The Winchester news., 1909-02-24

for and killing an enemy Is interest
ing because the tale is laid in Win
chester 1t is typical of the stories
prevalent in Eastern magazines and
newspapers which go so far to dis
credit Kentucky. 1t is taken from
Everybody rs Magazine for March.
Editor News.)
(By Richard Washburn Child
Editors Note.-A peculiar strain
of lawlessness runs In native Ameri
can blood. We have been called in
Europe a nation of man-killers.
Possibly the prevalence of homicide
In this country is due, in part, to in
adequate methods of capturing and
Furnishing criminals. But the real
cause of lawlessness is deeper than
this. Perhaps as a nation we are
not impatient enough with murderers.
The south h-central division of our
States has, in proportion to pOpula-
ton, the largest number of prisoners
committed for homicide, and yet there
is, probably, no section of the coun-
try where man-killing is viewed with
more calm and where punishment is
so readily avoided. In Kentucky it
Is well known among public prose-
eutors that convictions for murder
and manslaughter are difficult to Sc
cure. The fault is with the senti-
ment of juries, and this sentiment
mirrors the tendency of the cOmmun-
ity to be lenient with the man-kller.
During the terms of the last three
Kentucky governors over one thou
sand three hundred criminals have
been pardoned. -Four hundred and
4ifty-nine of these had been found
guilty of murder or manslaughter! !!
What, then, is the attitude of mind
which, in the middle of civilized
America, considers murder so lightly,
which looks upon man hunting as a
part of life's fair play?]
The best man-hunting in the world
may be found in parts of the noun
tain region of Eastern Kentucky; the
sportsman in this country may feel
inclined at first to believe that the
district has been well "shot out" but
though this is, in a measure, true,
nevertheless an eager hunter may
find, along the course of the yellow
Kentucky River and in the ndghbOr-
hood of the lumber camps and moon
shine distilleries, an excellent oppor-
tunity to bag his quarry. To those
who can overcome the prejudices that
stand in the way of killing their own
species and accept the viewpoint of
the native man-hunter, plenty of good
shooting is still available.
If by good sport is meant the TAX
ing of animal life under circumstan
ces which provide an opportunity for
roughing it in a rather wild and beau
fiful country with the attendant en-
joyments of the fresh highland air
=and the panorama OF forests, noun
tain streams, and rough crags, to-
gether with the chance to take some
personal risks, then here the pursuit
of the biggest game finds its ideal
surroundings. As to the hazards of
the sport, it is true that even In this
region the law provides no open sea-
son for man killing, and furthermore,
the instinct of self preservation, the
skill in self defense by means of ex-
plosive weapons, and the general in
telligence of the game itself are such
as to make it considerable question
as to whether the sportsman will get
his man or the man his sportsman,
or the law both.
To write upon the subject of hunt
ing the biggest of the big game, one
should perhaps be qualified by per-
sonal experience, particularly in these
days when one who so writes is more
than usually open to the charge of
being a human-nature faker. 1t is
therefore with awkward embarrass-
ment that the author confesses that
he has never shot man in his life.
He can only tell of the sport by recit-
ing a narrative of the chase as set
forth by one Newt Pound, a native
sportsman, who, sitting on fence
near the railroad station at Winches-
ter, Kentucky, swung his heels
through the do'wy grass-tOps, rolled
cigarette after cigarette with his
long bony fingers, squinted quizzically
at the starry heavens, and drawled
ont the tale of his greatest hunt.
The Region of Sudden Death.
From behind us came the sounds Of
Saturday night hilarity in Bucktown
that section of Winchester once trOd
by the feet of Daniel Boone and now
given over to a swarming population
of blacks. Newt gazed thoughtfully
over his shoulder and back along the
road where, at an intersection OF me-
GRO thoroughfareS, groups of men and