The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-03-06

pro and q con with respect 10 tHe
hambjt Of mind and life Of the COM
munIty which IS most conducive 10 Us
suppression. 1t is an ugly thlhg II
any light. But The question recurs
stroUg.y as 10 whether or not the TAX
ing Of life is more prevalent in the
ommuui which is best prepared 70
take If. Looking at Texas az the typ
icaI country where every man IS sup
posed To be ready To shoot TO XIII II
necessary. the amount Of damage done
is infnitesmial in comparison with
the general preparedness of the citi-
zens. on the other hand. places ike
CIV York provide a record Of murders
out Of all proportion to the relative
habit Of weapon carrying. The erect
Of the ability 10 shoot or to- stab Is
something more than psychological: a
man 50 buttresscd feels his response
bility.
once heard q returning t~raeveler
from the South narrate his experience
at a social club IN the city where ne
was stationed for several months. he
had been invited to poin a party OF
six or more in a game Of "Frencl
pool" When the company Invested
themselves of their coats, my friend
felt a chill run up his spine. Around
every waist was a belt. In every belt
were a pair of pistols capable Of
shooting straight and with deadly eff
feet at two ehundred yards. Ihef
were no pocket editions among the
Weapon displayed. with the exception
Of two or three double bdrreled der
ringers which formed an additional
vest pocket arsenal for several OF the
pool players-a sort Of subsidiary bat
terry. Now. when my friend saw ines"
things. he was not to say alarmed. Dut
he became thoughtful. Himself, when
he went into that country had thought
to do as the oman do, and had pur-
chased what he thought a formidablc
weapon. a t~hirty-cight cdlibrc Smith
& WcsSon pistol. which fitted neatly
into the place where prohibition COM
munities carry their TASKS. When he
saw the display of heavy artillery
flung on the chairs. therefore, he con-
Sidered that it was due his friends
liz he. too, should divest himself Of
his Weapon. He oStentatiOuslY pulled
forth his pistol and laid it aside. At
sight of it. his companions rOared
their mirth. 1t was ike Il baby astray
in a lane of giants. lie was twitted
about his 'pop-gun" numerically.
one man affected to think it q toilet
article for the destruction of black
heads; another admired it deeply as Il
fine gun for mice; still another asked
who was the Lady for whom he had
purchased it. AS he looked at the
of his friends and the pistol
on which he had relied, my friend felt
very small and helpless. He realized
that he cOuld not afford to carry
around ten pounds of hardware. nor
yet to rely pon the weapon he pos
scSsed against such Odds. Before de-
Gliding on his course he decided to in
veStigate.
The town in which he was living
contained some forty thousand people
of Whom nine out of ten males were
armed according to the standard he
had Investigated. Yet in five years
there had been one killing. His "
home town. where the carrying of
weapons was comparatively Il rare oc-
currcnce, had in the same length of
time afforded about fifteen homicides.
The people were markedly polite,
there was a little profanity, the ruling
impulse seemed to be courtesy. My
friends decided that the practice had
made him immune. He threw away
his pistol and lived happily ever offer.
In the same Driod in New York
there had been murders in plenty.
Most of them We're committed by pois-
on or by shooting from ambush or by
Standings where the blade entered
from the rear under h fifth rib to
the left. The reason that New York
has so many ele~ctrOcutions is that
when a killing is done, it is compare
lively rare that it is other han cold
blooded murder. What bearing on
this condition is had by the ~undoubted
habit of thought that condemns the
taking of life under any circumstances
is a question:. The knowledge that the
victim is unarmed certainly seems to
act powerfully upon the intending
murdered in favor of a secret attack.
Possibly the matter of shooting and
of murder is strangely mixed. like
most other things. with the quality
of religion which sWays a particular
people. In the pure, white light Of
religion is the sacredness of human
life. Yet the most ardent of re
ll2lonists keep their theory pure only
in their spoken u~tterances. Moral
ideals are shaped by daily living. In
those sections where the religious ideas
of the fathers are most sacredly OBJ
served. it is a fact that men are most
ready to fight to the death. Their
faith is tinged with fatalism. they do
not max a fetish of life or over-value
it. AT the same time there are certain
standards which they have erected for
themselves i'll life which they will pro-
tect even at the cost of it. This. in
the rough. is the rural sentiment about
the sixth commandment. In the larger
cities, life has obtained an almost IA
natlcal Importance. Its emphasis.
strangely Dug grow out of a lack
- ltilSlolS toilNlCtlhIl. 10 The ma
who has no faith il is a very fearful
thing to give up living. He must
leave behind him all his savings. He
must cease from labor. He must do
without the pleasures which money
will buy. Consequently. if he must
kill, it is It d~isreputable business al
best. and, above all. he must kill with
u risk to himself. His own life is
the supreme thing. however miserable
it may be. He will take no chances
with it, When ono OF the Sordic
crimes which float to the ton of this
river = discovered, he attributes il Il
immigration. 1t does not occur to the
city mind that the method of killing i!
q habit Of thought.
Tbs most d~isCouccrting thing abou
d man who dies suddenly is the mute
revenge he takes upon his slayer. II
an instant. from q potentlality Of dedtf
himself. he becomes an accusation. II.
sheds his responsibilities with hS If
without regard to the factS. Two mel
meet II there are no actual W~itneSSe
OF what Is said or done. There ar,
several shots. and one Of the combat
4 a ItG 10 II aaI