Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-29


Gus, whose terrible names were
well known to millions of quiet
and law-abiding citizens, were almost
Invariably scions Of respectable fam
lilies, and, strange to say, the cause of
the induction into crime in every case
must be attributed to the fair sex
JOAQUIN Murietta, the gallant but
bloodthirsty ruffian, who for so long
terrorized California. committed his
first murder on an American who had
eloped with his wife. Blue Grass Harry
came from an old Kentucky pioneer
stock. He was fine classical scholar
and enjoyed local reputatlon as a
promising young orator. He fell VIC
tim to the siren allurements of a pretty
actress. After draining him dry Of all
his worldly goods, the lady promptly
dismissed him and alta ched herselt 10
a wealthy merchant. Harry Killed MS
rival, fled east, and in the course oil
time became most famous ruttian,
who was sought for by the sheriffs of
several states and territories. Three
Fingered Jack, the scene of whose ex-
ploits was confined to Southern cali
fornia, was inducted into lawessness
through finding the ways and means
of supplying the extraVagances or
famous old Bella Union music hall OF
San Francisco. Many other such ex-
amples might be cited. where lovely
women in STOPPING to folly carried
with them their admirers and victims.
1t is a well-known fact that all these
desperadoes who came from good fami-
lies were men of undauted courage and
steel nerves. and in a certain way in
iected a spice of chivalry into their
most atrocious crimes. Their follow
ers comprised an altogether different
species of scoundrels. They were gem
orally illiterate and cruel, and when
not under the influence of liquor or
the impulse of fear for their personal
safety, they were cowardly and treach-
erous. They were generally held to
their allegiance to their band by
well-founded dread of their comrades.
When a number of their comrades
were captured they scrambled for the
privilege of turning states evidence
to save their own worthless lives.
The most illustrious member Of
highly respectable profession was an
essentially remarkable character. He
was a heterogeneous compound of
scoundrelism, villainy, ruffianism and
good temper. amiability and kind
heartedness. He would cry like baby
over the trials and tribulations of Lit
tie Nell" and the next moment would
shoot down a turbulent member of his
band who dared to disobey his peremp
tory command He was a small Amer
ican edition of Robin Hood, for he
freely divided with the poor the spoils
he had wrested from the rich He
was almost worshlped by the itinerant
placer miners, cattle thieves, herders
and tramps of both the American and
the Mexican borders, and even the
"Rurales" of Mexico and the Rang
ers" of Arizona and New Mexico had
a good word for Joe Goodheart He
won this sobriquet on account of the
many acts of kindness and charity
that were placed to his credit
Joe was the son of a well-to-do farm
er in Southern California. At a very
early age he was addicted to the PERU
sal of dime novels and tales of border
life. with their accompanying narra-
tives of ruffianism. He graduated at
the academy of a neighboring progress
sive town and became clerk in a
bank. At the early age of 23 he was
promoted to fill the position of cashier
of the same institution, and was the
pride and joy Of a kind father and an
indulgent mother He was a regular
church-goer and was also the librarian
of the Sunday school attached to the
church.
Among the teachers of the aforesaid
Sunday school was charming,
sprightly, pretty little married woman,
who was the wife of a promising young
master house carpenter. or as he would
now be styled, architect. The latter
and Joe became fast friends, so much
so that the architect" who was ridic-
ulously jealous of this lovely little
wifey. had no hesitation in permitting
the fortunate Joe to escort his better
half to and from the church and to all
the parties and socia bles that trans
pired.
1t was not long before Joe and the
architects young spouse discovered
that their tastes in literature were de-
cidedly similar. In fact, the lady
passed no small portion of her time
prize book was work entitled Tales
of the Border" This precious tome
contained the biographies of number
of worthless who once infested the
boundary line between England and
Scotland, and employed their time and
exercised their talents in acquiring
for themselves that which others re-
garded as their own. AS the architect
seldom got home before p. M, Joe,
who left his duties at p. M, fastened
to the house of his friend. where the
fair hostess and himself passed a cou-
pie of delightful hours in ddvouring
pages upon pages of yellow-covered
literaturee. At length the architect.
who seemed daily to become more and
more infatuated with the invariable
good nature and amiability of his
friend, proposed that he should leave
his present lodgings and take up his
quarters in his hospitable home. To
this proposal the worthy spouse (who.
by the way, was known by the pet
name of "Birdie) emphatically de-
INJURED on the ground that people
would talk Joe. also, at first refused
his assent for the same reason. But
the more they objected the more OBJ
stinate and resOlute the architect be-
came. At length he bore down all op-
position; Joe became an inmate of the
nest in which the red-cheeked Birdie
was the priceless ornament and-that
was the beginning of the end of the
architects domestic felicity.
Now, the charming Birdie was by no
means mere milk-and- water person.
age. or Puritan derivation, she was
imbued with many of the sterling at
tributes which have proved to he such
striking characteristics of her Yankee
ancestry. She was. to say the least,
essentially economical During the
two short years of her married life
she had managed to save $747 by meth
DDS so well known to prudent house,
wives. She economized in her gener-
Gus allowance for marketing. In sum
ming her grocery book she generally
added at least 30 per cent to the gross
monthly amount, and was equally gem