The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-02-25
DISARMAMENT IN ARIZONA.
How 1t Was Accomplished by a
Clever Fireman in Tombstone.

CleVer Fireman IN IOm DSCOne.
From the New Orleans Times Democrat.
This newspaper talk about the cars
disarmament scheme" said q western
man, reminds me of something that
happened III Tombstone, Ariz., when
that place was the hottest hamlet on
the whole frontier. There were two
factions in town at the time, and every
body predicted that a big pitched bat
tie was liable to occur at any moment.
The split grew out of an old quarrel
between the cowboys and certain self
constituted authorities. and was COM
plicated by so many side issues that
nobody knew exactly what it was
about. All that was perfectly clear
was that two good-siZed crowds Were
zigzagging about town waiting for
some tritie to start the fracas Every
member of both parties was armed to
the teeth and afraid to lay aside his
shooting Irons for a moment lest he
be taken at disadvantage. In addi-
tion to the regulation brace of 45-caliber
Colts. most Of them carried sawed-oft'
shotguns. These weapons We're very
popular in Arizona in the early days,
and were ordinary breech-loaders with
the barrels amputated some eight
inches above the locks, making just
about the ugliest machine that mortal
man ever gaEed into. When loaded
with half a. pint or so of slugs it would
kill everything in an acre lot except
the gentleman directly behind the gun.
Nobody ever thought Of firing the
things from the shoulder. but turned
them loose at the hip, and the modish
way Of carrying them was by loop of
clothes line tied at one end to the belt
and at the other to ring in the breech
plate. Local dudes used to go about
twirling them like mOnocles. Well, this
armed peace went along without any
special incident for over half a year,
greatly to the disgust of everybody.
You see, each side carried so much
personal artillery and kept such a sharp
lookout that none of them cared to
take chances on starting a row. That
was the way things stood when the
fire department got ready to give its
annual ball. which was the great social
event of the year. The fire chief was
a keen-witted Irishman, and he thought
the situation over and called on both
factions. Look here. boys he said in
substance, you all want to come to the
ball, and you can't do it with them
scatter-guns hanging to you. If you
happened to kick one off waltzing you
might massacre the whole orchestra
and they're the only musicians in the
! town. So why not let all hands agree
TO unload everything until further
| notice-guns pistols, knives and
| knuckles-and just turn in and have a
! good time? I'll take care of the hard
ware and give each fellow a check.
! This interesting proposition was favor
| ably received, and after considerable
! quibbling about details an agreement
! was drawn up and everybody pulled
| off his weapons. There was a great
| sigh Of relief, and the ball was the
! biggest success on record. The truth
| is Tombstone was sick of war, and tC
| the best Of my recollection the general
| disarmament continued for five or siS
months. 1t was broken by a typical
| street duel, and then things got wild
and woolly again. 1t is certainly q
| curious unwrtten page of frontier his
| tory"