The semi-weekly messenger., 1906-03-30

Killers without number became cele-
brated and were wiped out by the Wig
ilants or hastily gathered parties ar
ranged for their suppression Geron-
imo Buldon was one of the same type
as Murieta. and his head is now in
San Francisco. while his body has long
since been absorbed by coyotes. Billy
the Kid and the Apache Kid were
two distinct persons. The former in
early life roamed the streets of Silver
City. He was the companion of Jesse
Evans. His mother, strikingly hand
some woman. was insulted on the
street. Billy the Kid" killed the man
and became Billy the Outlaw" He
never knew fear, and with Evans be-
gan campaign against the Apaches,
which soon included the white settlers,
and later any and all who could be
despoiled. After becoming the leader
Of a band of desperadoes who terror
lied the country for several years. he
was finally killed by Pat A. Garrett,
a famous man hunter and frontier
sheriff
THE Apache Kid was an Indian
outlaw, and as such has no place in
the record of American bad men, ex-
cept for the purpose of identification.
BLACK Bart" and Smiling Williams
were early day stage robbers; "Dyna-
mite Dick a Southwestern desperate,
was perfect type of the desperate gun
fighter, and when run to earth by nine
United States marshals in the cabin
of a friend. Sid Williams, he proved
that if he was a bad lot he ''sure was
a fighter in the Open," for when Will
liams offered to help him he pushed
Williams with his wife and two kids
over in one corner OF the shack, gave
each of the youngsters a hug and a
kiss. Then, snatching his two guns
from his belt, he sprang to the door.
threw it wide open and yelled, Now
come at me-" as he opened fire on the
group Of officers. He got four of them
before they gave him volley that sent
him over the big divide.
A Few Who Died in Bed.
Big Jim Carter was one of the most
noted fighters of the Sagebrush state,
and one of the few who died peaceful
ly in bed. Bill Cook. the Indian terri
tory outlaw; the James and Younger
brothers, and numerous others of the
more modern hOld-up men are all Of
too recent date to be considered. The
low, vulgar tough of the city, the am
bush fighters of the southern mountain
feudist class, the Indian bred to kill
and torture, the safe and express rob-
ber are all excluded from the histori-
cal bad-man class. as they have seldom
the nerve and skill respected the world
over, and singularly prmOinent in the
western shooter.
The brave plainsman and his asso-
ciates will have none of the new auto
matte repeating revolvers or magazine
guns. The old-fashioned Colt "A or As
calibre single-action gun was for many
years the only weapon considered
worthy of being "toted" by a killer
Gradually the double-action of self
cocker came into use and is now quite
generally carried. The COW puncher's
most highly priced possession is an
ivory-handled Colt and while many
other makers have striven for the fa-
vor Of the west, none has in any mark
ed degree succeeded.
In the Carolina and Tennessee
mountains the old powder ball and
percussion cap revolver is still in gen.
eral use, as, with plenty of powder
and lead, one can never run out Of
cartridges. Colt is frequently called and
believed to be the invetor of the revol-
yer. when in reality he was only an
improver. The first American revolver
Allen pepperbox. It cannot be decid-
ed which was first made, owing to the
fact that arms of that period were
rarely stamped with the date of man
ufacture.
In the Tower collection of arms a
fOur-cha mber revolver, supposed to
have been carried by Henry VIII, and
bearing evidence of being made in the
first half of the sixteenth century, is a
prominent feature. There are several
Italian-made revolvers of the seven
teenth century, while the knock and
barrel carbine of 1907 and the Collier
revolving gun of 1910 are we'll known
to those students who are considered
authority on the subject.
In the earlier weapons the cylinders
or barrels were revolved by hand, and
those crude weapons possessed little
advantage over the single shooting
gun. The American-made revolver Of
today is probably the greatest civiliZing
agent in existence, but in the far east
one must be sure he gets the real thing
In China one can purchase Colt revolv-
erS and Winchester rifles made by Chi
namen, exact duplicates of the real
thing. even to the name stamped on
the metal, but made Of the cheapest
materials. and consequently deadly at
either end.
The bad man can be found in but
few localities now. The gold camps
Of Australia and South Africa never
knew him. He is typically American
and, with the buffalo and the Indian.
very rapidly becoming extinct Long
after he has ceased to exist in propria
persona, he will figure in the pages Of
history and romance as the highest
type of daredevil courage, skill and
endurance known to man.-New York
Herald.
Mothers everywhere praise One Min
,1to Couch Cr,ro for tho cuffarinpS If