, 1904-02-12
STANTON
SEES 1.-THE VlRGlNIAN" AND GIVES
ACTOR MAN A WISE PER-
GRAFTON OF MERITS.
Visits Manhattan Theater in New
York and snEightens the Scene
With a Description of Where The
Virginian' Originated.

The following interesting bit of
news m from a New York paper,
and the Stanton referred to is the son
of Colonel Thomas r. Stanton of this
city and himself a former resident of
this section of Wyoming;
Dustin Farnum. the stage cowboy,
now playing the Virginian at the Man
haitian theatre, was met at the stage
door one night this week by three Wy
oming cowboys. One of them was
Capt. G. Reynold Stanton. one time
foreman OF the Chugwater ranch in
Wyoming.
you're the dead image" said Shan
ton, of Jack Hill. Now, Jack Hin
came from a California farm. He was
the most noted shot in the country and
was famous for being the most gem
erous man. I'll tell you why. His pard-
ner stole sixty head o CGttle from him
Jack overlook him; he could have had
the drop on him first. but he made a
mighty fair proposition when he of
fered him first shot to the good. His
pardner's aim failed. and Jack put two
bullets in his heart"
That was certainly generous" said
Farnum.
You bet it was. and it gave him a
reputation all through that country for
being a generous a He's now dep
uty sheriff OF johnson county. Wyom-
ing. He's a dead image OF you-has the
black hair, dark eyes. and he's II of
the few men that was out there along
about the sos who knew the difference
between right and wrong"
That's enough to make any man eel
ebrated, ever in New York" said Mr..
Farnum.
Now, tell lis, honestly" said II of
the actors. ARE we right-do we act
like western mem"
Il never would have believed it pos
sible," said Stanton. with Il conviction
in his deep voice and straightforward
eye hat no one could escape.
you see" he continued. twenty
years of my 'ife has been spent right
in that same country that your play
tells about. | was foreman o. "A ranch,
same as the Nirsinian was. most of the
time. Many's Il time I've gone into
Medicine Bow for a good time after
being out on the plains tvr' or three
weeks herding cattle.
why, Slim Higley here even rec
ogniZed the saloon, an we'd have
known the place at once from the sight
of Elk Mountain looming up there in
the back, which is a landmark OF Med
icine Bow. OF course, on the stage, the
buildings are a little close. together,
and We don't see the ~roundhouse
which is a distinction hat makes Med
icine Bow a railroad town.
"Ill tell you what we did once in
Medicine Bow. There We're four of us.
We rode into town for q good time.
OF course, no cowboy forgets whiskey
when he's out for a lark, and | guess
We had our share.
There was a show playin' in a lit
tie hall there that they called a thea
tire. They weren't exactly stars, in
fact, | don't remember what the play
was about, but | recollect an old farm
er and some New England characters;
and how, we paid our little dollars and
had front-row seats.
About the middle of the show we
came to the conclusion that although
the people were highly amused, we
could do about as well on that stage
ourselves, but the question was how
to prove it. We figured the only way
to get on that stage was to scare the
actors Off, and then get on and do our
turn ourselves. We had Il guns with
us, of course. and in cowboy fashion
We smoked those actors on"
How do you mean smoked them
off?" asked one of the actors.
why, the man on each end OF our
row simply pulled his gun and fired
in opposite corners of the stage
that's what we call smokin' up out
there"