The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-28
THE SHARPSROO1ERS DUEL
4 QUESTION THE SUR TIVOR HAD
 NOT THE HEART TO ANSWER.


 death," Johnny Reb, and the Pa
 thetic Sequel of the Shot He Had t
 Fire.
 At Lincoln. Neb., lives H. Master
 man, aged eighty-eight. He is one O < the few, possibly the very last survi
 vor of the body of men who acted a! i the guard of honor at the marriage O.
 the late Queen Victoria. As British
 soldier he reached America in 1850, soor
 after bought his discharge and became
 a citizen of the United States. At tho
 outbreak of the civil war he enlisted 1T < the Union army in the same company Y with his son, and served to the close.
 His mature judgment and unerrinG
 craftsmanship brought him under the
 notice of his colonel, who asked him tc
 volunteer for arp-shooting duty 7 On account of tbe extreme danger at tendant upon this class of work, mer t were not ordered to perform it. but
 volunteers were called for. Mastermar
 promptly offered his services and be-
 came Union sharp-shooter.
 The peculiar nature of the case
 makes it necessary that sharp-shoot-
 CT be under less physical restraint than
 probably any other man in the army, with the exception of the spy. While 3on duty his life is in constant danger, and its preservation depends entirely
 upon his own discretion. His time is
 by no means occupied in picking off inn portant officers from among the ene- my, but more often in duels with sharp shooters on the other side, who are his equal in cunning and skill. x It was while the war was raging along the southern boundary of Ten nessee that the wing of the army in which Masterman belonged was sorely sheset by the enemy's sharp7shooters Most of these Confederate rif1emen were known by the Union soldiers. There was some pecullarity in mode of operation or sound of the gun which distinguished one from the other and as time went along glimpses of them were caught, so that even the rank and file of She Federal soldiers had good idea of what these dangerous men were like.
 s One of them was dubbed Sure death,'' and there was good reason for Ewing him the name. He was the prince of Confederate sharp p-shooters. At any hour of the day the clear crack of his rifle might sound, and the me always looked to see who the victim was. for there was always one either killed outright or mortally wounded. When the battle was on he fired his fatal shots at none but officers, but be- tween whiles common "doughboy" made him good target. The Yankees soon had so high an opinion of this mans ability that when any important officer fell the loss was forthwith charged to 'Suredeath.
 One evening the colonel sent an or aerly to the company quarters with in structions for Masterman to report at 3nce at his tent.
 f'Sergeant,'' said the coloel. "this nhn .Suredeath' must be stopped. Not Fday passes but he gets some of our men The next thing he'll do will be Eo kill the general himself. Now. I'm going to depend upon you-do you un- ?-upon you, to silence that nurderous gun of his.'
 Masterman went back to his quar- ;ers turning the situation in his mind. 1 He was acquainted with the habits of he Confederate for he had tried to i ,ag him before this timeI He made up ! lis mind that the following day would l zee the end of either "Suredeath" or ,imself. He told his son, who slept | lear. of his orders from the colonel and | lis determination He gave the young | +,,i, atc fn to bnY11p reepsakes in case he did not return, ,rept under his shelter tent and slept ike a log.
 He awoke in the early morning before fther the soldiers in blue or gray were stir. He prepared his breakfast of ,acon and black coffee. After eating ,e nut some hard-tack in his haver- ack. filled his canteen from nearby bring, slung his rifle over his shoulder nd set out through the wet grass in the Erection of the hostile army.
 About nine o'clock the mists had oiled up the hills and the sun was hining brightly. Lying hidden behind
 fallen tree entirely secreened by a iump of bushes Masterman caught a itting glimpse Of his enemy creeping long the ground, put ilo SHoI oiIci0u self "Suredeath'' was safely sta toned in a tree before the Union man gain found out where he was. The amiliar sound of his gun and the mnke floating away from the tree then isclosed his whereabouts. Masterman yatched closely. After time he saw he muzzle of "Suredeath's" rifle pro- ruding just beyond the leaves. The ,an was again taking aim at some Un- iii soldier The blue coated veteran ,ine behind the log aimed his gun as a oint where he thought "Suredeath's' ody was and fired, instantly shifting , Is position away from the smoke made V the discharge. It was probably a lrprise to the Confederate, although z othing on his part betrayed the fact [,s rifle muzzle disappeared among |, 1e leaves
 The presence of each was known to z ,e other. and the sharp shooting duel i egan Masterman had slight ad- z antage, for after a shot he could e ,ange his position slightly, while his ' ,ponent was forced to stay upon the me limb behind the same part of the ee trunk and could not descend. ach employed the usual tactics of ( ,awing the others fire by holding his ,t as if the owner was peeping out Id of letting an empty eoaS SleeFe ,ep innocently from cover rart1inlV realized l Il