The Portland daily press., 1900-04-06
PISTOLS In KENTUCKY.
All Glasses of Men Seem Careless of Hu-
man Life.

John Gilmer spesd, . granddaughter
of the poet Keats, and himself Ken.
tuckian by birth and breeding, oontri-
butes q timely study OF "The Kentuck-
ian to the. Century"
When I take mp my morning paper and
read in great head lines, "Duel to the
DEATH" or some other lurid announce
ment to like effect, shuddsr and say to
myself, "Ksntuoky again" Pretty near
ly AlWays-Almost seven times In ten
my foreh odings are accurate. Then
read of a Congressman killing q oonsti-
tusnt, = colonel killing lieutenant, an
eK-minister 90 a forcing court killing an
internal-reyenus collector, and so on
through the whole horrible list. / must
say, however, that in most instances
thess private ouarrels which lead to muir
der are among the mOuntaineers. who are
in no sense the kind Of KsntuokiRns
whose characteristics am di discussing.
The mountaineers of Kentucky are,
to a great extent, the descendants Of the
conVicts who were sold into slavery In
colonial Virginia, and escaping from the
plan tations fiSd into the mountains,
W0eIo Ll6y nave COublhhcO lIOp Agu1E0-
tion to generation wild and ssmi.saF-
ego people. at once ignorant and defiant
of law. Before railroads penetrated these
mountain Businesses to bring out the
iron and coal and timber, we did not
often hear of these feuds. When we did
we were not disturbed by them. We paid
no need to these people and their quar-
rels but, unuissly, perhaps, left them to
their own devices, upon the theory that
the more they killed Of one Bnother the
better of the world would be. Newspa-
FER extravaganza Of statement is responsl-
BILE now for making each OF these en-
counters batween mountaiueer outlaws
appears to be an affair between Ken
tuoky gentlemen. 1t is not accurate, but
inssmuoh as Kentucky gentlemen do noe
behave with self-restraint, the result TO
their reputation is In that degree not un-
deserved.
Even the gentlemen Of the bluegrass
region are careless OF life, and there 10 no
city, and few villages, in which there
does not walk free some man with hu-
man blood upon bis hands. 1 will not
say that such men enjoy the entire cOnh-
| denoe and resi- ect Of the whole communi-
ty In the same measure that those do
who have been blameless in their life.
hut acquittal BY jury does, in the opln-
lon of many, reinstate a man complete
ly, not only In his political rights, but
| IN HIS social privileges.
Only Just now we have had as oapdi-
date for governor one who had killed his
man. 1t is quite true that very many OF
his own party rsvolted at tae idea Of
having for the chief executive Of the oom.
mon wealth C man who bad taken the law
into HIS own hands TO the extent OF kill
ling fellow man. The fact, however,
did not appear to make him an entire
| impossibility, ae It no doubt would have
done in aluo est anV other state in the
Union. l nsed not go on giving proof of
humiliating fact that In kentuoky, even
among those who hold olitical and So
oiel position, there Ia q singular disrs-
gard of the sacrsdness OF human life. II
IL result of their peculiar evolution.
and the penalty must be paid until that
evolution goes a step or so forward, and
makes of the Kentuokian something DIFF.
fsrsnt from what he IL today.