The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1909-03-13
: PRACTICE AMONG FOREIGNERS IS
A MENACE TO COMMUNITY
ONE KAN ADVOCATES A RAID
Proposes That Deputies Search Every Man
on Pay Nights and Arrest all Found
With Guns.

-
this community. Its warning notes
were sounded in the murder of two
weeks ago and again at Amasa last
week. It's echo can be heard almost
any night along the by-paths leading
10 the surrounding locations. Revol-
vers are discharged wildly with no
thought Of what the speeding bullet
may do. Drunken men openly bran
dish guns about the saloons and unless
the law i'm regard 10 the carrying of
guns Is enforced and the indiscrimInate
users OF the weapons are punished
there Is going to be some serious
trouble.
In talking over this matter with a
gentleman who knows whereof he
speaks during the week. no waxed very
warm upon the subject In part he
said
do you know that one OF the most
serious. s.conditions that we have to con
front right here in this community at
the present time is the carrying of ie-
volyers boy foreigners, especially by the
Finnsf Why, you have no idea of the
number OF cheap revolvers that are
sold here every month IL would sur
prise our good people very much il the
hardware stores would disclose just
how many revolvers they sell here each
month. I sat In store one evening
myself and saw three revolvers sold In
about half an honr and the proprietor
told me that he had sold six after sup
per that evening and that that number
was nothing unusual for pay night.
It's on paydays that the guns are gen
orally sold
Ef--f'he reason why | mention the
Firms as being particularly dangerous
in this gun totng is their habits of
defense and offense during n quarrel.
They are known as knife men.
They invariably draw knife and use
II when they have u quarrel but there
Is this about their knitting while we
have many instances of men being cut
tits "a common occurrence in our saloons
on pay nights especially You have yet
TO point out case i'm which theIr
knitting mas caused death It's the
way they use the knife They don {
stab to kill as do the Latin races who
use the stiletto do but they simply
slash with the point
But now they are laying by the
knife and substituting the revolver
Their habit of drawing a weapon when
drunk sticks by them The revolver is
much deadlier weapon than the knife
and where before the doctor had
knife cut 10 sew up. the undertaken Is
now called upon for coffin. That is
the reason why the indiscriminate
carrying Of revolvers by these people
Is a menace 10 the community. Had
the murderer used knife couple of
Sundays ago we would not have the
disgraceful blot upon our community
that we now have.
~ am In earnest about this, gentle
men. and bllieve that 1t is condition
that the officials of this city and coun-
ty should grapple with right now and
You should promulgate this In the col
umns of your paper that the people
may become alive TO the situation.
''As corrective am of the opinion
tnat lot OF deputies should be sworn
In next pay night and they should 40
from the top TO the bottom of this
strset search every man and anyone
found with gum on his person should
be- put in Jail and some OF them sent
over 10 Marquette. That win stop II. |
This arresting man and hning
him ten or fifteen dollars don't do any
good. They look upon that as part
Of the drnuk A couple of them want
10 be sent over the road and that will
stop IL mighty quick.
- II don't mean that only foreigners
houfh be searched but everyone.
However, veiy few Of the English
speaking people carry revolvers They
have ON nse for them.
This IN serious matter and we re-
spectfulIy call the attention OF our
officers 10 ID. The habit is In It's in
fancy just now and can be nipped in
the bud very handily. Let IL grow
and no one can tell where II will end.
It was foreigner that was shot
couple OF weeks ago aud the consciences
OF the English speaking people are not
awakened ne they would have been had |
re been one OF them. Yet, IL might
have been one OF our best known men.