The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1909-06-16
THE MANNER OF MAN
A BORDERER is.
"The of Border" bv Jaunea M Sseel.

From THE Sons of the
The Borderer is q man not born, bul
unconsciously to himself, made by BIZ
surroundings and necessities. He may
have been born on the Chesapeke o.
the banks Of the Juniata; he may hal
from Lincolnshire or Cork; Far West
ern life will clothe him with new in
dividuality, make him forget the tastes
and habits of early life, and transform
him into one of that restless horde Of
cosmopolitans who form the crest of thu
slow wave Of humanity which year by
year creeps toward the setting sun.
The life Of the Border is q transitory
one, and fast passing away. The pecu.
liarities that belong to life and men
there, when gone in fast advancing civ.
q
ilization, will leave no record of them.
selves, even as the backwoodsman
has left none. The frontier has .
language, religion and social status
of its own. 1t has habit of thought
and action unique, vigorous and not
wanting in the elements which every
where express religion, honor and pa.
thos. The people whose tastesor whose
fates lead them here have q world
to themselves alone. A world of lone.
illness and lost comforts, where cities,
banks, railroads, theaters, churches and
scandal have not yet come; q world
where births and weddings are few,
funeral ceremonies are short and tears
are nearly unknown. 1t is a land
where there is so close an affinity be.
tween Nature and man that Nature Is
an hourly teacher; land that is solemn
as the sea and where, as upon the sea,
the far blue mists of the horizon bound
the world. The days, unchanged by
the ceremonies and Observan.es of civ.
ilization, are all alike, each one as mel
as q Puritan Sabbath. Ma.
ture is herself, and spreads her feasts
and acts her caprices for her own plea.
sure. Acres Of flowers, leagues of
beauty, bloom and fade and come
again, unseen by man. Solitary birds
fly lazily by. The animals stare at the
new animal-the passing man-al.
most unscared, and silence is q power.
The ideal Borderer, the type of his
,lass from Western Kansas to the Rio |
Grande, you will find clad in calskin |
boots, with broad brimmed hat worn
lskew, and his neither limbs encased in |
ancy cassineres. There are rings up
N his fingers and blazing jewels upon
lis breast. He is loud and defiant in
lress, manners and general deport.
nent. He clings with the tenacity of
econd nature to the language of the
lance house and the brOthel. The
'appy thought Of Colonel Colt, which
'as filled more unmarked graves than
he plague and eternally settled more
isputes than all juries, is his constant
nd valued companion, and he wears
is rakish hat away upon his oily locks
nth the air Of the king of all the loaf:
rs.
But he is not a loafer. He is quar-
elsome, jealous in honor and still very
luch of a man and friend to those ,
no understand him. He makes no
.servati"n Of actual impressions and i
,oughts, but in this he is only unne.
.ssarily sincere and Independent. He
i'll take a strangers last dollar at q
anne which he does not understand, ! j
ut he will likewise lend and share to 4
'e last cent and the last morsel. He I
ties "airs," caLnot abide to be patron
ed, and is ugly to all who chance to '
sagree with him. His great fault is q
at he is intolerant, but he is brave, Il
lcere and faithful when once enlist. n
in any cause. p
The Border is q field 70. the gather. Fl
9 together Of all kinds and races. 81
ere is the patient, plodding, phleg. a
attic German, fast forgetting every u
,ditioh of his fatherland in the alb. Fl
rbing wildness which makes all men q
Ike. Here is the Irishman. with the Il
h brogue Of Tipperary still upon his al
,gue, but changed in all else which n
,aks of the green isle of peat, pota- .
3 and blarney. And here is the re
wneast Yankee, forgetfal of all ideas al
the land of Puritans and hard cider, til
ming all his native cunning and in
,evdneas into account at poker and IN