The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1905-11-09
FUNSTON'S FAMOUS SHOT.
A Story of General Funston When he
was Santa 70 Collector.

A Story of General Funston When he
was Santa Fs Collector.
General Fred Funston who has won
world wide fame as an Artio explorer, a
Cuban soldier and an officer 10 the U. 8.
army, used to be q familiar figure to
Dodge City people and others along the
Santa Fe railroad In Kansas and Colorado.
That was back In the eighties, when the
now famous man was collector of fares
on the Santa Fe. At that time Funston's 8
friends among the railroad boys little
suspected that he would soon be world
famed general. The popular prediction
among bis railroad friends was that
Funston's dare devil pranks would result
sooner or later in getting himself aud
perhaps a few of his immediate associates
killed by some irate victim. He had an
utter disregard of the consequences, If
the idea Glanced to strike him 10 do q
thing, no matter how trivial The thing
WAS or how great the consequences might
be. Funston, at this time, though few
perhaps knew Of il, was better pistol
slict than some of Dodge City's most
notorious killers. Ben Bixby, of Dodge
who was also Santa Fe collector, and
IS no roomed with Funston for a while at
Ia Jnnta witnessed the best shot that
the Little General that was to be ever
made, and not only witnessed IT, but
rather than squea on Funston, went to
jail and had quite little trouble over
Funston was an early riser and had been
out on tramp one morning. When he
returned to his room Bixby was still In
bed. Funston stood by window caress-
ing revolver, when his attention was
attracted to team of mules on the street
below They were standing in a lazy
attitude, their great ears wabbling about
aud Eunst0n's attention was soon divided
between the revolver and the mules ears.
The idea occurred to him that be could
shoot neat round hole through the exact
center of one OF those mule ears, and
leave the mule SO marked that he could
recognize him if he ever met him again,
He conveyed the ideato Bixley much to
the latter's annoyance, for he knew that
for Funston to think meant that he would
act on the thought, and he scented trou-
BILE. Funston locked through the open
window in solemn meditation for
moment then his right arm Strengthened
out suddenly. There was report from
the revolver, there was clear cut hole
exactly In the center of mule ear, and
there was an angry and excited mule
owner followed by the police force on a
search for the man who he was sure had
tried to kill his mule. Funston slipped
out OF the house like spirit and took the
gun with him, and Bixby was soon arrest.
ed and hauled out of bed. All they could
get out of Bixby was that he did not
pierce the mules ear, and the fact that
the police ceuld not find gun in the
room finally cleared him of the charge.
Like the other railroad boys who had
suffered from Funston's pranks, Blxby
to give him away "next time,
but like the rest when the next time come
he would have hanged rather than let
Funston think that he wasn'tgame. The
mule-ear episode was BY no means the
last nor the most serious Of Fnnston's
pranks. Among the railroad boys the
incident is recorded only as one Of the
best shots that Funston ever made.