Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1912-05-19

on edge. They developed certain hab
its Of NE, whether they were bad mel
afraid Of each other and hunted bog
good men, or good men FOR whom hat
men were laying II was com
mon practice Tor any mpu with enc.
niles 10 cover the ilOor of his room
with crumplrd newspapers before get.
ung into bed Then he would go
quickly ana soundly 10 sleep. But II
n paper rustled Ia tie night. that gun
mans eyes uncIosed before the rustic
was second old--and with the un-
closing Of his eyes would come the
/ double click Of the revolver lock,
/ flashing from under the pillow,
The threatened man had his own
way of entering room. too. lie new
/ or stnlkcd careltssy through door
which might uncover a waiting enc
| my Instead, he opened the door and
showed II wide, entering al the same
time along the wall side, 50 as TO
sweep with his gaze every inch of the
room and every person that might be
IN A.. He would not st with hia
back tu a window wild Bill Hickok
paid with hs NE for just such an
oversight. shot from behind by Jack
Mccall, who was hanged for what
MastrrRou terms the most dastardly
murder IN western history.
The gun fighter had "A way of walk
Ing around street corners, even. lie
would not make the turn closely pre-
fcrrlng 10 take swing wide enough
Ia discover AN enemy that might be
concealed at the angle.
These were not the nerve-racklng
affectations they might sorm You,
Mr. City Man, getting off a street gar
10 cross the double tracks at the rear
do YOU ever neglect 10 glace sharply
up at the other track before stepping
on il? Gcuing into an elevator. DO
you ever forget 10 look narrowly at
the open space 10 see that you are
clear Of the side? You do not. II
is the cultivated instinct of the city
man.
And the precautions mentioned
were Just q few of the instructive,
hahitual maunersms of the keen,
steady-cyed man of a byRone genera
ton, on whose constant alertness and
ready gun hands depended thelr
lives.
Courage they all had,those follows
and nerve. And between courage
and nerve Bat Masterson makes
distinction that separates the real gun
fighter from the tyro, be he never
so good IA shot and so courageous
man.
"lrs distinction that's vital" Mr.
Masterson once told the writer, Most
of the gun men Of the west had plenty
Of courage but It was nerve thal
marked the really great gun lighters
Most men, however brave, lack nerve
in more or less degree.
There was Charlie Harrison, the
most brilliant pistol handler l ever
saw and far more a dealy shot IMAM
most of the great gun lighters. lie
was brave, too, yet In gun nsh'
with a man named Levy, Harrison,
working with all his dazzling speed,
actually missed Levy six times at close
range before Levy could draw his
gun. Then Levy dropped him with a
single shot
But if you should start to tell some
of the things the gun men of early
DAYS did with their uns-why, then,
there would not be much chance OF
stopping short of serial novel. There
was "Wild BIZ IIickoks fight with
fifteen soldiers, Mr Hlcllok surNiv-
ing though perforated Ike co.an-
der. while the majority of his enemies
departed, boots on, into the misty be-
yond. There was the Whirlwlnd en-
counter between the three carp
brothers and Doc Holiday, ridins
into Tombstone to meet the Clanton
and McLoWry brothers, four against
four. 4, short hght-but furious
while IL lasted. In ten seconds the
two McLowrys and Billy Clanton We're
very dead and Ike Clanton's guns
were in the dust while his hands were
In the air.
Then there was another Alamo sort
of battle that turned out better
when Bat Masterson and twenty
other white men fought 1000 Indians
three weeks ut pOhe Walls down In
the Panhandle, losing three men,
while the savages, hauling off, at last
dlsheartened, left eighty braves be-
hing. Then there was the case of the
225 Federal soldiers who imprudent-
y sought Quantrelps guerrillas--and
unfortunately found them right down
here in Missouri The soldiers, out
numbering the bushwhackers with
rifles, against the heavy reVolNers OF
Qunntrell's men, drew up in battle
front and fired one volley at the on
rushing guerrillas, riding suddenly
out of the brush. Three bushWhack-
ers dropped. But in another instant
the revolver play began-and the sol
diers simply were annihilated. There
were no prisoners to take. And near
~ every one was shot through the
head. so deadly was the revolver fire
of the guerrillas, even working from
horseback in the thick Of a whirling
charge.
Laid against the sleek, blue, flat
automatic that is the last word in
small arm construction, the long, duh
raugy revolver OF an earlier era does
MT look nearly as shabby as might be
expected There Is something indie
scrihahly rahish about It; something
powerfully suggestive, something
grim and sinister and deadly in the
long barrel and the beaklike ham,
mcr.
Perhaps it's the influence Of the
history. the history of a great arm
that has served it's turn; a turn that
came before the tcnderfoots.
~ lU,,,, IIayytray will end his sea-