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Slaying of Al Boyce in Street of Texas Town End of First Narrative of Love Tragedy of the Plains
TREACHERY OF OLD FRIEND LEAVES SCARLET THREAD IN ITS WAKE
Snead’s Avenging Gun-Brings Balm to His Torn
Heart—Faithless Bride Pays Penalty
With Health, Happiness and Beauty.
December and May Romance Shattered When
Young Wife, Tired of Lonely Ranch Life,
Heeded Call of Youthful Wooer.
X vendetta as remorseless as Corsrica
knew when steel, and not the law, was
t he weapon with which, wrongs were
avenged has reached its tragic termi
tviiion. A blood lust .as poignant as
ever inspired a Breathitt county moun
tainer to sight down his squirrel rifle
~, «jpe out private grievance has been
satiated.
' stcry that has left a red blot on
all *T as was written when, after a
veaf of v .thing, John Beall Snead, mil.
iionHvc cattleman and banker of
Giorgetown, Teaxs. saw Al Boyce, Jr.,
ci before the portals of an Amarillo
church and the smoke of his own shot
gun told him as it drifted lazily to meet
the blazing Lone Star sun that his
mission of vengeance had been fulfilled.’
Boyce. father, and Boyce, son. had
wreck) d his home and his life. From
the viewpoint of the cattleman. Boyce,
fuller, and Boyce, son, must die. It
the law that lie had known since
the early cattle days when he had buc
kled on his first six-shooter. In his
mind he could not look his fellow Tex
ans in the eye until both Boyces were
In their graves and his hand had sent
them there.
Wife, As Well,
Pays the Penalty.
Boyce, father, was slain in a Fort
Worth hotel as the New Year of 1912
dawned. Boyce, son, perished Satur
day And a woman, frail, hysterical—
some say insane—lives,.the price of the
blood that the code of the range de
manded The beauty that had made
young Boyce forget the sanctity of his
neighbor’s home has disappeared. The
avenging shotgun of her husband could
not restore the good name that she had
borne before the first chapter of the
tragedy was written. She, too, as well
as the Boyces, lias paid the price.
There is a sequel to be written to the
s‘w-y, but. like all sequels, it loses the
gripping Interest of the first narrative.
It maj be written in the dim light of
a <!■ cell. It may be tol<J in the nar.
r .rifines of a steel-barred room
es stem It may drool away’ for thou
fof pages through the hopeless,
bit’ declining years of the slayer.
Bui whatever the end may be, the
• • t thread that has run through the
r rrativ. since its beginning will be
t •re viren the Great Author writes
His "finis."
Harkens Back to
Gun Reign Days.
Th* beginning of the story harkens
bi k to the days in Texas when man’s
mud it w.-is law, when the six-shooter
- r • ight-d Blackstone on the scales of
justice, when the price of a man’s
■ ••i t • was the life of the man that had
fib-lied it.
.In’m Beall Snead was horn and
r i in the rough and ready clays of
T -e. before civilization’s progress had
f'ht man’s impulse to act on his
pi inal instincts.
IPs fatiier was a pioneer cattleman.
His ranches covtV’d counties. His
steers ran into the tens of thousands.
T is father’s wealth and ideals he
fell heir
The Snead home seat was near
G-<»i gvtown. In that section members
of th - family were overlords. Their
powr was? as undisputed as that of
feudal baron.
’’n m adjoining ranch lived the
P 1 • ns. The Boyce acre's were no less
bi 'ad than those of the Sneads. Their
'■'iitle interests were none smaller.
T ”ir social position was the same. For
pars* the Boyces and the Sneads lived
as peaceful neighbors. Friendship be
tv.<pn members of the family was inu
and deep until one evening John
F” ’ll Snead brought home his bride.
I hut evening there was a red glory of
'Otting sun and the !>ys were re-
II t■ d on both ranches.
December and
May Are Wed.
Snead had waited until late in life to
9' i a mistress far his millions. When
I''. finally entered the heart of the
cattleman it went out to a woman
rs his junior. Her ideas were the
of New Texas. Her environment
i been that of the city rather titan
’ ranch. Her education had been in
the seminary. His had been on the
plains.
But despite the wide difference in
rs and the vast discrepancy in ideals
training, the pair seemed excellt nt.
' mated. The tender, rose-pink bride
pirently had given her whole heart
t n primitive cattleman. He
turn bestowed on her a devrftion that
the man who has reached the
no of life gives the maiden who has
t endered her youth to become his
'■ companion.
The Snead fortune was at Iter com
’>i to grant her every whim. Snead's
-'•nee was Iter guarantee that her
' wish would be gratified. Years
irried happiness seemed to stretch
before pair as unending as the
of the husband.
T he Meeting of
The Soul Mates.
iwas high rejoicing* at the Sneaa
h <»n the arrival of a mistress for
domain. The youthful bride was
•'1 in true T' xan style Bonfires
in <1 a roynl welcome to hei Hnli
a-is declared for the cowboys They
• far (o join the revelry of th' -
n Ni ighbors traveled from ui -
bug ranches to • xtend th' ir con
■ ''>ilat|cnM
And on Hie eventful evening th'iv
were no congratulations more warm
nor more gratefully accepted than the
felicitations offered by the members of
the house of Boyce.
