Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-05-21

one finds in modern cow camp. Ey-
cry man has big revolver slapping
at his hip, and a belt full Of car
tridges betrays a sinister sag In his
waist. There is a rifle In the scab-
bard at his saddle, and probably in
one of his pockets reposes a deadly
automatic revolver. for use in the
direst emergency.
But from Captain Hughes and Ser
geant Carnes down through the pri-
vate rangers there comes scant and
cleanly speech. Indeed, 1t Is told Of
the big captain Of Company D that he
ordered from the camp a tenderfoot
who thought his "play" was to unload
a line of profane and obscene con-
versation on the rangers.
I'VE may be little rough, but we
are not blackguards," said the big
captain sternly, whereupon the sur
prised tenderfoot apolog1zed and was
allowed to remain and endeayor to re-
cover the ground he had lost In the
estimation Of these men Of the open.
Il LII luC OiuC0 VI <1uJt--SCnCEaA ~.
Newton Of Texas, at Austin, are rec
ords Of the rangers since 1874. These
records would furnish an historian
with material for several thrilling
volumes of frontier episodes. Tho
rangers were called into being owing
to the large number Of desperate
characters that focked to Texas after
the Civil war. Also body OF active
and courageous fighters was needed
to cope against bad Indians. In its
first year or two Of service the force
Of rangers had many bloody pitched
battles with outlaws. It finally
cleaned out the bad characters, most
Of whom went into series Of fright
full cattle wars, in which cattle own
ers and rustlers opposed each other.
| There was plentv Of work to do In
keeping Texas free from undesirable
citizens however, and the ranger force
was not abandoned. Indeed, the work
has grown to such proportions. even
In these piping times or peace, that
Adjt. General Newton has asked the
state legislature for an increase in
the number Of men. His official re-
port Of 1908 shows that in that year
the rangers made LOTT arrests, 46S
Of these being for felonies ard the re-
mainder for minor offences. The
twenty-seven rangers travelled 277,-
871 miles during the year, most Of
this being done on horseback The
ranger in the western part Of Texas
is particularly "up against 1t" In the
matter of transportation, for here the
railroads are few. Sometimes he
must travel on horseback to settle-
ment 500 miles away. He must trav-
ell all day and part Of the night across
a desert filled with cactus. mesquite
and prickly pear. Sometimes this
prickly pear grows to enormous size.
Bunches Of 1t, higher than the head
Of man who Is standing on his horse,
bar the way across the desert. Yet
the ranger must scout through the
country in which this thorny growth
fourishes.
The Texas rangers are generally ex-
cowboys. The service demands q man
who has spent most of his life In the
saddle, who knows how to pack a
horse, ride to perfection. shoot
straight, keep his own counsel and be
game when the test comes Perhaps
ranger will have all the qualifica-
tions but the last one, whereupon his
place will be filed forthwith by an
other man. Say he has been summon
ed to a little Texas town where q
llynching bee Is In prospect. The de-
termined townsfolk have surrounded
the Jail and overpowered the sheriff.
The ranger arrives-one man against
several hundred. II he has the game
quality demanded he will unlimber his
guns without hesitation and defy the
crowd. Nine times out Of ten his bold
defiance Of the mob will win, for the
very name of the Texas rangers car
ries respect In the state that gave
birth to the organization. 1t is not 30
much the man alone, but the knowl-
edge that there will be more rangers
along soon to back him up, and that
he will die fighting rather than side
step his duty, that causes the mob to
hesitate. Many instances are on rec
ord where one ranger has held a
crowd at bay and prevented lynch
ing.
The work of the rangers is by no
means confined to the southern and
western part of the state. In one
eastern county Of the state, according
to Newton's official report, assassina-
tions were common until rangers were
sent to the scene. No less than thirty
citizens were assassinated In the last
few years, but with the appearance OF
the rangers the assassins ceased their
work. Captain Bill Mcdonald, no less
celebrated in the state than Captain
Hughes, operates in Eastern Texas,
and the exploits Of this famous gun
fighter have made him a terror to
lawbreakers Of all classes. Captain
Bill probably has captured more men
single handed than any other peace
officer in the world. He knows no
such thing as fear, and will go into
lonely cabin and arrest desperate
criminal as calmly as he would enter
his own home and order dinner. On
one occasion he followed a horse
thief 400 miles into No Mans Land,
which was then a rendezvous OF out
laws of all kinds. He came up with
his man eating dinner at camp hre
with four other bad looking charac-
ters. Mcdonald walked UP to his man
and clapped the handouts on him and
had a pistol covering the others be-
fore any one at the fire realized what
was being pulled off. Then he dis
armed the bunch, tied the horse thier
on his stolen horse and went back over
the trail and made an official report
of his capture covering at least four
lines Of print.
Such are the men who have made
the Texas rangers famous from the