The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-09-26
The rALE OF TEMPER.

/ opened and q third man entered he
! was a big. powerful fellow, but with a
drawn face His clothes were clean,
though threadbare. He passed the Two
! men al the bar, the express messenger
giving him a cold nod as he passed. The
I1hTeadbare nan asked the bartender for
! g glass OF seltzer, He paid Tor the drink
| With a nickel and then sought the tree-
lunch counter, where he ate raNenoQsly-
1 Having appeased his appetite the
, stranger went into the street
/ who was that. Biii2" asked the ex-
/ press messengers friend have seen
/ bows that were studiedly cool. but for
J absolute frleid.ty your nod 10 that fellow
( takes the ice cake I'd rather have 2
man cut me dead. The fellow looked
hard up. What's the matter with him,
rum?
Rum? No. That mans BIZ Hancock
/ He never drank a drop Of liquor in his
/ life People say runs a curse, and so
( il is but to my way Of thinking its moth
/ ing TO the curse that's been fastened on
that fellow all his life-the curse Of a
1 temper. You can't ind the description
Of a devil in ali the books whose hendish
/ wickedness is q marker to that of Blll
/ Hancock when his temper gets reused.
His temper was made in he'll. nothing
short Of it, I don't believe Bill has had
a job for twenty years that's lasted more
/ than week AS il is he can only get
] WOfh among SlIduEtASf anu AA4rAA - - -
/ a kind at which he can pick up only a
/ few dollars. Fellows who know him well
say that Bill can no more overcome his
temper than he can overcome his desire
/ 10 breathe Some Of them say that he
prays for relief, but I doubt IL l saw
/ once the 10000 devils that are IN him
all working at one time and all looking
! out of his eyes 1t was twenty years ago,
/ but I haven't got over 1t yet.
/ I was only a club messenger then, and
/ 7 was running on IN eastern road out OF
Pittsburg Bill Hancock was the condue-
tor Of the train. The train hands had
heard that Bill occasionally had tricks Of
temper that came near losing him MS
Job These things that they had heard
about him occurred when he was
freight conductor, before he was given
the express run The thing comes back
To me as if it had only happened yester-
day We were just beyond our first stop
ping place. A middie-aged man offered
Bill Hancock ticket. The time limit on
the ticket had expired and Bill refused
to accept it. He said 20 the man: This
tickets no good. You'll have to pay me
your fare
THE man answered: I bought that
ticket of the railroad company, and have
never had value received. The company
has my money and 1 am entitled to
ride Here's the ticket, and l won't pay
ldTE III dSlOllkOL
a" Pay your fare or get OF the train,
was Bits dictum.
You see, where Bills weakness lay was
in letting his temper rise. Most conduc-
tors would have said soft thing or two;
about how the company would redeem
the ticket or something like that and the
result would have been the paying Of the
fare and the smoothing Of things over.
But Bill wouldn't have it that way. He
stopped the train right out there in the
middle of the fields and ordered the pas
senger to get out and walk. The man
wouldn't bulge. Then Bill caught hold
of him by the collar but the passenger
grabbed the back of the seat in front Of
him with both hands and held on like
death. He was stout man, evidently
prosperous merchant, and he had an
idea that ne was right in the ticket mat
ter, and he was going to stick to his
rights and to his seat.
when Bill found that he couldn't move
his man he clinched his fist to strike him,
and then as suddenly dropped his hand
to his side. Then he turned and started
up the aisle TO the front OF the car. He
hadn't called on the brakeman to help
him Gust the passenger. The brakeman
told me afterward that as Bill went
across the car platform that morning fire
was jumping out of his eyes. 1 was in
the express car and very busy when the
train stopped. 1 paid little attention TO
the stopping until I heard a voice calling
to me from the door.
q Where's that lever bar Of yours, An
cerson? I want it quick 1t was BIZ
Hancock, the conductor. supposed that
he wanted the bar to use to fix something.
The stopping Of the train made me think
this. I pointed TO the bar. which was q
heavy iron affair Shaped like a burglars
I
We used it TO move heavy objects. Bill
grabbed the bar and ran out through the
door. There was something in his face
as he turned that made me follow him.
1 reached the door of the first passenger
coach when Bill was about half way down
the aisle. He hssl the iron bar at his side,
well out Of sight. He stopped and spoke
to a man whose hands were tightly grasp
ing the back Of the seat In front of him.
Get UP and leave rOared Bill.
THE man slowly shook his head and
looked Bill in the eve. It makes me sick
10 this day TO think OF what followed.
The iron bar went UP in the air with one
end in both Bill HancOck's hands. He
swung il almost at the full length Of his
arms. and down the thing came with
awful crushing force upon the hands and
wrists Of the passenger. 1 heard the
bones snap even from where I stood. I
was paraIyzed, and so apparently were
the passengers. Like a thought Bill had
the stricken man at the platform and
had thrown him in 4 heap by the side OF
the track There was a signal. and on
the instant the train started. Then there
came a realizing sense Of the horror Of
the thing. The passengers piled onto BIZ
and would have killed him. He deserved
il. no doubt but we train hands felt il a
sort of duty TO save him Cor the law
Ny arm was broken trying 10 shield Bits
.-far-
he had struck the passenger with. This
time another passenger welded it.
we stopped the train. backed and pick
cd ND the man that Bill had thrown OF
and from there TO the next stop we kept
Bill Hancock locked mp in the baggage
car. The man whom BEL had struck
with the bar was insensibIe from the aw-
fui pain There wasn't an unbToIeu bone
in either hand or either wrist.
DO you know that Bill Hancock act
rally wanted 20 get back and finish the
5ob2 We took the care Of the train Cgt
OF his hands and turned him over 10 an
officer. 1 was laid up for q month with [
nv arm The affair cost the railroad (
$4,000 for damages and Bill Hancock z I
years Imprisonment
Yes. Bill Hancock IS living here IN
Chicago. They say temper IS a disease !
with the recollection OF the lock IL his
eve that day in my mind. I tell you that I
II I had an idea that this temper disease 4
was catching I'd give Bill Hancrck q /