Albert Boyce. Sr., was among the
first to shake the hand of his lifelong
friend and neighbor and was among
the first to be proudly presented to the
radiant young bride. ,
V ith him had ridden his son, Albert
Boyce. Jr., pride of his father’s heart,
heir to the Boyce fortune, hope of the ;
Boyce house He, too. was of the New
Texas. His education had been ob- ;
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Mrs snead and ZjovceQL
ELOPE AND <PO TO —.
CANADA
tafned in the cities and in college. His
Rearing had been under a different
[school than that in which his father
and Snead had been taugnt their ideas
of life.
Each Sees They
Are of the Same World.
He had the breeding of the plains,
but the training of the city. In the
hearty but rude welcome of the ranch
he and the bride both were conspicu
ously out of the picture. To them
bride’s roses would have been more
fitting decoration than burning mes
quite brush. Evening clothes would
have been more fitting than rawhide
chaps. :
When the youth grasped the hand of
the bride each knew that they were
looking in the eyes of one of their own
world, a world from which they were
as far removed as if both had been
east on a. coral island of the South Seas.
With this realization the seed of trage
dy was planted.
Snead and his bride . soon settled
plown to the humdrum of ranch life. So
I overwhelming was the husband love
■ that he could not see that which was
not supplied to make the life of his
mate complete. Her every wish was a
command to him, but he could not bring
to the mesquite the pleasures that had
been hers before she had pledged her
self to him for eternity. Albert Boyce,
Jr., was the sole link that connected
her with that existence, which as the
weeks and months rolled on in unend*
ing sameness, seemed farther and far
ther away, more and more to be de
sired.
Young Boyce
Interested in Bride.
At the Boyce ranch It was noticed
that for the first time young Albert
was evincing a "deep interest in his
father's cattle affairs. His trips to
Fort Worth, Amarillo and nearby cities
which had been constant became less
frequent. They finally practically
stopped. When he left his father’s es
tates, it was only to make a neighborly
ride to the Snead ranvh. Boyce, Sr.,
rejoiced in the interest the, son was
taking in his affairs.
Snead saw nothing sinister in the in
creasing frequency of young Boyce's
visits to his home. He had known the
bo> from childhood. In his mind he
could never be anything but a child,
the son of his friend.
Business affairs constantly called tire
cattleman to Fort Worth, where he was
largely interested in several banking
institutions. He was glad that the
presence of his neighbor’s boy pre
cluded the possibility of the wife of his
‘ heart becoming lonesome during his
absence.
But the Cattleman
Sees No Treachery.
Others saw the friendship of the
youth of tire city for the bride ripen
into dangerous' fruit. They kept still
tongues in their heads. Mrs. Snead
was Caesar's wife. The cattleman saw
nothing, knew nothing but his great
love for tile girl he had brought to
shat* his home.
Finally he began to recognize that the
rose h< had planted in the prairie «m
wilting His mind could not gra«p
though, that it was pining for the ex
uth air of tit' city and the care of a
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS.TUESDAY. SEPTEMBER 17. 1912.
MRS SNEAD AND EVENTS LN THE TRAGEDY
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w BBI& I 'O'— ' s Y-
’ b ? r ' 5 N£AD, WEARING-
atalsebeard
IffiSigß/' Ii f Y| /A6 axu-sovise.
J ' I KILLS Al,
\\ eel/ v '; 1 ITfll rf)Piu!’
Mrs
' ** Sneax> ant>
\Yz y I ill'll aw / her husband
° \ Wgv* Mw • become
\ '■ U RECONCILED
They are \ \ B ’’
ARRESTED IN \
WIKNTPE&7 Y, 'I Z
CANADA- Z
gardener whb knew plant life in urbane
places.
Physicians were consulted. Her af
fection was nervous, they declared.
Plenty of sun and air was the cure
they prescribed. The ranch gave her
all of that.
Only Young Boyce
Brings Back the Roses.
But the rose continued to wilt. Only
under the care of young Boyce diil its
beauty return. His visits to the Snead
home became still more frequent.
Finally, the cattleman moved his wifi'
to Fort Worth. She was placed under
the care of a specialist. A trained
nurse was provided her. The cattle
man longed to see the roses return to
her cheeks.
When Mrs. Snead left the ranch
young Boyce's interest in cattle sud
denly died. He hurried to Fort Worth.
The youth and the bride met. They
realized the inevitable. The impulse
that had drawn their lives together
from the first meeting could nut be de
nied. An elopement was planned.
Both Fear the
Husband’s Wrath.
Both realized its dangers. They
knew the school in which Snead had
been trained. They knew his charac
ter. They knew he loved his honor
more than he did his life. Still they
did not hesitate. The months and
months they had been kept apart
seemed to them so much wasted tiine.
The sooner they could be together be
yond the shadow of the husband was
in their tninds all that the world held.
So it was that while riding on a trol
ley car with Iwr trained nurse Mrs.
