El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-03-02

leans, others native prod ucts and all
more troublesome from the fact that
increased vigilance on the Mexican
side of the Rio Grande tended to con-
] fine the operations of such persons to
Texas. The rangers made in the years
1889 80 $40 arrests. mostly of desperate
| criminals, among them 76 murderers,
16O cattle thieves aud % robbers and
burglars. Although Mexican outrsges
| had decreased in number and the In
dams had utterly disappeared from
the state, the rangers from December
1890, to Nov. 80, 1892, made more than
900 arrests.
The story of the ranger service is
one long record of unwavering fidelity
to duty during all the sixty years and
more in which it's members have
guarded the lives, liberties and pro-
perty of their fellow citizens. No
gaudy trappings nor gay equipment
have any place in their outfit; no bugle
calls them and no flags float above
them in their swift and silent rides;yet
none the less surely has this remark
able organization ever shown itself adj
mirRbly adapted to the times and con-
| dit'ons under which it has developed.
In all the elements of true courage
and earnestness, in ready obedience,
efficiency and patriotic devotion, its
| record has been surpassed by that of
nobody of constabulary ever mustered.
Any unmarried man over Is years of
age is eligible as q ranger, but it is an
exceedingly difficult matter to get into
the organization. Courage. physical
soundness, frst-rate horsemanship,
precision with firearms and steady
habits are the requisites for member
ship. The term of enlistment is one
year. The ranger furnishes his horse,
accOuterments and arms, while the
state furnishes food for the men, for
age, ammunition, medicine and me-
dical attendance. The pay of captains
| is 800 month, of sergeants $50
The force is made up Of young men,
sober, well-ordered and, as rule, fair
ly we'll educated. The rangers of to.
day attend to business in the same
thorough fashion as their predecessors
aud in small bands of six or eight men
they pursue and capture the worst
desperadoes of the border counties.
In the equipment of it's men and Off
GERS but scant regard is paid to militia
ry law and precedent. Each ranger
dresses as he pleases. experience hav-
ing taught him the best outfit for util
ity and comfort on his amending round
of duty. He usually wears a corduroy
coat, with reversible waterproof lining,
heavy riding 'rousers and boots we'll
spurred, q flannel shirt, buckskin
gloves and big hat. For arms, he
f sorie Knife short snd 'a colss sis
shooter, which is not strapped
close to his body, but hangs almost to
his knee, it having been found that
thus suspended there is less risk of the
weapon catching when drawn in hur-
~. In his BELT are his cartridges. And,
so accoutered, he is always ready to
mount and ride. 1--WE live in the sad
die, and the sky is our roof" say the
true, for the greater part of their time
is passed In active pursuit of criminals.
The raiding ranger takes horse
where he will. and may arrest or
search in any part of Texas.
A veteran ranger is held in deep re-
spect all over Texas. Every town tn at
is the home of a very old ranger-one
who fought under Sam Houston or
went through the war--gives first
veteran ranger is naturally the most
popular man in the precinct. His
foibles are overlooked and his old
clothes are hallowed. An old ranger
may have almost anything that the
border counties have to bestow, and it
is from retired rangers that sherif1s
and other county officers are usually
ex-rangers, and when the members
Assem- BILE and are in the mood visitor
may have some of the most thrilling
anecdotes and stories he ever heard or
read.
Active rangers, when in camp. en-
ploy their time cleaning their arms and
training their horses. There is very
little of what an army officer would call
military drill. A ranger is expected
81 nj fnh 60 ai1 til
and accurate shot. Every one of them
is all of that and more. No crack cav
alryman in any army in all Europe can
mount horse quicker and dash in
pursuit Of an enemy with greater
celebrity than Texas ranger. He
can keep constant blaze of fire pour
ing out of Winchester when his horse
is going at the top of his speed and his
bullets will hit the mark nine times
out of ten. His Winchester empty, he
seizes the bride reins between his
teeth, and, with q revolver in either
hand, he can rain bullets in to mans
body at q distance of 100 yards. Should
he drop anything or sea anything ly-
ing on the ground that he wants, he
does not even check the speed of his
horse, but, bending from the saddle as
if he were made of India rubber, he
picks the object from the ground.
Though little suspicious OF starn-
gers, the rangers are.very clever and
hospitable to gentlemen who come into
their camp armed with the proper
credentials. AT night, around their
camp fires, they are constantly telling
stories of their own.or some comrades
Many of them are men of
superior education, and since they are
constant readers of newspapers, no
class of frontier people are more enter
tanning. In listening to the hisory of
their many battles and ahardships one
wonders that they would continue in