The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-05-28
Balm THE TERROR
nut HS Wasn't SO BAD a Bordere,
After All.

After All.
III last sundays issue of this paper an
P.aieu an article from the New York Sun
~ a.! Purported to be, and no doubt was
M it. we" with one G. r.. Bazin, a for
nass 20 zen Gen. OF western Kansas The eager
. mss OF Eastern journals for thrllhnr sto-
,hHoi the bounding West often subjects
mem iieu 10 imposition, and MANY are tne
n. SIS us mao by Westerners over the mock
helolcs INDUCED in by these papers when
10y eaten a laxative bordernan who has
s saies OF blood and thunder to relate Ii
Esstto De the common conclusion of
fern editors that any one who has
spent time upon the border must nar1
iee nave been a roysterer a killer Of
-, en anu a sad devil generally whereas.
ns az act d, the West had. even in its wild
- Jay many lamblike sojourner who
SIuIcely mad the courage to face a light
Gu match. Such a one was Bazin.
Ga came into the vicinity of Hays
man To- io,I, re was not handsome
artI, toI one eye was gone, and, appar-
10y III sympathy, one of his shoulders
ioIptu down on the side of the dena rted
b pdc. he also shambled in his gait and
.iau nose of extraordinary length aud
the most hectic of colors albeit he was
not deep drinker. His business was
80 i hlns IN cattle camp, an employment
could be lower. In camp parlance he
Vas Known as pot wrestler" and the
tesuVe cowboy utterly tabooed him. When
~, "th' 10 town he was compelled to
IIue the lame mule, if there happened to
ye such a one belonging to the outfit and
ne RODE without either jingIing spurs or
ne shooting irons which were the badge
u tne superior fraternity
In due time Balm ceased not wrestlino,
III co" camps and became the rousta-
oout IN a Hays City hotel The pronr1e-
NJ Dl TINS motel was colloquially known
as ienry Cass, name that by some rnvs-
terlous process had been evolved ont ot
Jasper Harvickholst. his true patronymic.
Ina h II was while working for Mr.. Cass
~ ~ n AIN became one of the features
VI the town. lie was the messenger who
met all the trains and mailed the letters
u the merchants. besides scooping nm tine
ehahce traveller who came that way. He
dISo meekly and resignedly offered him
sgli as the target for that excess of 10
vlallty which is characteristic of all
western settlements. Indeed, he quickly
, aine the Town butt, and when the roy
stererS could think of nothing else tn do
Yin. ' 'ich Oh pa
We have spoken somewhat extendedly
OF the personality of the man ubo l.
now playing himself among New VII
reporters as wild and woolly western
eIs LOT the reason that he once caused n
Iagedy and a night of terrible excite
meht. More as a joke than ANYTHING eIsa
the people of Hays once elected Razin To
me ONCE OF constable, and he signaIiza
h ms oIiiclai preferment by buckling on a
bS. s!Asnooter, with which he strutted
apout town. One day he strayed int,
blI Meads saloon, where a party OF SOL
dlerst members of the Ninth colored GOV,
on ere making merry after the fash
,oh OF men VINO have been drinking free
~. Ihey were not unusually disorderIv
however, and there was no reason ey
cept Bazin's desire to show his ;.uthori-
w why they should have been called to
COX. therefore they resented the con-
stSble lordly commands to subside and
When ne pulled his big sixshooter one ~
mem mem TOOK II from him and contemptu-
'usly tossed II into the street Bazin
himself ran out, loudly calling for helm
ma the soldiers, who scented possible
trouble, started for the fort. Bazin's
en-, buffalo hunter by the name Of
9TH. seeing the fleeing soldiers and
thinking some crime had been commit
ted, leveled his gun and shot one of the
ntsrCes down. This man was Sergea nj
Bailey, a popular man in his regiment
ana his death caused the widest excite
me mt among the troops at the fort DIR
ing the night two companies of the ne
sfoes came to town with their carbines
ana sldearms, and for an hou-S or two
pandemonium reigned. Citizens who an
peared on the streets were forced to throw
up their hands and gaze down into fh
muzzles of guns while they were interro
gated as to any connection with the shoot
ing OF the afternoon. Bazin and OriI,
oth MA out and the citizens who wer
surprised unarmed upon the streets grew
really eloquent in disavowing any knowl
edge of the affair
At last the negro soldiers congregated
l.
led number of the townspeople Some
were proposing reprisals in the way OF
klillns the mayor and town council and
Others were In favor of simply burning
the town. While affairs were in this
pTecarious condition a subdued roar was
heard In the side street debouching near
the postoflce; The next instant tw,
around the corner on the double ouick
and like shots from rifle came these
commands from the re- lkins officer:
Halt! Loadi Aiml'
Quicker than Il takes 70 tell IL these
white soldiers had SURROUNDED the mad
dened negro mob and were 10 king ste.a
" along their rifle barrels rs they waited
for the next command.
Drop those carbinesr'
Ana every negro let go % his gun and
sent II Gathering down on the stone DlVc-
ment. One of the carbines exploded Is II
struck rock, and there was one tons,
moment when it looked as though the
twitchng fingers of the whites v.ouIC
send volley crashing through the h.ld
died blacks. But without even looking t.
sec II the accidental bullet lad found a
mark, the commanding officer gave the
orders which sent the blacks marching
under strong guard to Fort Hays, while
avs City gave one profound sign OF re-
This commanding officer was Captain
Lloyd Wheaton, of the Twentieth infan-
try, now a major general in the Philip
pines. The people Of Hays remn mber him
gratefully for the prompt manner in
which he turned out his command when
he learned that the negroes had gone
from the fort to take the town. Eut he
could not entirely prevent reprisals for
the killing of Sergeant Bailey. A few
days later ore of the business blocks Of
the town was burned, and 1t was nc
lieved to have been set afire by the negro
soldiers. The feeling ran so high that the
war department removed the coloren reg
iment, and Hays City felt greatly re-
lieved when 1t had gone.
And Bazin? Well, there are Bazins In
every Observation-Disclosures who are
not bad enough to kill, nor yet of such
responsibility as to be held to an account
ing. This one finally drifted off to
Pennsylvania, and all Hays thought he
had gone to glory. But now there will
be jokes and much laughing for Bazin
posing as hero of the boisterous West,
is n sight that will touch the Western
sense OF humor.