El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-03-05

EaSO. = II. NGMlldls " LlO 'lACu ~
Gently, was one of the pioneer news
paper editors of the southwest and his
/ experiences in publishing a newspaper
in Mesilla, Las Vegas and FL Paso
bristle with thrilling experiences and
stirring events
He edited his paper from the Jail cell
, in Las Vegas because he refused TO
furnish bail on a libel charge brought
! Santa Fe ring" He interviewed the
notorious Billy the Kid bandit and
was threatened with death by him.
! After coming to cl Paso Mr.. Newman
actually worked with his pistol lying
I on the table of his editorial desk and,
| while he never had to draw it, he was
/ frequently warned that his life was in
1 danger and he had the lights Of his
! office broken by pistol shots He
! trailed the indian chief Victoria
/ through New Mexico and printed the
/ details of his CAPTURE. As a greWsome
souvenir of this famous chase, the
scalping knife which was used to
/ scalp the indian chief hung in the
office of ''The Lone Star" on Overland
street for many years.
Native of Kentucky,
Born within sight Of Daniel BOOne's
| fort in Madison county, Kentucky,
| Pioneer" Newman, as he was known
to old timers in FL PasO, seemed to
2
| the famous Kentucky character. His
( family removed to st. Louis in order
that the seven children in the family
| might be educated. Young Newman
stayed there until he was 20 years old,
when he decided to go west. and he
! drove a siN-mule team across the
plains from Fort LeaVenwOrth, kas, to
/ Fort Union. n. NJ, where he was first
employed as q commisary clerk under
Col c. c. Mcclure. When Col Mcclure
was transferred to Santa Fe, the
metropolis Of the territory, Newman
was urged to accompany him. But
the gold fever broke out about that
time and he Joined the first rush to the
Elizabethtown district where he
helped to hew the logs which went
into the first log house in that town.
But mining was not TO his liking and
he abandoned the Priceless mine,
which was the first lode mine of the
camp, and went back to Fort Union.
In the fall and early winter Of 1859
he started the first English school in
that part of the territory at Monitor
de AlamOs. This was more to his lilS-
ing and he continued there for three
terms. The attention of the Lyceum
at Las Vegas, was attracted to the
young Kentucl1ian and he was urged
to go to Las Vegas, and started the
first public school in New Mexico in
1871.
Begins Newspaper Career.
About this time two printers started
the Las Vegas Nail, a Spanish Eng
lish weekly. Mr.. Newman, because Of
his command of Spanish. was employed
as a translator on this paper and soon
was placed in charge of it. This was
the beginning Of his newspaper career
at a time when some of the most
thrilling events in the history OF the
territory were taking place
His first aggressive venture was the
newspaper war on the Santa Fe ring"
He was arrested and charged with
having libeled some of the most promi
nent men in the territory. several of
whom are still living and prominent
in New Mexico political affairs.
Edits His PAPER in Jail.
There being no specific statute ap-
plying to libel, he was tried under
what was called the omnibus law"
which provided penalties for all
offences not specified in the statutes.
His bail was fixed at $4,000 but he re-
fused to give it, holding that his arrest
was persecution. He went TO Jail, or
dered a table and a bottle of ink and
proceeded to edit the Nail from the
jail cell for GO days, until winter came
and. because the jail could not be
heated. he made bond and was released. /
He was finally fined 500 for the
alleged offence. In the eantime his
enemies had obtaind control Of his
paper
Insures Town. Place Burns.
After visiting his old home in St /
Louis, Mr.. Newman returned by way
of Colorado where he sold fire insur-
ance to almost everyone in Las Animas. ]
After leaving there the entire town {
burned.
While away from Las Vegas the New
York Sun took up the fight on the I
Santa Fe ring and printed a series. of I
letters. These letters were widely /
read and Mr.. Newman was accused of 1
writing the letters. Rev. Mr.. Toby. :
missionary of Cimarron, n NJ, was Z
waylaid and shot because he was be-
lieved to have had a part in this letter !
writing This started "the COlfaN !
county war" which caused a number |
Carries County for Democrats.
On his life insurance campaign, Mr.. /
Newman reached Mesilla, n. NJ. where
he opened n school and, in September I
1873 established I'll Democratic" He (
fought hard for Eenito Baca for dele I
gate to congress and, through his !
efforts, Dona Ana county went Demo
cratic by "a votes for the first time in /
its history. He was urged to move his
printing office to Las Cruces which he
did, changing the name Of the paper /
to The Thirty Four because Of the
Democratic majority.
Threatened by RustISfs.
Z This was in the days Of E'illy the
KID" and the gang of "rustle,s" oper-
ating in Dona Ana and Lincoln
symp2thizers in Las Cruces and Mr..
Newman's life was frequently threat
ened because of his articles about the
operations of the crowd. His printing
office was opposite the headquarters
Of a number of these gympathizers
and, for fear he would lie shot from
ambush, he rented a room and, moved
into the same building to prevent the
gang from shooting across the street
and through his windows.
ffRf11Tr he u q ffnu1Tr- 11wcuc-11f
to trial a Mesilla and was found
guilty and sentenced to be hanged.
He was taken to Lincoln for cOnfine-
ment as there was no jail in old Me-
silla at the time. He was chained to-
the seat of an old army ambulance and
guarded by six guards. armed with
sawed off shot guns. Passing through
Las Cruces, this picturesque outfit
stopped long enough to take the kid"
to the Thirty Four office at night.
There. handcuffed and chained, BILLY
signed a confession OF what he had
done.
Gets Confession from Chilly the Kid
Il will give the Thirty Four an ex-
elusive confession if i hang" he de-
clared to Newman. But mind you, /
am not going TO hang" When he
reached Lincoln BILLY" succeeded in
killing his guards and ESCAPED, after
ards Hninrr 1-f11aa TrrT Do he