The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1916-09-24
THE SCRATCH PAD.
By THOMAS EWING DABNEY.
LAW, LOGIC AND HUMAN MA
TURE.

We have been wondering what be-
came of that discharged soldier, who
in Glasgow, the other day, became
peeved at the chatter of a lot of peo-
pie and threw hand grenade in
their midst to make them shut up.
How to take thing like this de-
ponds entirely on the point of view.
We remember somewhat similar in
cident down in Honduras several years
ago.
1t was at Cuyamel, town on a
new banana line in the process of
building, and as rough as all pioneer
settlements are. There was no church,
only two or three good women, and
about as much refinement as you
would find among the Forty
Thieves"
One day a man came out of the
commissary trying new gun. 1t was
a Colts "A, 6-inch barrel, and beauti-
full in its blue tunic.
He had been saving up for months
and was as happy as boy with a
new toy.
But, alas, for the fly in. the ONT
ment; the rift in the lutte; the canker
at the heart of the rose! The trigger
action was perfect, the cylinder spun
beautifully, but was the gun accu-
| rate? No matter how pretty gun is,
it is snare and delusion, in a coun-
try where everybody goes armed, I'M
less it will shoot straight.
He looked around and could see no
suitable target. OF course he could
| go somewhere and set one up, but
that would take time, and he wanted
| to know right then-so in case of
defect being discovered, he could go
to the storekeeper and get his money
or make an exchange.
About seventy-five feet down the
track a native was bracing himself
against switch post, seeking to set
tie his cargo of firewater. Against
the dull green background of the
| jungle, his white costume showed in
strong relief. Over in the distance a
mule train laden with bananas plod-
ded slowly. The man on the commits
sary steps demonstrated the accuracy
of his new gun by shooting the man
at the switch dead.
Now had the man who did the
shooting been an American, the issue
might have been befogged by a race
antipathy. But as he was native of
the country, and one suspected besides
of no revolutionary tendencies, the
trial was conducted on the basic prin-
ciples of law and ethics. Chicanery
yielded entirely to logic: 1t is doubtful
indeed if the country ever saw fair
err case.
That a gentleman has a perfect
right to test his artillery was early
conceded by the court. 1t was indeed,
his duty, for man with a wild
shooting gun is a menace to innocent
by-standers. And inasmuch as the
man he shot and he were total
strangers, and had never seen each
other before that moment, it stood to
reason that there was no malice be-
tween the two. If the former hadn't
been at the switch, he would never
have been shot, for the latter, not
dreaming Of his existence most GER
family wouldn't have hunted him up
The dead man was therefore, some
what to blame.
Still, if the man who did the shoot
Ing wasn't guilty of murder or as
sault, there being no criminal intent
he was guilty of gross carelessness
Suppose his aim had been faulty;
suppose the untried gun was inaccu-
rate, some innocent bystander might
have been hurt. His conduct had ia
say the least, been hasty, If not &C
tually malicious; and to correct this
shoot-before-y ou-think tendency, the
court gave him year or SO in Jail
and later RENTED the sentence wher
revolutionary outbreak necessitatec
recruiting.