The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-04-26
"THE SUPREME LAW
 WEST OF THE PECOS"
BY PAUL

the eastern states. This was the only book in the country for many years in the early days, and no one knew what 1t con- tained. It Is doubtful If the judge him self knew, as his reading capacity was very limited. One day Bean had a man brought before him for killing China man. He looked carefully through his law book, but was unable to find anything about murdering a Chinaman so he fined the fellow s for breaking the peace and acquitted him on the murder charge.
 The judge always kept his gun handy when on the bench and on one occasion he had occasion to use it. An obstreperous Mexican was up on a charge of stealing some money from cowboy. The judge levied on his horse. The enraged peon jerked out a knife which he had con cealed in his shirt and leaped on Bean. The judge coolly whipped out his six shooter and pumped him full of lead.
 Tt was one of Beans dictums that there was no appeal from his court. At one time a man was mulcted heavy fine and attempted to appeal the case to a higher court, which would have been eminently disastrous to the power of the judge, so Bean fined the fellow an additional $10 for contempt of court.
 ''Roy Bean owned the only saloon in the twon of Langtry, conducted the only store, was manager and owner of the only theatre and in addition was the supreme law The judge also owned much other property and was very wealthy at the time of his death. He lived all alone in a little shack on the outskirts of town and was attended by faithful Chinese servant. No one ever knew where he came from and 1t is not known that he ever had family. He was never heard to mention wife or children.
 Bean managed his multiple affairs in one shack. The saloon, court and store were all conducted in the same room. He would fine culprit, step around behind the counter and serve the witnesses with beer, or sell a pound of coffee with equal dispatch and facility. Despite his abso- lute authority the judge was very popu- lar and had many friends. He was jovial soul, fond of a good joke and was very liberal in a quiet sort of way. He was a man of limited education, but he possessed much good hard sense, as was evidenced by his career. He was one of the shrewdest of the early settlers in the west, or he could never have ruled su- preme as he did. At first glance one would think that he was arbitrary in passing judgment but 1t is generally ad- mitted that in most cases he was a fair and impartial judge and the rough pioneers were willing enough for him to
  care a rap whether he had any author ity from the government or not.
 And by the way, l was about to for get one of the most important events In the life of the judge. That was when he went to San Antonio on business trip after he had been ruling things out his way for a good many years. He never gambled and was never known to drink, but he got into some sort of trouble In town and came back home in pretty bad shape. He consigned city life to the lower regions of Hades and swore that he would never go to another large town again as long as he lived, and he never did.
 As civilization began to encroach up- on him the judges power waned and for many years before his death he was per- manently retired from the bench. The old fellow was getting feeble also and did not relish the strenuous life of his early days. When he died there was much mourning among the old settlers and the punchers from many miles around att tended the funeral As he left no will his property was confiscated by the state of Texas and his passir sway marked the removal of one of the m,-1 ~.etures- que characters who ever figureu fn the stirring days of the west"
 The narrator ceased. The group in the car seemed wrapped in meditation. One or two were seen to smile A Californian crossed his legs and remarked reflective ly That reminds me of an old fellow I once knew in Nevada who" but just then the white-coated waiter ap- peared in the door and everybody made break for the diner.