Resistance SEEM
ed hopeless in the face of odds so great.
, Bowie took the one desperate chance left
him-and won the game.
He divided his forces, stationing three
in one skirt of woods, with the pack-ani-
mails, and scattering the rest about a
/, more considerable arborage. Each was
fully armed-had rife, knife. and pistols.
Powder and lead were plenty; also where
j,i,l I, 4