The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-01-01
COL. CAVEN Is HERE
Interesting Character Ahead OF
the Frank James
Company.

Colonel J. f. Caven, who is here in
advance of Frank James, who comes
to the Grand this week, is a unique and
interesting figure i'm the theatrical
world He and James have been per
sCnal friends since the outbreak of the
civil war. when they served together
with Quaptren, the famous guerilla
leader. on the Kansas Missouri border
In 1862 Colonel Caven was transferred
to the regular confederate establish
ment. and the remainder of his mill
tary service was in the command of
General Joe Shelby. He went to Mex
leo with ShelbyS army after the down.
fall of the COnfederaCy with the lnten-
ton of joining Macmillan. The with
drawal of France from Mexico left the
confederate Adventures without Il
cause and they drifted back into the
states after amnesty was declared.
Since the war Colonel Caven has been
principally engaged in the newspaper
business. For tWenty-One years he was
one of the owners of the Kansas City
Times Selling his interest, he went TO
Texas where he lost a fortune in the
cattle business. Later he was on the
New York Commercial Advertiser for
a number of years. He was managing
editor of the Denver Times until two
years ago. since which time he has
been connected with the theatrical bus
mess in a managerial capacity.
He is a man Of delightful personality,
striking appearance and distinguished
bearing He has had an unusually in
teresttng career and talks entertaining
~ of men and matters of the past forty
years.
In anticipation of the appearance
here of Frank James in the play The
Fatal Scar" it may be interesting to
learn more of the man as he is. 1t Is
useless to declare that these kinG Of
men do not attract. No good reason,
therefore, exists why the truth should
not be told of one who was brave and
steadfast to the end, and though his
sins may have been scarlet, they shall
be made white as snow"
I'm his youth his eyes were blue, soft
and winning. Looking at the face one
might say There is the face of a stu
dent. 1t was calm and serene, going
oftener to pallor than to laughter. 1t
may be that ne liked to hear the birds
sing. for hours and hours he would
Iinger in the woods alone. His hands
were small and perfectly moulded. Who
could tell in looking at them that they
were the most deadly hands with a re-
voIver in all the border. Perhaps no
man ever had more complete mastery
over a horse than Frank James, and
whether at a furious gallop or under
the simple swing of the route step. he
could lean from his saddle and snatch
a pebble from the ground" Thus
speaks Colonel j. r. CaVen, who grew
reminiscent when talking of the James
boys. with whom he served in the same
brigade in the confederate army
Frank James delighted in surprises,
and he was heard to sing little snatches
of song as the gray smoke rolled away
from his pistol, he published his name
broadcast when the mood was upon
him, and blaZed it along the route of
his travels as if ii were a cloud to cover
him He was unlike the rest just as he
was greater than them. II there is ii
race without fear. Frank James be-
longed to it. He loved life. and yet he
did not value it. He exhibited all the
qualities of cunning, skill, nerve, dar-
ing, physical endurance, Astounding hui
NOR, a courage that was sometimes
cautious to excess and sometimes deS-
perate to temerity- Having shaken
hands with death, he thought no more
of the word surrender-and surrender
he did, or rather, voluntarily gave him
self up-and in all the time / knew him.
and from what is still told of him. he
was man who never broke his prom
ise."