The Penn's Grove record., 1899-04-07
TALES OF PLUCK
and ADVENTURE.



Face to Face with the Dalton Gang.
Rev. r. B. Foster had long been
known as a champion of law and tenn
perance when the little incident hap
pened which is told below. He en-
tered Kansas in the early days with
John Brown.
Soon after the war he moved into
Western Kansas with his family, and
Tor twenty years stood for righteous
aess and temperance, taking an active
part in the battles for prohibition in
that State.
When Oklahoma was thrown open
Tor settlement, he saw a chance to
throw his fighting weight against
wrong, SO he entered the Territory as
Congregational minister and stood
for prohibition.
About twenty miles from where he
vas preaching the notorious gang OF
bandits, known as the Dalton gang,
had their rendezvous. For four
years Mr.. Foster had poured forth
volley after volley of facts and figures
into the camp of the enemy of all good
-intemperance. About this time a
desperate deed was committed by one
Of the Dalton gang IN a saloon near
by, and Mr.. Foster used the occasion
to express himself publicly upon the
relation between the liquor business
and lawlessness and crime. Not many
days afterward he received al invita-
lion from the leading men of the viii
lage, where Dalton was king, to come
and deliver a Fourth of July Grafton.
To the utter surprise and discomfort
Of the entire gang, he accepted.
The Da.tons were there in full
number. Dinner was eaten rather
quietly. At 2 p. M. the leader called
the assembly to order, and announced
Rev. DIR. Foster as the speaker of the
lay. Intense excitement prevailed.
What would be the subject of his ora
lion? What would he say? Would
he dare beard the lion in his den, the
Dalton in his lair? Almost deathlike
stiffness prevailed when he announced
his acknowledgements the Child
of Satan, and Lawlessness the Child
Of Intemperance: The Two Great
Evils That Menace Our Free Insti-
buttons"
The writer was in the audience, and
ae saw hands, as though Involuntary,
grasp their revolvers. The speaker
said: Ladies and Gentlemen, Eel
low C~itizens.-I am very glad of an
opportunity to address this audience
upon the subject of law and order,
because my words shall be appropriate
to this assembly, and probably new to
the most of you"
A ~red-haired, iery-tempered young
man, sitting just in front of me, turned
his head to a man of some fifty years
of age, and said, "How dare he?" In
very calm and dignifed ann the
speaker went On to show how the very
gang before him had its headquarters
in a saloon, and many, if not most, of
their lawless schemes were Matched
out from brains excited by liquor.
He showed how the very success of
that band of men acted to stimulate
Iawlessness in the land. And as a
republic was possible only among a
law-abiding and intelligent people,
these men were traitors to their coun-
try. As the speaker proceeded in
this direct manner, he grew more and
more fearless, but never careless Of
his language. In the midst Of the
oration the speaker irritated the sandy
youth. He grasped his revolver and
started to draw it from its scabbard.
When the old man sitting by saw the
motion of the youth, he placed his
hand upon his friend and said:
Jack, be careful. Look at that old
mans eye. He knows where he is,
and what he is doing, and my word
for it he is prepared for anything. We
called the doctor, and we must take
our medicine with as much grace as
the men do when we have the drop on
them" During the purse of twenty
minutes, which was the length of the
address, I'saw three or four revolvers
drawn. But their owners thought
better of the act, and replaced them
in the s~cabbards. After the address,
we drove home home Immediately, but
we were followed for three miles by a
party of bandits, probably acting as
an escort. Guy Foster, in The New
Voice.