The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-18
TTO EFFICIENT MIN-KILLERs.
Further Light on the Characters of Dave
Mathcs aud Dave Rodebnugh.


SAN ANTONIO. Tex. June 15-To The Suns
| recent stories about Mysterious Dave Mathes.
the writer. by reason of a personal acquaintance
| with that Western celebrity. is able to add
| further information. The New Mexican quoted
| ends his recital at Dodge City, Kan. and speak 8
! Of Mathes's having been at Ell Paso. Tex. in
! company with Dave Rodebaugh. not Rude
| baugh. as written. who was one OF the lieuten-
| ants OF Billy the Kid. and was beheaded at Par
raj. Mexico.
1t was this man Rodebaugh who was the
first Mysterious Dave" and his advent to the
circle Of famous Western characters was I'M
heraldcd. but in nowisc lacking in brilliancy.
1t was at Great Bend, Kan. in the early seven
ties. that one Frank Whitfield. who. by reason
Of his former habitation. was known as Texas
Frank. was one day amusing himself by shoot
ing IN the town. His browning feat OF deviltry
was to cause the bartender of the Rome saloon
to kneel with full glass Of beer upon his head
and to shatter the glass with a bullet from his
| revolver fired from the opposite side OF the
room. Much amused at the beer despatched
bartender. Frank proceeded to execute dance
! ot approval. He was recalled to the bare sur
roundngs by the sharp commands:
-, pror 1t. iardner,, and shove up yer hands.
I've got ye covered"
siX-shoOter in the hand OF IL little rcd-headed
man with a thin. red beard. Franks hands
ordered him to knecl with his face to the wall
which order was obeyed, and following the red;
class OF beer upon his head. The strange
man then stepped against the wall opposite
and wlthn shot from his revolver smashed the
glass i'll the same manner that his victim had
done so recently for the bark"cper After doing
this tn" stranger backed out of the saloon.
mounted his rony which had been left stand
ing in front, and rode lcisurely out of the town.
No one could he found who knew him. and he
was not seen again for some time. His next
appearance WAS in the thick of a street and
snlo,on fight. II which h cnIntrbuted two men
TO Great bends boot hlll. His appearance and
he was dubbed Tie Mystery" i''>' anu
:. No long after the incident last related he
quilted. the inquiry disclosed that his name
Known as Mystcrous Dnve Mt Nfter Msthes
received the title mysterious" they were
names, In SIathcss case the name was s'' not
the true one. Just here it may be stated that
Mathes wa, Vas native Of Ohio; his family being
that he was educated at the OHIO Wesleyan
University. The writer knows that two OF his
New Mexico were caused by visits to that
state; One was upon the death OF his father
and tho other to attend the marriage of his
:. After the lynching of the outlaws Mt Las
became the assistant Of Jack BRIDES WHO Who H Was
then ely Marshal. Bridges mad fifteen men to
y BIl lllghman, who is now United States
MaishaI in Okahoma, and who five years ago
captured the last OF the Dalton gang and
Mathes with his New Mexican record and his
seventeen dead. was considered the proper
mant"nancc of law and order in that small
bnt very rapid city. Indeed. the reputation
q , the two men was sufficient to stay even
the occ2s ona man for break fast" was served
S 2S r@d 4 tho Ehc4 be was
Re Railroad. Beyond this were the dance halls
snHI it. was hith"r that the man Just in from the
dance to the music Of the tin pan piano and
H." siueaHy y!oiin With hunctnatiols of bel
The writer lad Mathes oi Tor p bodyeuard one
night in Il visit To the territory beyond the
d~ad lin% There were some queer sensations
front Of the law Office of Col. NJ. ". Sutton ~
t h3% C2eES3 nns OF lntrEna hTsnHe for the Dis
rtcd to thc several P homcs ad n sHF"bb "inrs
starting upon our tourwe pr"cecded 70 put the
seated With his back against Tsi th Mo front 9Hr 81
the nns b nli d E. and with each hand in SIDE
butts of two sawed on six:shooters. Repl ime
hand from his pocket. We were alone together
and he had no cause to be- suspicious, vet he
upon the alert. and ii was This that Kept him
imWm hnn from the other mans drol.
hush fen upon hS dst2tS S mi The ' Sis e nS
hnlf intoxicated some of them. looked Al each
other Iuestio1ingy, keeping a lookout all the
time toward MGthcs. When he had occasion
70 go to the orchestra to speak to the piano
thumrrr. he did i by rdging sidewise with
his back 70 the wall. around the room until he
reached his destination. "
During his stay in Dodge City he conceived a
great liking for Col Sutton. During the gam
bIers' war, when the city was run ilrst by the
citizens and then by the gamblers headed by
the celebrated Doc Holiday. Col sutton be-
cam" obnoxious to the latter gentleman
Nnthes appointed himself the Colonel's guar
dian. Calling ut his house in the morning he
nccompnnied him to his olice. and in the even
ing from Onlce to residence
, During his residence in Dodge City NIathes
Killed two men, and was in each Instance tried
IN me District Court by jury. He was do
Tended III both cases by Col. Sutton and ac-
Quilted on the ground of self-dcfcncr The
writer recalls the facts Of one case In that the
man who was shot made n motion in an alter
cation with Mathcs, as though to draw n
weapon. When they examined the body he
was found to have been unarmrd,
Ills departure from Dodge City was in keep-
ing with his mysterious character No one
knew when or wher" he went. and il is only
d Alene fields. ~
While You Wait.