The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-10-31

them, so the meeting adjourned to the wharf owned by the same firm. AL though it was nine o'clock at night when they finally gathered on the wharf, it was broad daylight, the Arci tic sun lighting up the scene as at midday. Guards were put out on the wharf sides, and at the land approach Frank Reid was stationed The chair man, the hotelkeeper, who had called the meeting. then began to address the crowd. Whatever interest his re- marks may have aroused was over shadowed by the tragedy which took place few minutes after he began to speak.
 Down the trail, intoxicated and swag- gering, with a Winchester rife in the hollow of his arm, came "soapy' Smith. Word had been brought to him of the meeting and it's purport, and with the nerve for which he was not ed, ha had taken his rife to go forth single-handed and COW Or kill those who had dared to dispute his domina-
 ton and despoiling of skagway. Scores of times in the past, both in skagway
 and the Western States, he had faced death from the other mans gun. Once
 in skagway, miner got the drop on
 him, and facing the loaded revolver he
 coolly pulled out his own gun, all though he had been told to hold up his hands. and shot the miner dead. No
 man in Skagway could shoot quicker Or straighter than "Soapy."
 | But that night he was "up against
 8 man whose gun play was so fast
 and sure that, given the least bit of luck, it was almost a certainty, if
 shooting began that Soapy's fate would
 be sealed. The man was Frank Reid,
 surveyor and engineer of Skagway,
 who had roughed it and toughed it
 throughout the western States. But
 "Soapy" surged on until ordered by Reid to stop. His answer was a point
 blank shot fired at Reid at close range.
 Over confidence at such close range, or
 the fatal atom of luck which swings
 the balance one way. or the other may
 account for "Soapy's" failure to hit
 Reid at the first surprise shot, "Soapy'
 made frantic effort to pump another
 cartridge into the chamber of his rife In that instant Reid's revolver swung
 on his hip, clicked and missed fire
 Surely was the Goddess of Luck equal ly favorlng both antagonists. Reid; luck had been handed to him when 2 'Soapy's" first shot missed him
 "soapy's" came when Reid's revolver missed fire.
 Two shots, one from Smiths rifle , the other from Reid's revolver, rant 7 out, and mortified men on the dock say : Smith spin round and pitch forward 2 then roll over on his back and lie stil :, lwhile Reid sank slowly to the ground "Soapy's" career of crime. was ended Reid was hard hit in the hip, and wa
 carried to his office, where he fingered 6 for couple of days and then died. I Word quickly reached the gang tha ' "soapy" was dead, and that the citi , zens had formed vigilance committe d Ito clean out the rest That was tn signal for a stampede, and the res i. took to the woods. tR 89
 4 Meanwhile the citizens lost no tim' ! Capt. lSperry, formerly police captai F at Portland Ore, took the leadership and called for volunteers to hunt dow Il the fugitives. Two men were detaile s at each of the wharves to see tha s none escaped by the sea route, whil e the trails were guarded and searche flor escaping members of the gant ' The Royal Northwest Mounted Polio b at White Horse were telephoned !. and in two days thirty-seven member f. of the gang were captured. Three wei C missing for some days, but starvatio ,I brought them from their hiding place ' lOf the forty lined up. before Jude ii shellberg, nearly all were allowed x leave the country which they did .d punches of six and seven, Three, 1T ,- cluding the town marshal, were COT ,+ vlcted and imprisoned.
 But the troubles of the gang wei
 mot then at an end. Their records ha < preceded them. and the police at Sea