Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-14

Death Of Richard Clarke of South
Dakota, known to three generations as
"Deadwood Dick" and hero of dime
novels in former day, is accompanied
by eulogieS OF that character of the once
wild and woolly West. A contrast be-
tween his moral qualities and those of
present-day gunner Is drawn by vari-
GUS editors.
HE was one Of those pioneers" says
the Little Rock Arkansas Democrat, who
took the advice to 60 West, and upon
arrival there made life little less haz-
ardous, hence q bit more enjoyable for
less militant souls by cleaning out most
OF the desperadoes. What htsrate boy
OF three decades ago did not know of
'Deadwood Dick trapper, stagecoach
guard, express riderl How many mil
lions of mythical redskins, bandits and
the like have bitten the dust of back
yards when the bang. bang!' of the
trusty wooden pistols of another million
youthful. 'Dcadwood Dicks rang out on
the ART"
"A grazing generation" remarks the
Milwaukee Sentinel will remember his
romanticized exploits, recorded in pa
per-covered books. These books were
read surreptitiously, because they were
supposed to be subversive to youthful
discipline and morals. Nowadays they
are regarded not only as harmless but
naive" The New Bedford Standard
adds: we know nothing of the man
who has just died, but shall forever
identify him with the Deadwood Dick
OF romance who played so gallant part
in the winning of the West, whose pony
express riding across the plains and the
bad lands called for just such qualities
of courage and fidelity as are now ex-
empllned by the daring pilots OF the air.
mail"
eff boys of that day had ambitions To
become Indian fighters" thinks the
Albany Evening News, 1T was Just as
good an ambition as any for boy for
time. Today we have new heroes
Llndbergh and Byrd and others-but
somehow no one has written any series
OF novels about them" The Kansas
City Star agrees that these stories
probably did no harm, and incidentally
tney created interest In pioneer life.
There were no misplacements
OF sound morals in these stories and
the related plays. Virtue always went
at premium, and vice and villainy
were deeply discounted In the end"
concludes that paper.
"'Deadwood Dick scared q million
mothers Of boys" recalls the Fort
Worth acknowledgement. much more
horriflcally than he ever alarmed a sin
gle road agent Throughout the era
of three generations OF youthful Aneri-
cans there easily could have been an
eighteenth amendment against the man
utacture, circulation and possession of
dime novels'-if somebody had only
thought of it. Dime novels and ciga-
rettes, these, two-and the greatest of
these was the one YOU were caught
with"
Thus passes a link with the glorious
past, and at the end kindly old gen.
tleman, living at home with his family,
but with an aura of romance matched
by few Of his contemporaries, states the
Newark Evening News, while the Port
Huron Times Herald ''pauses a moment
to give honor to this last one OF q once
famous group whose names and deeds
probably will not be blazoned upon the
pages OF history even as much as many
of those who have played lesser parts
in the progress Of the Nation" The
Savannah Morning News says "He
lived to see an 1ndian-infested region
where to live was dangerous and to die
with boots on was normal grow into a
great region where the pedestrian has
to jump for his life before high-rtln.
ming cars and the racketeer lives in
clover"
He scoffed," declares the Manchester
Union, lat stories of modern gunplay.
such as is INDUCED in by Chicago rack
eteers. as the antics of amateurs and
know-nothings. What were these to
the exploits Of a man at whose name
Indians had trembled?" The Charles
ton Daily Mail also Is impressed by the
fact that "he lived to see the West
transformed, become civilized, and the |
springing up in these modern centers of
civilization Of new, meaner and more |
despicahla Glass Of RangstArA than tia |