The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1910-04-28


80 ~%NA%~" Their work IA done.
The spirit Of adventure
which brought the men of 1874 TO Red River Set
Element willnre the hardest on 20 stil more dis
tant fields The scarlet tunic will be seen no
longer, except In the pages OF some historical
source book: but the work OF these silent steady.
eyed men will live forever record OF tireless.
ness. fcarlessness. unninchine courage and pa.
tience-the making OF a new and grea. empire.
Change has already come TO the mounted The
days when a scant 500 men were magistrates. doc
tors, coroners explorers. surveyors, mining
corders erown-timber agents. revenue and Gus.
toms officers. telegraphers. scouts. riders drivers
boatmen. canoemen marines and sailors dog -tr
vers. macarrers. couriers. public health and ami
malquarantine officers. prairie and forest-hre
guardians. constables and soldiers for one.third
OF the British Empire are passing with every
new mile OF railroad The border 'wolfer." the
cattle 'rustler." the whisky trader. the fighting
Indian. the whole band OF staggering rufhans who
used to give rest to life in the Territory has
largely passed away. or been crowded northward
and westward toward the mining camps OF Alas
ka and the Yukon. The reckless daring the ro-
bust hardhood and picturesqueness Of the force
necessarily have somewhat changed IN the de-
yeopment OF the thoroughly civilized new north
west Now the young fellows are getting their
breakingin among the settled districts. while the
old stagers are stationed 10 the north and west
where there Is still the frontier" on the edge Of
untraversed wilderness.
For the purposes OF the new order Of things.
1t is a thoroughly competent and efficient force.
as IL was In the days OF the Territory The mem
bers must pass physical and mental examination
which guarantees that ! came upon one OF them
in moment OF leisure studying a textbook on the
common law. and he showed me some examina-
ton questions which implied that he must know
how to conduct cross-examination In open court
as to avoid what are known in the law as
leading questions" And any lawyer viii be I'm
pressed when say that every mounted policeman
must know how TO take a murdered mans dying
declaration In such manner that Il can be pre-
scented as evidence in court The reason for this
is that he conaines the functions OF policeman
with those OF petty magistrate. ga n8.l.
And this arrangement. whereby the same man
could arrest you. and then try you himself and
finally put you In prison and be your keeper was
an ideal arrangement In the days when justice
justice of the saddle. and all the more de
sirable for being summary. Although there are
regular civil courts in the southern portion OF
Canada now. in the far north the duties OF the
mounted policeman stiI as varied as those OF
Gilbert and Sulivan's Pooh-Bah. Primarily he
keepS order. After that he does everything that
ought TO be done. and that II isn't any else's
duty to do. And when some one else leaves his
duty undone. the mounted policeman takes II up
and finishes It. When the mail-carrier. who GOV.
ers the North Country on dog sledges. reaches the
most northern limit OF his route. the mounted po-
liceman takes over the bags. and goes 900 miles
farther north with them. Not long ago a letter
came TO my hands from the Lefhngwell polar ex-
petition. in which the writer stated that he would
take FIVE dogs and a companion and travel 800
miles the ice to mail the letter. When the
letter reached its destination, the envelope bore
the stamp OF the Royal Northwest Mounted Po-
lice who evidently had received II at one OF their
posts In the arctic and then had carried II by dog
train from the Ice fields to railway connection.
1t is all In the days work to them They will
undertake anything, from mindlng the baby to
hanging q man. with equal placidity. and put II
through without ficking an eyelash They have
done their part TO demonstrate that the one
thing this earth longer than the equator is the
arm OF English Justice Less than three years
ago mounted policeman tracked a Yukon muir
derer over 5000 miles. caught up with him In
Mexico. brought him back by way OF Jamaica
and Halifax. avoiding United States soil to pre-
vent extradition complications. and hanged him
within sight OF the scene OF his crime.
There has never been lynching In Canada. Put
that down 10 the credit OF the mounted police. who
administered justice so successfully that there
was never any temptation for the work 10 be Ia
ken up by private enterprise There was never
any parallel for the experience of Bismarck. North
Dakota. where II Is said the first "a graves
those OF men who had died by violence Toward
the Indians. the mounted police maintained ira
dition of stern vigilance which prevented anything
like the costly Indian wars which the United
States waged up TO few years ago There was
never In the history OF Canada train robbery
such as still feature the headlines OF United
States newspapers from time 10 time. The des-
perado Of every type had a healthy respect for
the mounted policeman and preferred TO conduct
his little enterprises south Of the border. wv
Canadians are particularly fond OF telling the
newly arrived American about the troop OF Amer.
lean cavalry-a whole troop. mind you--who ten
DERBY escorted band Of bad Indians bent on
crossing the border. to the Canadian boundary
line They we're met by a single mounted police
man.