Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-04-14
HAS UNIQUE RECORD.
BILL" THOMAS, DEPUTY UNITED
STATES MARSHAL, NEVER
KILLED A MAN.
Prefers Whipping Man With His
Fists to Shooting Him-A Missouri
Federal Officer of the Old School
Known for His Bravery.

One of the most noted of the depu-
ty marshals in the service of the Unit
ed States today is "BilI' Thomas,
known as the Ozark mountain deputy
who has served continuously for TWEEN
ty years regardless Of changes in adj
ministration and has the unique rec
ord of never having killed man, al
though he has had many hand to hand
conflicts with desperate men and has
arrested hundreds of moonshiners.
Deputy Marshal Thomas resides in
Springfield, Mo-, and the topography
of the country in the region of the
Ozark mountains is as familiar to him
as the city streets to a policeman.
"Bill' Thomas is of the old school
type of deputy marshal = the kind of
man whose personality, although gent
al and full Of sunshine, suggests six
shooters and Winchesters, broad-brim-
med hats and big saddles = in short,
man for breakfast every morning if
necessary for the preservation Of the
ethics laid down by Uncle Sam.
Not a "Bad Man."
In this peaceful age when the cav
alier and the knight have given way
to make room for the captain of in
dustry, when commercial astuteness
rather than personal bravery are the
index to mans Importance in the af-
fairs OF life, it doesn't necessarily re-
quire an iron nerve to be deputy
marshal. This is especially true of the
larger cities. where most likely the
marshal keeps a full dress suit and
wears carnation in his buttonhole.
This is we'll enough for the metropili-
tan deputy because he doesn't do
much shooting in the course of a term
Of Office than is likely to be done by a
clerk IN shoe store or the young
man who fills prescriptions behind the
| store.
But "Bilr' Thomas is not than kind
OF a marshal.
He is one of the rapidly receding
| class Of men who take kindly to from
tier life = type Of manhood that is
going the way of the Indian and the
| buffalo. "Bill' Thomas does not pose
as mankiller He is not known in
wild vest vernacular as a.&"bad man"
yet he would not, be adverse to a little
shooting match if in line'5of duty
should such occasion arise. Put der
by hat on bill" Thomas and he would
look decidedly queer. Put a. wide-brim.
med SLOUGH hat, on his, head and it
looks as it it had been made to order
for him. Sometimes Deputy Marshal
Thomas may wear a collar, but he
doesn't worry about it if he happens
to leave his collar off - and as for
a necktie, well Bills friends would
wonder what would happen next were
| he to blossom out in such toggery.
| Hazardous Assignments.
But when the marshal sitting in
his reclining chair in his nicely fur
| nished federal building Office in Kansas
City wants piece Of hazardous work
done, he generally sends for "Bill''
Thomas, and "Bill" is always ready
| for the assignment. He has been a
| deputy marshal for nearly twenty
years, serving under various admins
trations, and his trusty Winchester
knows no distinction in politics, which
is to say that "Bill can serve with
equal faithfulness a democrat or a re-
publican marshall.
He is just a deputy marshal, that's
all, and it matters not to him the
political complexion of his chief. There
is not a bride path nor mountain
| trail in the entire Ozark region with
which this brave man is not familiar
During his tenure as deputy marshal
he has raided hundreds of Illicit stills
he has arrested hundreds of moonshin-
ers, he has fought hand-to-hand bat
ties with the men who make a business
of cutting government timber, he has
tracked and run down train robbers
who came under government province
because of interfering with mail cars
he has fought battles in the service
of Uncle Sam up one side and down the
other side of the Ozarks--and yet he
has never found it necessary to take
a human life.
The late General 10 O. Shelby, who
served a term as United States mar
shall, was a great admirer of Thomas
II like that fellow" General Shelby
once remarked, because he would
rather fight man and subdue hin
with his fists than to shoot him tt
death, even where the law allows.
takes real bravery to choose fists fol
a weapon when gun is so very han
dy."
II Noted Marksman.
Yet everybody is afraid "Bill'
Thomas is going to shoot for he is
never unarmed, and as skilled marks
man he has few equals in the entire
country.
He has piercing bright eye tina
needs no magnifying glass to help i
penetrate, and jet mustache and gen
erous growth of chin whiskers distin
guish him from the debonair, smooth!
shaver man of the present age. BILL
chews tobacco lavishly and can SPUR
a stream of "amb Der" as skillfully as hi
can send bullet. Cuspidors may seen
like nuisance to him, yet he tolerate.
them, perhaps for the reason that HI
can always hit them so easily.
TLPEE 4 NST IN WREHK