The enterprise. [volume] (Harlem, Mont.) 1899-1926, 1916-09-28
TEXAS RANGERS
SHOOT ON SIGHT
RULE THE BORDER WITH A
HIGH HAND AND KILL
MANY MEXICANS.
Texans Excuse Their Methods Be-
cause Of Necessity; Mexicans Be-
lieve If Rangers Were Out of WAY,
Could Whip the States.

San Antonio, Texas.-Have you
ever noticed bunch of chicken scat
ter when the belligerent and hungry
hawk swoops down on them? You
know then what happens to group
OF Mexicans when a Texas ranger
looms on the horizon. Mexicans are
an emotional people, but there is no
emotion so strongly implanted in their
brown bosoms as the fear in their
hearts of the men-tigers chosen by
the commonwealth of Texas to pro-
tect the boundary.
Mexican leaders take this fear into
consideration when they pursuade
their ignorant followers that if the
freasome rangers were only out of the
way they would experience little diff
ficulty in whipping the United States
out of hand and winning back for the
land Of the mescal all the wide terri
tory that belonged to Mexico before
the war of 1S4S.
Hold Life Cheaply.
The story told of the report made
by two rangers to their captain gives
an idea Of the manner in which they
handle these people. eve met two
Mexicans on the road" it read, "but
did not have time to bury them"
"They are the most cold looded
bunch of persons in the world" said
an El Pasoan in speaking Of the rang
ers. "They have no regard for hui
man life whatever, and it's because
Of this that Mexicans are in deadly
fear Of them. Whenever they arrest
one of the greasers they rarely dis
arm him, and allow him every oppor-
tunity to get away. I asked one the
reason for this once and he replied,
'They might try to start something if
we leave their arms on them, and a
dead Mexican is always lot less
trouble than live one. We would
have to kill EN- in self defense.''
Free With Their Guns.
Rangers can kill a peon with i'm
punity and are scarcely asked to put
in a plea Of self defense, and the
rangers shoot on the slightest excuse.
The result is that Mexican sentiment
is very much against the rangers, and
against the people whom they repre-
sent. The Mexicans are human, just
like anybody else and even though
their lives are not the most pleasant
possible, they prefer to end them in
the natural way.
On the other hand one will find
many persons who have only the
highest praise for the work of the
rangers. They insist that if they did
not resort to methods that seem al
most inhumane the border would be
in constant turmoil, and American
families living close to the line would
suffer a great deal more than they
do. Certainly in Texas, where the
Mexican is not held in very high es-
TEEN the methods of the ranger finds
very general approval.
Romance Of the Life.
There is just as much romance and
connected with their lives
as there is with those of the North
west Mounted Police, and for this rea-
son it has always been somewhat Of
that no one has seen in them
the possibilities for motion picture
Their pay is SMALL,
only $40 month, and they work "a
hours out of "a. 1t is not the pay
but the spirit of adventure which
lures them into the service, and some
of them possess independent incomes.
Gun fighters just naturally drift into
the rangers. Most of them are young
fellows who follow the life because
they like it, and there is a glamour
about it that is very attractive. They
wear no uniform, but when you see
a swashbuc]lling young fellow with
hard eye, wearing a we'll filled cart
ridge belt to which is attached an old
fashioned colts revolver you know he
is a ranger.