Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-11-24
Mistellaneums Grading.
euN-FIeHTERs IN CONGRESS.
How Ben johnson Answered the Four
bad Men" Whom They Ordered
Him Out of Kentucky.


1t is pretty generally known that q
small arsenal can be mustered in the
chamber pretty nearly any time the
house of representatives is in ses-
sion. A percentage Of the voices OF
the people" in the lower house &c
"heeled" pretty much all the time. and
a silk handkerchief is not always re-
sponsible for an unexplained bulge in
the immediate vicinity of a congress
sional coat tail.
Staid. weaponless inhabitants OF
large cities have ceased wondering al
well-known gun toters" from the
south and west. In fact, the gun to-
ter" is becoming less numerous with
each succeeding congress, though
there be plenty now. But If the gun
toter" has ceased to be a cause for
wonder, the gun fighters of congress
were all their records known, might
excite comment.
For congress has gun men, real
live fighters, with Kit Carsons" on
their gunstocks and regulations for
speed on the draw and a bird's-eye
brand of accuracy. Several have rec
ords for having got" their man, and
at least one has put several bad ac-
tors away. Others have come out OF
hostile powder smoke with marks OF
the conflict or after having left their
opponents so marked.
Representative Ben Johnson, OF
Kentucky, chairman Of the committee
on the District of Columbia, caused
something like q sensation among his
Washington friends not long ago by
suddenly deciding upon a ride IN one
of the army aeroplanes at College
park, Mr. Johnson, after the machine
had been brought to earth, languidly
lowed he liked flying. When some
one suggested that others might have
thought the trip hazardous Mr.. john
son did not even think the joke de-
serving Of a smile.
For compared with some of the pic
mics Ben Johnson has come out OF, an
aeroplane ride is just about as dan
serous as an old woman's home
SUNDAY oy 1hS "SJ ~
PLANTATION it might be stated that Mr..
Johnson, besides serving q term as
speaker OF the Kentucky house, came
out triumphant and with whole skin
after four years as collector OF inter-
nal revenue for the Fifth kentucky
district-and life insurance rates are
high on revenue collectors in the blue
grass state.
II was while Mr.. Johnson was
-
1881 that he made his best gun record
though he was known as a good man
on the trigger even before then.
Johnson as speaker was the storm
center Of a bitter factional night. Inc
element that Johnson fought hardest
contained a number Of well-known
gun ngnters and oJhnson knowing
it, carried his own gun handy.
The climax came when II was seen
that Johnson would soon be IN a posi-
tion to rule against his enemies and
rule hard. Four bad men" took 1t
upon themselves to get Johnson out
of the way. Meeting him on lonely
road one afternoon they invited him
TO start then and there for the state
line, not to return to Kentucky upon
pain of death at sight. And they
uion't keep their guns under tneir
coats, either.
MOI lOuB d6O @hAt'
was asked about the story, one OF MS
audience interrupted at this point:
What did you do, Mr.. Johnson!
why" replied the Kentuckian, In
a matter of-fact way, u killed two OF
them, wounded another, and the
fourth ram
Which is exactly what happened.
In The course OF his service as COL
lector OF internal revenue, Johnson
had occasion several times to use ms
gun in a hurry. And it Is generally
understood he used 1t to good adVan-
tage.
IF taking my foot from that chair
would proIong my life five years l
wouldn't move my foot, but Id tight
until lost every last drop of blood In
nv veins before I'd let any human
being be responsible for shortening
my life," explained Mr.. johnson when
a listener remarked on his dare
devillry.
Johnson is not the only member OF
the Kentucy delegation who has car
ried a gun to good advantage. Caleb
Powers, the Republican member,
thrice tried for the murder of Gov
ernor Goebel, of Kentucky, found no
slight solace in the companionship OF
a blue steel six-shooter during the
fierce private and political feuds
through which he fought his way to
a seat in the house.
One man lost his seat for a time be-
cause of his gun record. James 5.
Davenport, of Oklahoma, who runs
Cherokee politics in that state and
carries a gun as a matter of course
at least when he is at home-has been
through the fiercest Of political storms
and in a country where SiX-Shooter
gives rise to less comment than In the
effete east.
Davenport has twice married into
the Cherokee nation. He is the only
''intermarried" white to attain politi-
cal prominence in Oklahoma. Fol
lowing a heated argument, he shot
and killed a man in the old territory
days He was tried. pleaded self-de-
fense, and was convicted of man
slaughter. Granted a new trial, he
was ecquitted: In 1908, when run
ming for reelection, at the eleventh
hour his political enemies obtained
access to the records Of the Federal
courts at Fort Smith, Ark, where the
first trial was held. Taking certain
damaging parts of the testimony, they
reprinted them in pamphlet form and
mailed them broadcast Throughout
the district Davenport was defeated,
but he won his way back at the late
election.
Judge Rucker, of Colorado-of
Rucker Ridge, suh!-began his gun
record as a soldier Of the Confederate
army, and continued his familiarity
with firearms while practicing law In
Missouri and Kansas at a time when
lawyer carried something besides
bound volumes Of United States stat
utes when he went to court. In 1873
he moved to Colorado and divided
his time between the practice of law
and the care Of a flourishing young
ranch near Denver. Pretty soon, how
ever. he was presented with the alter
native of giving up his law practice
or abdicating in favor of itinerant
gangs Of western renegades who were
in the habit of paying the ranch un-
welcome attention.
Being by that time more or less 'sot
in his ways" Judge Rucker decided
10 dispute possession with the next
gang of invaders When the smoke
had cleared away, one Of the gang
was good and dead, several others
wished they were, and the rest had