The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-15
RoDdq Bill Banee
Shot I'm Bis Coffin.


The circumstances attending Rowdy Bill
Hance's death were somewhat outre but
pat. He not only departed this life fifty
with his boots on and adequately clothed,
but in his coffin, which saved trouble
The nearest railway station to the Mis-
quah Wawgoosh Gold Mine, which is the
most productive mine in Ontario, Is Nav
seegawn station, on the main line of the
Canadian Pacific railway. On a map Of
the province OF ontario you can find NAV
seegawn station with the tip of your
forefnger if the map is a good one. 1t
is in the back yard of the province. It
is a little khaki-covered building, whoop-
ing ugly, and stands in little clearing in
a dark pine forest.
AS usual on the S0th of the month, the
mine people sent their monthly brick
over to the station to be shipped to the
bank in Montreal, which is the mother of
the NINE and Borwicke, the agent, ship
ped 1t as usual. But if it had not been
for what pious people call providence,
and many men indifferently call luck and
destiny and fate, meaning the came thing.
some one else would have shipped the
agent to Montreal to mis- mother as dead
as that brick. The brick would not have
gone to Montreal.
The mine is twenty-five miles northwest
of the station. The brick always arrives
in the evening on blackboard of ancient
lineage, drawn by a -an1-rubber
horse, Old Socks. The night train goes
west So the brick has to wait for the
morning train, which goes east to Mon
treal
On the evening of the 3Oth, half an hour
after the man who had brought the brick
had gone away again in the cool of the
fading day with the express company S
form acknowledging the receipt of the
gold, six men arrived with a roughly con-
structed coffin, which, they said, con-
tanned the corpse of old Mag Dooley, the
mine cook. Borwicke knew these men and
knew that they worked in the mine. Mag
had expired the day before with sudden
ness In her kitchen, they said. The body
was to be shipped to her sister, Mrs. Pat
rick Hagerty, who lived in Ottawa. Mrs.
Haggerty was to be informed by wire of
the sad occurrence and instructed to meet
the morning train and look after the
body. The men carried the coffin into
the ticket Office and stood it on end
against the south wall for good reason,
which, of course, did not occur to Bor-
wicke at the time, though he wondered
| why they had placed it upright.
Why did you set her up like that?'
he asked them.
Muskoka George the boss of the gang
expectorated with much emphasis
through the open door and across the
narrow platform. so she won't take I'D
so much ROOM" he answered. Then thew
| went
Now the men who had brought the
gold had not told Borwicke that the cook
was dead, which ought to have made the
I o. ant iofN
called up Ottawa and sent message
to Mrs. Hagarty. In an hour he re-
ceived an answer from the Ottawa office.
The Ottawa men declared they could not
find any Mrs. Patrick Hagarty; they
i were in state of condemnation If they
| could. There was no ST. AIMS Lane,
which MuSkoka George had said was her
/. address This ought to have made Ber-
| wfcke as suspicious as a wolf But It
didn't. He went into his little kitchen
and cooked his supper. After supper he
locked himself in the ticket Office He
then took his gun from drawer It was
long, shiny, black gun, in a Mexican
scabbard on n belt of cartridges Bor-
wicke buci1led the belt around his waist
He lit two lamps and sat down in a
| basket chair close to the safe in which
he had locked the brick. 1t was his habit
to remain awake the night he had the
worth fifty thousand dollars
The safe stood close to the north wall
of the ticket Office, which was IA by 10.
The coffin rested on end against the south
wall. Borwicl1e sat facing it and about
four feet from it.
1t was a fresh copy of the Montreal
paper that the agent had opened and
| spread out on his knees But he had
| not read more than twenty lines before
| he wanted a smoke His pipe and to-
bacco bag were on the top of the safe
He rose to get these good friends and
! turned his back upon the sham coffin.
| This was the opportunity of Rowdy Bill
| Hance, the sham corpse, who had been
watching the agent through a peep-hole
| in the lid of the box, waiting for him
to turn his back or go to sleep. With
! one hand he pushed the box-lid outward,
| and with the other he opened fire on
| Borwicke with big six-shooter.
But the agent was shade too expedi-
tious. He heard the faint sound which
the light nails that held the box-lid in
position made when they drew out of the
wood, and he turned quickly
| His shot and Hance's rang together
Hance's aim was bad. His bullet only
creased Borwicke's shoulder
Hance died the next minute but one.