The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-01-12
HE LIKED TO
CHANGE GHOSTS.
THIS WAS THE REASON ALFRED
ALLEE KILLED EIGHT OF
HIS FELLOWS.

his hands thrust deep into his pockets
and a queer look on his ugly face, he
made answer:
because l like to change ghosts"
He is a ghost himself now. \ year
ago, in Laredo, three Mexicans who
hated him found him in his shirt
sleeves, weap0nless and intoxicated.
They set to work on him with knives.
He was incapable Of resistance, and
said nothing more than:
Don't do that You don't know
what you are doing. Don't do that.'
He had eight wounds on him when
picked up, and every one Of them went
to the hollow. He was a thoroughly
butchered man. Each of the knife
stabs represented q life that he had ta-
ken. Alice was an accurate shot, re-
markably swift with his pistol and ore
of the most coolly desperate men the
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 ati'rays. For
each Of these killings he stood trial in
the courts and was acquitted, sometimes
on the plea Of self-defense and sOnle-
times for no reason at all that any one
could see. Occasionally he was drunk
when making his record, but not al
ways. He was a mercilcss man at all
times, and whisky did not make him
any mere or any less muTderOus.
Alfred Alice was born in Southwest
ern Texas and followed the business Of |
all natives. That is to say, he was n
ranchman. He had only common
school education and early developed
traits of wildness. He consorted hab- |
itualIy with the rustler part Of the pop
ulatiOn and was a frequent figure at /
dances, horse races and cock fights He /
was desperate gambler when once en- /
gagged, 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 infested, |
but this vas never proved. Its certain |
that he was a rigidly upright man in
business and his word was as good as
his bond.
The first four murders with which he I
was charged were ordinary affairs the |
ranch, the cow camp and the cattle I
trail The victims were Mexicans or
cowboys of no prominence, and they /
brought their slayer no great amount Of I
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 GraHde !
country. Alice WAS not brought into
immediate contact with any one Of
them, which was perhaps good thing
f T them, and he went along the even
tenor Of his way, killing an obscure
person now and then, but exciting no
special comment or remark.
About this time he moved to Pearsall,
the county seat of Frio county, and en-
gagged in shipping cattle. 1t was at the
height of the "nesterp excitement.
Pasture fences were cut nightly, cattle
were stolen by the hundred head and
tSe rough element was in the ascendant.
The Rsnehmen Of FriO county formed
the Cattltmen's Protective Association
and made a business Of running down
the thieves. Some Of them were tried
and sent to the peniteniiary, but good
many more quietly disappeared. 1t
was given out that they had fled the
country, and no one made particular
inquiry for them. All through the
months Of October and November, 1885,
however, it was noticed that the Mex
lean vultures were plentiful about the
mesquite grown pastures Of FTiO county.
Now and then a corpse with a good
many bullet holes in it floated down the
FriO river. simultaneously the cattle
business began to pay larger dividends
Ii was not known then, but it subse-
quently developed that Alice was one
Of the most trusted and effective agents
of the Cattlemen's Protective AssOcia-
ton. His former intimacy with the
rustler clement gave him exceptional
advantages, and be utilized them. \
choice was offered to him, and he wise
ly decided to range himself on tie de
Of law and order.
Re-established in the good graces Of
the wealthy men Of that section and
well paid by them, his desire to kill
somebody not a rustler got the beltsr
of him. The affair brought him Into
State prominence. The victim was
named Rhodes. He was shot on the
public square Of Pearsall. He reached
for his pistol, but Alice had him cover
cred before his fingers touched the butt
and be went dead in his tracks.
Rhodes was well connected in the low
er counties and his slayer was bitterly
prosecuted. Self fdefense was the plea
and justifiable homicide the verdict.
This affair cost Alice all the money he
had made from the cattlemen and he
went to drinking.
Boarding an international and Great
Northern passenger train at COtulla,