Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-20
Death Of Noted Man-Killer's Father
Recalls Old Days.
WEARS PLUG HAT INTO TOWN

WEARS FLUG Hal Into TOWN
Little Fighter Enters Notorious Settle
ment on a Wager and His Nerve
Proves Safeguard.
Recently the Texas newspapers an
| nounced the death. In Dallas. of the Rev
3 X. Short. an aged peripatetic minister
| OF the Presbyterian faith. who, the obit-
| uaries stated, had ridden the circuit OF his
faith from one end Of Texas to the other
! almost since the period when the Lone Star
state was a Mexican possession" remarked
! a civil engineer of Washington who assist
ed in the building OF many of the south
western railroads.
| only a few of the Texas newspapers
made any mention of the fact. however. In
publishing this obituary sketch. that the
goodly old travelling preacher OF the Pres
byterian faith was the father Of the famous
Luke Short. one-time marshal OF Dodge
City when Dodge was the worst place on
the civilized globe. Twenty years and more
ago the country used to ring periodically
| with the deeds OF Luke Short He was
| often adverted to as characteristic bad
| man of the west. but he was very far from
I that. During his life Luke Short who died
In his bed from very commonplace NAL
| ady fifteen years ago. killed exactly TWEEN
| tvthree men. but he didn't murder of
| them; he got every last one Of them In the
| square line OF duty and necessity.
| "A lot of knife fighters and gun tanners
| who killed for the love OF killing and the
fame of bloody deeds got after Short when
| a q md q
| defender OF his own sawed-of person be-
| came national. and the time came when
| Luke. who was one OF the quietest and
most unobtrusive men ever knew. had to
! walk the world looking before and behind
him and to keep one eye open even in his
| sleep.
"A good many Jobs were cooked up on
him by friends Of genuinely bad men whom
! he had been compelled to send over the
| big divide. and on several occasions in
Texas. his enemies attempted to railroad
| him TO the Rallows, and. falling that. to
send him to states prison for life But the
| late Gov. Hogx Of Texas. who had met
| Luke Short early in his Texas career. and
who had probed the true value OF the man
| was Shorts firm and substantial friend
through all of these troubles. and he was
at Shorts bedside-HosR then being Gov
arnor Of Texas-holding his hand when the
life 1ickered out OF the dauntless little ex-
marshal Of the Dodge peace.
| How Luke Came to Dodge.
! 1T was Gov. Hogg himself who told me.
many years ago. the story Of how Luke
Short first arrived In Dodge City. OF which
| unspeakable camp he soon after became
the night marshal.
Short had been in the freight!ng bust
ness at Durango. Col. and one day ne met
| up with an old-time freighter who had Just
got in from the long Hathaway from Dodge
| City. Luke got Into talk with the old
| freighter and asked him about Dodge
| They're telling me It's right smart bad
| down that way said Luke. is that right?
I've been thinking Of dropping over that
| way
We'll. you stay out Of Dodge: podner:
replied the old freighter. They'll sure git
yo' IL yo' go thar. They git two or three
ev'ry night in Dodge wy. on'y las week
else but projeckin' into tn camp wearin
plug hat
ITS that rght?" said Short calmly.
Well I'm going over to Dodge tomorrow,
and he added as a sort OF afterthought.
| I'm going to get in there wearing a plug
hat. never wore a plug hat before, but I
might just as well begin wearing one In
| Dodge
1.-The old fre,ghter sized up the small.
| compact sandy-haired Luke out OF the cor
ner of his eye. probably trying to determine
whether Short was crazy or Just four
flush trying to get by with some high con-
versation.
"'Well' said the old freighter. finally. 7
| got a hundred here that says yo' amt
a-goin' t pull into Dodge wearin' no plug
| hat and he pulled out his roll.
| YOU'RE on said Short, and he covered
| the hundred instantly.
| THE old freighter was puzzled to have
| his bet picked up 80 quickly. but he let 1t
run as 1t lay and both men put up their
| money with the Durango agent of the
| Wells-Fargo Company. AS there weren't
| any plug hats In Durango and one couldn't
be got down from Denver within less than
i kt,.@A Sor thary rod n
| Dodge four days later.
when the shiny top-piece arrived from
| Denver the two men took the train for
Dodge. The old freighter was still una ware
| of Shorts identity as the quickest man on
! the trigger then alive. and, in addition to
| that. one OF the most accomplished bowie
| fighters. Short hadn't been long out of
| Texas then. and his reputation as a trim
| mer Of would-be bad ones hadn't got out of
| his own country.
when the train drew close to Dodge
| Cfty-the old freighter told the story to
Gov Hogg just as the latter told 1t to me
| the older nfan said to Short:
Freighter Loses Nerve.
bud. yo' had bettuh take my advice
heah an now, an not git off this train with
that thing on yo head. I'll let yo' pull yo'
bet down. Yo' had bettuh git offn tn
train with yo regular hat on
The bet goes as 1t was made, of course
replied Short and he reached down to the
| handbook, pulled out the brand-new silk
| hat, stroketi It with the sleeve of his blue
| flannel shirt, and put 1t on his sandy head.
He had two guns strapped to his waist and
| all the rest of the makeup of the frontiers
mon of his day. but yet with 1t ALL he
looked the quiet, unassumng little chap he
really was.
when the train pulled In at Dodge there
was the usual crowd of men at the station,
and the usual number OF them were drunk
and hOiSterOuS and ugly.
when he the crowd reckon I'll
| stay on board and watch this heah game
observed the old freighter.
"'AlI right. said Short. and then he STEP
ped out to the platform. a queer pic
ture. with the shiny new silk hat set jaunt-
| lily on one side of his head and his make
up as a frontiersman.
Howdy, there, Luke said Jim Purdy
the day marshal who was in the station
crowd Purdy was the only man in the
crowd who knew Luke. having met up with
him in San Antoine.
THE eyes of nearly every man in the