Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-19
AN OPTICAL DUEL.

with another bad man." said Frank Coun-
celle prominent stockman from the
Cochise country in New Mexico, to Star
reporter.
In reading these picture paper stories
of western life I've always had sneak
ing sort of an idea that the people who
wrote them must sure have been strung
and stuffed up whole lot by the boys on
the occasions of theirtvisits to the west
ern country, withitheir Wallets along with
them to look after their brawsses and
luggage and all that, There's no other
way Of accounting for some of the thing
they write about the general stack-up
out west.
For example, one of these yarns, re-
Gently printed, told ofrhow one bad man
conquered another one by glazing at him.
Both men were fnarshals of hot camps
situated twenty miles apart. They'd never
seen each other They had nothing
against each other. There was no jealousy
between them, as there was no need to
be. both men having towns of their own
to preside over and regulate. But one day,
according to this dream narrative, one of
the marShals, who is described as pizen
bird sure enough took 1t into his head
that he'd lope over, the trail to- the other
town for the purpose OF having look at
the other marshall. who is also pictured
a double-fanged Gilac without mercy
or remorse.
so he rode over to the other town, did
this marshal with the butting-in idea. He
found the other marshal standing in front
other and nodded. They had a drink to-
gether. Then they stood looking each
other over. The way they stared each
other out of countenance, like couple of
small boys double-dog-daring each other
to knock chip off their shoulders, is de-
scribed with great elaboration. The
mutual attempt to hypnotic each other
lasted for about twenty minutes, at the
rP xryhi oh irpa no ha1 wi W. G
on his home lot detected signs of faltering
in his visitors eye. Whereupon, according
to this yen-hok trance, the marshal who
was holding down the home grounds de-
liberately walked up to the visiting mar
shall pulled the other marshaIs mustache,
picked the other marshaIs guns out of his
belt without any comeback, and then In
continently booted the other marshal, who
had completely caved under the pressure
of the stronger mans glazing eye, Into the
street, where the marshal with the busted
nerve lay sobbing and tapping up the dust.
Not True to Life.
There's Just about as much of real life
in that as there is in the struggle on the
cliff for the forged papers between the hair
oiled villyun and the long-eared hero who Is
here to save the womans honor with meh
life. No bad marshal or bad man Of the
west ever looked another one of his own
type to the caving point. nor did one of
them ever deliberately go up against an
other without there having been motive
or a rivalry or some other incentive of dis
like or hatred.
But started to run afoul of this theory
that the honest Ip1un bad man of the west
must see the thing balancing Just little
bit his way before he'll stand the chance Of
a cash-in. That may be so Of a whole lot
Of boguses and four-fiushers that have been
miscalled bad men during the past ten or
fifteen years. But 1t was never true for
minute Of the real horned toads. They not
only didn't want any advantage for them