The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-11-28
BILL BOODY PROVES
HIMSELF A SPORT
But Rouses the Old Mans In
dignation by His Ozark
Ways.
VIOLENCE IN THE SALOON
~ DAVID A. CUNTT1.

n was sometimes very peaceful In
6id man Oreenlaw's little saloon in Ar
Kansas City. Frequently there would
- intervals Of irregular duration. in
whatever. or mono deserving Of any
serious consideration. Possibly some
undesirable customer would have to be
thrown out. or q blow on two might
Be delivered in consequence OF some
Aasty word or some breach Of eti-
auette. but nothing would happen Of
suficient moment to cause eve 4
ripple Of excitement. Whatever &C.
currenccs Of this kind there might DO
would he so trifing that they could
hardly Ire classed as violent.
The mere expulsion Of obnoxious
persons from the premises when It be-
came necessary in the Judgment Of
the old man was ordinarily accom-
plishcd by him single handed and
without any great display Of temper.
This yer's a public house. Yo' all
en- go IS fur's yo' like" he would fire.
Quently say when discussion arose. but
II behooved the stranger to be moro
or less cautious, nevertheless, con-
corning how far he might like. In
regard to some things the old man
entertained opinions so fxed as to b
fairly called prejudices, and n who
ran counter to them was usually made
90 realize the greater wisdom Of re-
speeding them.
Two OF these prejudices Wsre. per-
haps, more firmly established in his
mind than any Of the others. One was
. rooted objection to Ozarkers and the
other vas an adherence of shooting
Indoors. The latter he would not
tolerate IN his premises under any cir
cumstances. and the former he loathed
with such intensity that the mere pres
once of IA ma. from the Oaks in his
saloon would set him all aquiver with
resentment and dread.
Therefore. when Bill Body. better
known as Big Bill. pulled a pistol from
his pocket n in a spirit Of playful
ness prepared to shoot out the lights
In the old mans saloon h old mar
was seriously d~ispleased.
He had been ~unfavorably impressed
BY Big Bill from the moment Of the
latter's entrance, not SO much because
he was under the influence Of liquor
a. because Of n certain bumptiousness
in his manner Of introducing himself.
"Whoopee-ee-ee." he exclaimed.
with a fair imitation Of what was
known in the civil war rs the "rebel
yell"
The yell entered the room as sud-
denly as Big Bill did and simultane-
ously with him. The echoes Of It had
not yet died away when he lurched up
against the bar. and pounding upon II
with two preposterously ponderous
hands announced his identity.
I'm Bill Body" he said. I'm the
on'y original wild an woody hell ca,
o. tn Ozarks. an when I howl they
is greet emotion in the mountain tops
First of we uns is gwine to have a
drink. an then I'm Ewine to howl"
Fou powerful looking men. one OF
whom was almost as large as Big Bill
himself. were sitting In the saloon a,
the time enjoying a sociable smoke
Rising from their seats quietly and
promptly. they lined up In front of the
bar alongside Of the newcomer regard
ing him meanwhile with mild interest
pul oilcIlIB uCltllCI COAliiiOiit, iNOt
greeting. 1t seemed evident that the,
were entirely willing to Join him in q
libation, without committing them
selves to anything further.
And SO far as the i~nitiatory part o.
the programme was concerned the ole
man himself entered no objection. He
set out on the bar a bottle Of wh!skey
and q sufficient number Of glasses FOL
all in the company, not forgetting him.
self. and waved to the stranger to helr
himself.
While the latter was doing 1t, how.
ever. the old man spoke impress!vely.
Right glad to know who yo' all is
ne said. II knowed o co'se what 20
was some kyind OF a varnint Don s
sot eyes on yo,' an I mought "A
knowed what yo' done come I'm tn
Ozarks. bein' y they don't breed EN-
successful nowheres else. This yer's
a public house, an yo' all s Untitled 70
tn call TO- the drinks, S long IS yo' has
the money to pay To- 'em, but thai
thar idee o. yo'n bout howlin' II have
10 be fo'got.
I'll amt no hell cat. nor nobod.
else. gwine to do no howlin' into my
s'loon. not to no greet 'Xtent, he amt
I don't make no p'vfslon TO 1t. an
hain't got the right Communications
Them hat wants to howl en- so out
side an howl their dam heads off TO
ell I keer. but this yer place IL KEEP
respectable, an howlin' out loud ain
looked on fav'able in Arkansas City
I reckon mebbe yo' al is done go
int the wrong locality
All this was said quietly enough, blu
with such compelling ~earnestness tina
Mr.. Boody heard 1t through before at
tempting 10 reply. albeit he showed
great surprise. Somewhat confused.
ne looked at the old man for n mo
e and then said, more loudly thai
before. "WhOopee.ee-ees"
II done heerid that afo'," said thu
old man calmly, "an' II that's all yo
means by howlin' ! reckon they won
he no gre't harm did. I done % !
20 n kyind of a yelp, like yo' all hat
the stomick ache or somepin'. Tain
what d be called agree'blelike, bu
yo' all en- keep adoin' Of 1t f' a spell
II It's any relief to yo' feelin's."
Mr.. Body appeared to be still more
surprised, and hesitated "A moment be,
fore further utterance. Presently
however. he gathered himself together
and said. "Yo' all don't pear to know
who ! be. I'm Big Bill Body. In
ti1a pn,y original wild ap' UOolly---"