Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1911-07-28
Diversified USE
Of AUTOMOBILES
HORSE A BACK NUMBER WHERE
HASTE Is DESIRED.
Great AID 10 OFFICERS
Nebraska Vigilance Commit ccs
Chase Crooks Through Agency
of lIOrsclc-s Vehicles.

No state IN the Union better Illus
trates the transition from the age Of
the horse to the age Of the motor car
than does Oklahoma, and strange arc
the uses 20 which the modern vehicle
has been put In this and other states,
whore level roads and streets offer tho
best opportunities for tho use Of the
modern vehicle. Not alone in the
ways of peace are the tires Of the
auto directed but there have been
numerous instances in which high
powered cars have figured in the
escape Of robbers with their spoils,
and determined chases across coun-
ties by pursuers with the latest model
automobile,
1t is not so long ago that the first
auto was purchased for the use OF
the Tulsa fire department.
Similarly, the motor cycles now In
use in the Tulsa police department en-
able the officers to get to the soane OF
a disturbance in short order and many
arrests are due to this equipment
alone
But It is out on the plains Of the
Middle West where some of the most
spectacular stunts have been pulled
off with automobiles. Two incidents
occurring within the last month have
demonstrated this OF all the pic
| g h. oil ,,Ip fVu
none we're more picturesque than the
vigilante, who, even for n generation
after the establishment Of law and
order, stlll exeurised the right to assist
the proper legal authorities in enforc-
| ing the law. OF late years the Anti
| Horse Thief Association of Oklahoma,
Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri has
been the legitimate successor of the
old vigilantes, and where this wide
spread and powerful organization has
not prevailed, there have been periodic
reviyals OF its predecessor.
But the vigilante Of this state of
today employs different method
from his predecessor, who, booted and
!
through the night on grim missions
with u few yards Of hemp rope for
some unfortunate devil at the other
end. Today, the son OF the vigiante
goes out in an automobile carrying a
riot gun that will NOW down half the
wheat In a township II properly di-
rected. And he finds It much better
and easier going over the plains than
did his spectacular sire.
Up in Omaha. Neb., the new condi-
vigilance committee Of citizen police"
has been organized, This will assist
| the police, Just as the vigilantes did
when that city was n handful of
/ houses And the idea Of such an or
| ganization Is spreading to other cities
Of the Middle West. The Omaha idea
was originated by p. A. Wells, attor-
ney, former cowboy and still a dead
shot The men, 240 in number, are
organized into n fighting force. and
can be placed in motor car within
five minutes notice, They own their
own cars, just as the old timers owned
their horses, and listen to the hum of
the motors instead Of the thud OF
| hoofs.
'Desperadoes themselves lod the
way in the use of motor cars in the
Middle West. During the last Yw
years there have been numerous
crimes committed in this state. In Ne
braska, Kansas and Missouri, where
motor cars have been called into use.
Tulsans can easily remember a num-
Der Of Instances. The level, sparsely
settled plains make It comparatively
| easy for a criminal TO escape In an
automobile. Bank robbers, train rob
/ bers and burglars have all made use
Of the auto rather than trains. The
new knight Of the road is a sinister
| figure when he looks back from the
tonneau Of a forty-horse-power tour
ing car at his pursuers in a similar
machine.
IN Joplin, Mo, whero the roads are
white and smooth, the Anti-Hohse
/ Thief Association has made common
cause with tho auto club against
/ thieves and other criminals, The
/ principal business OF the association
there is to protect the blooded stock
Of Jasper County, and toprevent rob
bers from running It off to Oklahoma
and adjoining states.
] --------------------------
0nuVnnI nnHnn RHEInnE