The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-04-01
FAMOUS BANDITS
 OF THE PAST

Pancho Villa. by his recent activi-
 ties, seems bent upon gaining a place
 in history on an equality with those most illustrtous of bandits, Robin Hood and Jesse James. Of all the celebrated robbers and renegades who have helped to make history an inter est1ng study for tender and innocent youths, these two make the strongest
 appeal to the 1aw1ess imagination.
 They stand on equality with Cap
 tain Kidd, the canny Scotchman, who
 serves as the classic, example of the bold and bloody highwayman of the Eocean roads.
 Next Monday will be the thirty
 fourth anniversary of the tragic end
 of the career of Jesse James, most
 notorious of American bandits. He
 was shot and killed on April 2, 1882,
 by 'Bob' Ford, in St. Joseph, Mo. The manner of his sudden ''bumping off
 aroused some sympathy for the bandit
 king, although it was generally ad- mitted that he richly deserved his fate.
 James was a native of Clay county,
 Mo-, and was only thirty-four at the
 time of his death. His brother Frank,
 who took part in many of Jesse's most
 desperate ventures, reformed his ways
 and became a, respected and respecta-
 b1e citizen.
 The James "boys'' were the product
 
 War made Missouri state divided
 against itself, and when all the dic-
 tates of law and order were often dis
 regarded by both sides. The youthful minds of the future desperadoes had been filled with prejudices and hatred, and fired with tales of the border warfare between the Missourians and the Kansans. Jesse James was the logical product of his environment. Under different conditions the James brothers and their companions might have been peaceful farmers or country merchants, and lived and died in hon. est obscurity.
 The James gang has had innumera- b1e imitators in the West, and doubt less many of the dark deeds attributed to Jesse James were really attributa- b1e to his conten pOrary bandits. It was the fashion in the Middle West, during the activities of the James boys to credit them with all the depreda- tions committed in that section.
 The death of Jesse James and the breaking up of the James gang did not end the depredations of train rob bers and desperadoes in the Middle West and Southwest. Many gangs were organized by desperate and law less spirits to continue the warfare on society. Most of these bandit leaders died "with their boots on.' A few were imprisoned, among this number being Al Jennings, once notorious figure among the outlaw bands who had their rendezvous in Indian Terri tory. Unlike most of his companions in iniquity, Jennings reformed and became an influential lawyer and pol itician in Oklahoma. In his book, Beating Back" the former desperado has given a thrilling account of his experiences in the wild and wooly'' days of Oklahoma.
 Villas raid on Columbus, consid- cred by many as a typica11y Mexican exploit, was no more ferocious or b1oodthirsty than many huch raids ading as irregular so1diery, during the Civil War between the states. Men who claimed to represent both sides in the war<took part in these massacres of on-combatants, disgusting their b1oodthirsty spirit and greed for loot, | under a thin veneer of patriotism. Some of these bands changed their a1- 1egiance as circumstances seemed to demand, and provided themselves with flags of both the Union and the Confederacy.N
 The fact that Villa has enlisted the sympathy and aid of many of his countrymen is considered by some people as a striking example Of the native law1essness of the Mexicans. Such is not necessarily the case. In all countries and in all times the out law has always had many friends and admirers among the honest and in dustrious.> The progress of civilization has not eliminated from our blood that taint of savagery which. bids us be- stow a sneaking regard, not unmixed with envy, upon the man who casts l aside all restraints and makes war on | society.
 When Jesse James was killed his slayer, "Bob'' Ford, was roundly con | demned by many people who were nothing if not respectable. Many | women Joined in this chorus of con- | demnation. Their pretty eyes shed | tears for the sad fate of Jesse James, | and flashed with the fires of indigna- tion at mention of the name of the | man responsible for the bandits talk ing off.
 There was nothing new or novel in this sudden sympathy for a man who had devoted his whole life to robbery and pi1lage. The highwaymen and robbers of old England never lacked for feminine friends and admirers, and some of them were to be found in the highest circles of society. When CIaud Du Val, the famous seventeenth cen tury robber, was hanged on a gibbet at Tyburn, it was, says contemporary E'to the great grief of the 
 Most celebrated of all the old rob- Der bands of England was that led oy the half-mythicaI Robin Hood. This knight of the road was additionally to have been the Earl of who was disgraced and oanished from the court by Richard [. in 1189. Great generosity is ascrib- ed to Robin, who is represented as Dreying only on the wealthy and ava ricious, while ever ready to bestow a1rns mon the poor and needy.
 Robin Hood, like Jesse James, came to his end through the treachery of a supposed friend. According to the popular accounts of his career, he was induced to enter a convent presided over by an aunt. This good woman, either from personal ennity or at the nstigation of another, killed the rob ,nr. I,,r. or,arni,ncr arn artery and r1ernnif- 1