Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1901-06-06

| Dh"' sA0 was tiieu W jury " Ii
peers 10 the United States distric
court, found guilty Of murder, an
hanged by the neck until dead. Moth
ing in the evidence or in the record o
Hickok developed the slightest excus'
for the deed. When asked at thu
trial why be had not given his victim
chance for bis life, the murderer re-
piled that be had no call to commi,
suicide, very Aattering but some
what delayed and periunctory COM
pliment to the skill and proves oil
the dead scout.
Wild Bill was six feet and one inch
high, and generally weighed about
l75 pounds. Not heavily built, be
was still very powerful, OF the 1.-the
aud sinewy order. A Kansan stood
before the Apollo Belvidere and de-
clared that Wild Bill might have
served as model for the ancient
statue. On horseback he was, in the
opinion Of many, the handsomest
and most graceful man ever seen
west Of the Mississippi, and he was
hardly less so on foot. Straight as
an arrow, easy, graceful, and
monchalant, he was an ideal speci.
men of physical manhood. His
features were regular, his lips thin,
his mouth sensitive. He wore a
rather heavy mustache, and long,
heavy, brown hair, which reached to
his shoulders, and in which he evil
IDENTIFY took considerable pride. His
eye was frank, open, and Of the kind
sometimes called steel blue and some
times steel gray. He dressed neatly,
modestly, and after the fashion Of the
Western business man OF that day,
except for broad-trmmed hat and
fine calfskin boots. His voice was
gracious and pleasing, not premptory
nor defiant. Indeed, he was rather
serious and dignifed in address, and
a trihe cynical. There was nothing
fierce in his appearance, and nothing
to indicate to the casual observer the
typical "bad man." unless possibly
the slightly aquiine and rather
pointed nose gave somewhat sinister
notice Of the presence Of the bird Of
prey.
Hickok was the first irontiersman
who recognized the Importance OF
proficiency in the use of the six.
shooter. This was the real secret OF
his supremacy. He was an unerring
marksman, and shot as accurately
under fire as when firing at a mark,
apparently taking no aim. Probably
no man ever tqualled him in the
lightning-like rapidity with which
be could draw a weapon in time of
emergency, and in the thorough
self-possession that made it possible
for him to take advantage of every
in savage conflict He
had standing order to his deputies
that they should not rush in on him
many Of his affrays, and especially
should not come quickly up in his
rear. By forgetting this Williams
met his death, Hlckok taking him
for an enemy, and firing SO rapidly
that it left no opportunity for recog-
milton. He readily killed the wild
goose across the Smoky Hill with his
revolver. Riding at his horses
highest speed he fired shot after shot
into tin can or hitching-pos a few
rods distant. Standing at one tele-
graph pole he would swing rapidly on
his heel and fire a pistol ball into the
next telegraph pole. These were
some Of the simpler ieats he per-
formed day after day on the street
to settle little wagers. He could
shoot hole through a silver dime at
fifty PAGES, and could drive the cork
through the neck Of a bottle and, at
thirty PAGES, knock out the bottom
without breaking the neck. He
could do what the fancy shots Of the
present day do, and possibly some Of
them equal marksmen with re.
volver, but it must be rememb ered
that he was the first to acquire this
LII .rd tk.t L. .Lot 49,. - all