Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-02-25
A Desperate Remedy

"CN OMETIMES the vigilantes were
 N all right remarked the man from Arizona, who squirted six drops of tabasco into each drink that he poured out. "and sometimes they were all wrong. In my opinion they were oftener dead wrong than half right. But this may be prejudiced testimony. l never liked the vigilantes' methods. It is undeniable that they were what you might call necessary evil in some parts of the west But they always overdid the thing They grew arrogant, domineering, They generally wound up by wanting to be the whole works. Then. in most cases. something would turn up to finish the visilantes. I hap pened to be on hand when the some thing happened that pulled the curtain down on the vigilante business in Ari- zona. There has never been yigilante in Arizona from that day to this.
 Tt happened in Flagstaff. in 1884. They were never called vigilantes in Arizona. They were referred to as Stranslers. The Stranglers got pret- ty tight hold on Flagstaff They weren't popular. but they had a majority. They called themselves a sheriff's posse, and for awhile they rode over Flagstafr proper. They turned several tricks. with the aid of the rope. that were nowhere near on the square, and they killed several men who were pretty generally thought to be innoeent by Flagstaff folks who didn't take any stock in the Stranglers' haphazard way of doing things. So that when this thing happened I'm going to tell you about, there was pretty strong under current of feeling in Flagstaff against the Stranglers.
 The beginning of the Stranglers' wind-up was when one of the most prominent of their number began to pick on the Burns boys, Charley and Frank. Old man Burns ran the Burns house in Flagstaff. and these boys were his sons. Charley was about 33 and Frank was 2S. They were both square men. as men went down in the southwest in those days. They didn't pretend to be sanctiiied. but they kept as well with in the law as any of us. There was no reason on earth why they should have been singled out to be picked on by the Stranglers. but they were. One day the prominent Strangler that men toned walked into the Burns house. Charley and Frank were playing seven- up for dollars at a table not far from the desk. X few bystanders were polk ing around This StrangIer man be- gan shooting it into Charley Burns in pretty strong way Of limiting about stage robbery that had been pulled of not far from Flagstaff couple of weeks before Charley wasn't a coward. by a whole TOW of 'dobes. but he knew that if he went at the Strangier he'd not only get il himself. but that his broth or and his old father would probably have to dangle Anyway. he wasn't fixed. He had laid aside his belt for more comfort in sitting down. So he didn't say much in reply to the Stran- gler's digs Frank. his younger broth CT. fumed. but he didn't cut in until the StrangleT walked to the bar at the end of the office to get drink Then he said in an angry undertone to his brother:
 Charley if you're not man enough to take your oEn end against that juni- per. am
 Tin not fixed said Char7ey-
 Frank passed his brother a gun uu- der the table
 Now call him.. he said
 Charley sort 2. hssitateS Hsxaas