The Coconino sun., 1922-03-24
MOVIE THRILLERS BELLE FRONTIER DAYS SAYS
 VETERAN JOURNALIST

The southwest in the early days of the gold rush was never as wild as it is portrayed by the modern movie hero, according to major George H. Kelly, publisher of the Douglas Daily International, who has been a news paper editor continuously for 52 years 34 of which have been spent in Ari- zona.
 His first exciting newspaper ex- perience in the wilds of Arizona was in connection with the hold-up and robbery of major Wham, an army paymaster, who, with his escort, was assailed by band of outlaws on the road from Fort Grant to Fort Thomas, both in Graham county, Ari- zona, in the spring of 1889.
 The outlaws escaped with $28, 8,000 in gold and major Kelly, then a young editor, joined posse of soldiers and civil officers in search for the thieves. It was trying search, marked with numerous adventures and dangers. Nine men were cap- tured and held for the robbery. They were tried in Tucson, Arizona, the trial lasting several weeks.
 Law and order marked the trial, and the major in recounting the early days in the southwest, declares that although he has had many desperate characters, known as "bad men," pointed out to him, he never saw them in action, nor in any of his experi- ences has he ever seen one of them able to hold off whole bar-room full of cut-throats as the modern movie hero does.
 It is the concensus of opinion among old-timers of his acquaintance, he says, that when the young tender foot from the east came west and connected with one of the outlaws, who in those days frequented the saloons, he had his hands full.
 In 1890 major Kelly bought the Arizona Bulletin, weekly newspaper published in Solomonville, Ariz., and published it for 13 years, being suf- ficiently prosperous to give college education to his two children, w. B. Kelly, now editor of the Clifton (Ariz.) Copper Era, and Mrs. c. l.. Rawlins, a resident of Globe, Arizona, and the wife of a prominent lawyer. In 1903 he sold his newspaper in Graham county and established the Daily International at Douglas, where he has since resided and is yet &C., tive in editing and publishing this paper.
 According to the major, the news paper business is very different from what it was thirty years ago. Then advertising was not regarded ss a business proposition and those who paid for advertising space usually carried the same copy for months and in some cases no change would be made for a whole year. Running newspaper in this age, he says, is strictly business proposition and because it has been put on that basis | publishers are at last making fair profit from the capital invested.
 Tn the carly days of Arizona there were many exciting accounts of train rcbberies, holding up of messengers bearing mine payrolls and other large sums of money, "but," declares the major, "I have never witnessed anything like Bill Hart and other movie stars depicted on the screen ir stories of the early southwest. Dur ing my 34 years in Arizona l have never witnessed even fist-fght ana have never seen a man killed in a gun-battle.
 "These things happened, of course but the southwest never was bat. tie ground for the hundreds of thrill. lers small boys used to buy at 1( cents a copy or that the film produ' cers make us believe"