Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1905-09-23

lates the Kansas City Star He had
been looking over some pictures and
relics of his life on the plains when
he was marshal of the toughest town
in Kansas, and naturally his thoughts
rambled to the days of long ago.
Did you ever hear the story of
how the Lord first introduced the
Word into Newton ?" asked the captain
as he lighted his pipe and settled back
into his chair Those who knew him
drew their chairs little closer for
they were all aware that the captain
could tell a good story. Captain Bran
ham, although a member of the local
police for thirty years, had seen ex-
perience on the frontier and his stories
of these times were generally worth
hearing
so you never heard the story?"
said the captain after few reflective
puffs of the long pipe. well, 1 sup
pose you will have a hard time be-
lieving it, but it is true nevertheless
cit happened in the early part of
the '7Os when Newton was the end
of the Santa Fee railroad and incidently
the toughest town in Kansas. Why
Dodge City in the palmiest days
couldn't hold a candle to what Newton
was then, despite the strenuous eff
forts of press agent. It's a fact that
for a while that town was so stuck on
being real sinful that a man would
commit suicide if he couldn't find
something else to shoot at.
'Well, as I was about to tell you,
religion didn't ooze into Newton with
the other refinements of civilization,
but struck the town with a force not
unlike some of the playful zephyrs
that sometimes disport themselves
over the prairie. Providence had a
most peculiar way of introducing the
Word there and the result was that
| when it did come it was the seven
weeks talk of the surrounding country
Not that Newton showed any signs
| Of repentance or an inclination to
depart from the broad but crooked
way; but it was the novelty of the
| thing. Newton about that time was
! powerful short of anything in the line
| of repentance, but what it lacked in
that it made up in novelty. For varie-
gated and assorted kinds of novelties
in the way of sin 1 think that Newton
should have received a congressional
medal. Church services in Newtoni
You might just as well have told the
average COW puncher in that country
that his Satanic majesty had been
converted.
ct happened one Sunday evening
when all the dance halls, saloons,
gambling houses and other places of
amusement were doing a rushing
business. AS 1 intimated before, if
there was any time that Newton es-
pecially spread itself to be real bad,
it was Sunday night and that night
the town was doing itself justice. 1
was up to Pierce & Thayer's saloon
and gambling house watching some
expert gamblers from the East getting
trimmed by the home talent. Every
| game in the house was doing a record
breaking business and that is saying
something, as they played everything
! in that house from chuck-a-1uck to
| Spanish monte. The dance hall, how
ever, was temporarily out of commits
sion on account of the indisposition of
couple of the musicians, due to
! their fondess for strong waters.
Everything was running smoothly
| Judge Bayard, who made his living
| rendering decisions in poker games,
had just explained the mysteries of a
lulu to the Eastern poker experts,
when the first minister of the gospel
ever seen within the unincorporated
| limits of Newton appeared.
HE was long, gangly sort O. youth
bent on making a name for himself,
and by the long, black fire escapes
he wore On the sides of his face the
| boys sized him up as being from
Boston. His clothes were of a de-
cideJly clerical pattern, but were wont
| to bag at the knees, and-horror of
! horrorsi his person was topped in a
luminous silk tile. Some of the boys
were for takin' a pot shot at the tile,
| but they were restrained, as we ex-
pected that there would be something
doing with this new species before
| long.
HE just sorter drifted into the place
an SEEM what was goin' on he began
to size up the herd. 1 expect that
was the first real job of SHINING on
| the wholesale plan he had been up
against, but he stood it without. show
| ing any outward signs of distress. By
an by he sided up to a bar and we
waited breathlessly to hear his invita-
ton to imbibe some of the particularly
vicious firewater that the place dis
| pensed. He didn't fulfill our expecta-
lions, however, but began to expatiate
to Pierce, who was tendin' bar, ON the
evils of rum and all that