Omaha daily bee., 1903-06-21
June 21, 1903.
MacTurk, Empire Builder
Continued from Page Five.)

had taken to their heels. The rest lay
around the room with broken heads and
smashed collarbones.
He can do some remarkably neat tricks
with his rifle and revolver Rambling
through the jungle one day he met party
of Venezuelan rcvolutionists. There were
over a hundred of them and. as Artemus
Ward would say, only one of him. They
admired his guns and suggested that he
should hand them over for the good of the
revolution. He pointed to a wild orange
tree a couple of hundred yards away. raised
his rife and fired six shots quickly as
he could pull the trigger. The revolution
lists ran to the tree and found that an
orange had been pierced by each shot.
They passed on without asking for the
guns second time.
Prior to the Venezuelan boundary dispute
MacTurk was captured by the Venezuelan
soldiers several times. after desperate bat
ties, and was flung into jail. Twice he was
sentenced to be shot, and once he was ac-
tually led out to execution and placed
against stone wall, with a file of soldiers
waiting for the command to fire. A tele-
gram arrived in the nick of time counter
manding the execution, in consequence of
threats made by the British minister in
Caracas.
Before letting him go the Venezuelan
commandante tried a bluff
IF we show mercy and release you,
senor" he said will you take an oath
never to enter Venezuela again, never to
seek to annex our territory and never to
demand any indemnity for this affair?''
The men with the guns looked threaten
ing, but MacTurk did not turn a hair
"If you let me CO." he replied, II shall
,,HI.y I h,xr haf,r
tainly shall do my best to make you pay
sweetly for this business. I'm not going
TO lie in one of your dirty jails for moth
ing"
They let him go, and sure enough he
managed to secure an indemnity from the
republic by the aid of the British Foreign
office. Then he went to England, worked
up the British case in the boundary dis
pute and made a companion of the
Order of st. Michael and st. George by
Queen Victoria, who took keen interest in
his exploits.
Despite the international complications
that ,Iises, MacTurk's way of doing
things appeals irresistibly to the British
temperament.
'IIe is unique" said a high official Of the
British Guiana government. There's only
one MacTurk, thank goodness! Life would
be too strenuous IL there were many like
him. But such he is, we would not be
without him for worlds"
Office work is not congenial to this enter
prising man. He does not care to stay at
home at the head station of his district
writing dispatches, collecting taxes and ty-
ing all the odds and ends of red tape that
fall to the lot of district commissioner.
After a week or two of that business he
takes his rifle and knapsack and walks of
into the jungle. leaving the district to be
run by an assistant. Nobody Knows for
weeks perhaps where he has gone; but he
always comes back with something inter-
esting to report. He has found a new rub
ber forest or a new diamond field, climbed
a hitherto unexplored mountain or enjoyed
another brush with the Brazilians.
Any other official who left his work in
that casual manner would find his services
dispensed with, but everybody recognizes
that II Is absurd to try to tie MacTurk down
to an Office chair.
He does not wait for the Indians under his
rule TO bring their Quarrels to him to judge
in the manner prescribed by law. He goes
into the forest or the native village. sees
things for himself, and decides them on
the spot. His is rough-and-ready Justice,
like that OF an eastern cadi.
Sometimes he travels among the Indians
disguised as one of themselves or as
Venezuelan peon. As ne speaks thelr IAN
guage perfectly and is a good actor, he is
never detected. And when, later on, some
of The Indians come before him in his
capacity OF magistrate he surprises them by
showing an intimate knowledge of their
AFFAIRS and detecting their cleverly-con-
structed perjuries.
''why did you acquit that man?' Hac-
Turk was once asked, at the conclusion Of
trial for stealing a gun. "A dozen wit
nesses swore that they saw him take the
gun Your judgment was in direct contra
diction to the evidence"
80 1t was" said Macrurk, but then,
you see, ! was sitting around a campfire
with those dozen witnesses when they con-
cocted that evidence and Tehearsed one an
other in it until they were all word-perfect.