The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-03
OLD MAN GREENLAW
WISE AS A REFORMER
lie Achieves Distinction by Ever
Discreet Use Of His
BungStartcr.
NO THRILLING WITH \ FOOL
-, Dawn \. CURTIS.


IN the years when that settlement was
slowly acqu!riuE prominence among inc
,n.nv stonplpg places On th, s~issippi {
River. wa, himself uo mean lt't"r IN I,
the process uf improvement Whi. ;
eventually placed the town IN u position /
og preemlnrn,. nud secured Tor u ihr !
.nduripu fame . pti,gNurd cujuy ed. /
The citizens Of Arkansas City IN the /
earlier DAYS "of whom Do, was which (
TO borrow u phrase from Nrtemu~ Ward !
1vere a rugged lot. rh'ir- ordinarily, |
vas the p.tyiiity of conscious a"ll'y. /
IJnrufflcd ,n the face of peril they were
husky and capable 70 ID" on'"unier'nS
OF emergencies.
Extremely cons,rNauF" at uuhey-s-
sary eNertlou. they I"s" Co tn' require
ments of extraordinary occasions with
promptnrss and Nigur ufaIlME.
II "A criticism mllb, br offered i'm re-
gard to their behavior under unusual
circumstance h. would br that mere
was n certain 3urlptness Characteristic
of II that was sonnet mes perplcNng to
n stranger and likely to be miscon-
strued by any who were unfamiliar
with the code of eth - ny Whtrh lh,F
conduct was controlled.
II was always possible for such one
% form an unfavorable opinion Of the
moral quality Of many actions esteemed
-eR,iIar in Arkansas City, not under
standing. or perhaps not approaching
the Fundamental prime pies which gov
erned the behavior OF Arkansas city
men. Wherefore 70 was that some who
Waited Arkansas city departed there
from with unsatisfactory impressions
Such as the town was, however, it
was and, as It has been said, old man
Greenlaw had no small part in making
Il such as II was. He entertained a
great adherence of irregular procedure
and being a man Of forceful nature was
accustomed to express himself verbally
and otherwise with vigor, frequently
securing thereby acquiescence in his
views even from those who were prI-
marty Inclined to dispute them.
Fearless and original in his concepts
Of propriety he MAS at the same time
sagacious enough to avoid running
counter TO deep rooted prcjudiccs on th'
part OF others and was accustomed Il
institute such reforms as he wished u
accomplish in a somewhat tentative
fashion, leaving them to demonstrate
their value to the body polite by thei
partial success at first. and trusting q
the good sense of the community 4
adopt more comprehensive measures.
A fine example OF this course of actor
was furnished by the way In which n
undertook to convince the public OF tn
unWisdom of a too frequent use OF fire
arms. Personally he objected 70 tn
revolver as a weapon as being Unite
10 six shots and therefore undNaiabl
tor continuous employment, and y
greatly preferred a bungstarter as
more reliable and equally etiicaciOus III
strument. Nevertheless he recognize
that his neighbors had predictions !
favor of a gun, holding it 10 be prefer
able even to the knife, which IN carrie
days had been regarded as the best II
strument for use IN the settlement
personal difficulties
Being too wise to oppose his own view
20 the deep seated conviction OF the ma
jority In an arbitrary way, he had r.
course TO a more insdious method al
began by establishing "A house rule
his own place prohibiting shooting
the premises trusting to the issue OF II
expected events Of the future To impre
the public with the advantage to
gained by adopting his belief. The d
sired result was not reached imm
diately. but in the course Of time eve
the most scept.cai observers were fore
merit in his contention.
His triumph in SO important Que
ton was not achieved without nui
Der of demonstrations Of the underlyi
truth OF his contention, and sooth
saw. would not have been accomplish
had he not been himself remarkai
dexterous In the use Of his hEor
weapon, for il must he admitted N
however formidable a bungstarter m
be in the hands Of one who IL Wen q
customed to the use Of It tyro "ol
be likely to find it unsatisfactory shot
he rely solely upon II in an encoun
with one who was skilled in the use
a gun and armed with one at the time
\ The old man, however by dint
4 long and patient effort had SO p'
4 fected himself In offensive practice u
in his hands the bungstarter was f.
midable indeed, ana the outcome OF
II considerable number of arguments
i tween him and sundry opponents
! relied solely upon side arms was su
az To Justify his contention, at lie
/ in his own case.
One such argument was held in
/ saloon on Christmas eve. so FAR as
n adult population of Arkansas CITY
Il concerned, Christmas was not held
high esteem as a festival during
Il years that followed the cIvIl war.
prosperity OF the South was little m
than a tradition at the time, and O.
the main industry Of ,he place languis
Il to some extent by reason Of the
II ability OF tine travelling public to
Il chips as freely as was 20 be desi
II The contrast between prevailing COZ
tions and the eXuberaut jolity OF pr
Gus years was painful, especially
Christmas time and those who
membered the former days were
clincd 10 gloom.
The youth Of Arkansas City, howe
being untroubled by memories,
sisted, as youth is ever apt 70 do
making the most OF the holiday,
celebrated it in the old Tine Soutl
fashion, principally by the dscharg
hrecraCkers.
On the particular eve mentioned
had been wrought up to an unusual
gree Of pceyishness by an unu
amount of the noise described ana
expressed to the friends who sat in