Snead disappeared. At the same time
the earth apparently swallowed young
Boyce.
The cattleman was aroused. His be
lief was that his wife, mentally de
ranged, had wandered off, knowing not
where she went. Detectives were put
on the trail. But to his mind shr still
was Caesar's wife.
People began to whisper. The whis
pers became murmurs Finally they I
wore loud enough to reitch the ears of J
fjnead. Still his \\ if. was above r< - I
proach. I’ntll he had proof to the con- I
trary, she could do no w roiig
Then the blow fi 11. A t> tTiim w.is
received by the cattleman. It told hint [
t.’.at his wife hud been located in Uau-
ada, living with Boyce. The pair had
pierced far toward the Arctic circle to
escape the husband. Had they known
the trail of blood that was to follow
them, their journey would probably
have been continued to the ends of the
earth. Even chill Canada had not fur
nished them asylum from the law of
the range.
That evening Snead returned to his
wifeless home and again the setting
sun shed red rays on the two ranches.
He swore no deep oath. He did not
kiss dagger with Corsican dramatics
as lie mentallj- promised vengeance for
his shattered home.
But he buckled on his six-shooters,
which custom had long since declared
no necessary part of a Texas gentle
man’s wearing apparel. Prom that mo
ment war was declared on the house of
Boyce.
Law officers wore sent to bring the
girl-wife back to the home from which
she had lied. She still was Caesar’s
wife. No officers were sent for Boyce.
The only law that Snead knew iiad de
manded a blood penalty of him. Snead
was content to wait.
Apparently, Snead
Forgives His Wife.
The wife returned. She was again
made mistress of the broad lands and
the fortune of the husband she had de
serted. To all intent she was forgiven,
but there was no forgiveness for the
man or the man's kind that the hus
band considered had lured her away
and besmirched his honor.
Prominence of th< families made the
affair the talk of that section of Texas.
Powerful as was Snead, he could not
keep tongues from wagging.
Another blow was struck at his al
ready heavily laden heart. The elder
Boyce, his friend, his neighbor, his
business associate, was said to have
been fully informed of his son's action.
In fact, he had supplied the money
that made the elopement and settle
ment in Canada possible. He also had
said things that should not have been
said of Caesar's wife.
Shoots Old Friend
Who Had Deceived Him.
Th' \.IHHII!'T w.tb Still in <’tn-
ida, blit th' eld' 1* Boyer in I'.nt
Worth. Th* r« wa* work for Hn<*ad !*•
do. Tout nit;ut hr uib. <1 ins .ix-yaout-
ers. The next morning he rode to Fort
Worth.
The cattlemen met in the lobby of
one of the prominent hotels of the
Texas city. It is not recorded that
Snead gave the father a chance to fight
for his life. As he construed the law of
the range, the man was beyond the pale
of human consideration. He was to be
shot as a wolf, as a mad dog. The six
shooters did their work well. The elder
J3oyce died in the chair in which he was
seated. Snead did not count "one,” nor
did he cut a notch in his.gun’s handle.
Hi? slipped loaded cartridges in the cells
where the exploded ones had been.
There was still work for those pistols
His arrest followed. His trial came
on. But there is still an Old Texas as
well as a New Lone Star state. The
twelve men who were summoned to try
Snead were nable to determine which
were the proper laws, those made in
Austin or those born of the range.
A mistrial resulted. Snead was re
leased under heavy bonds.
Young Boyce’s Love
For Home Fatal.
Canada still gave .young Boyce a
haven. He had not dared come to
Texas for the funeral of his father. He
had not appeared at the trial of the
slayer of his parent. He knew the
price of the range’s law.
But months sped by. Snead had re
tired to his ranch, wnere he was ap
parently devoting his life to the woman
who had wrecked It. The boy’s heart
yearned for his native Texas. Perhaps
it yearned for sight of th.- woman for
whom he had sacrificed honor Time
gave him confidence. Months of silence
on the part of Snead gave him courage.
Quietly he prepared to return home.
No word of his intended trip was com
municated to Amarillo, but last week
he appeared on its streets.
And the word was flashed to the
ranchman.
That night an automatic shotgun was
added to the traditional armane nt of
the Texan. Pistols frequently miss A
suier <1 ith Is carried |u a shotgun
loaded w ith buckshot. Failure to earrj
out his work wus no part of Sneaus
plan.
Few recognized the ranchman when
he appeared th. next duj on th. streets
lof \inarillo Fot months hi- had !><-• r
|ln -■< ci.-ioii Those months had been
TURNER HOLDS IIP
LICHTCOmCT
Councilmen Won’t Take Any
Action Till His Fate Is Set
tled at Primary.
Because the members of council do
not care to oppose City Electrician R.
C. Turner, the pending contract for the
city’s street lighting will be held up
unSil after the city primary of October
2. In the meantime it will be much
used as a campaign document.
Members of council expect to ap
prove the bid of the Georgia Railway
and Power Company for the city’s
street lighting. They declare it was the
only bid submitted, after all possible
competitors were invited to submit
bids; that it was a reduction of about
$20,000 a year on the present contract,
and that it was approved by the elec
tric lights committee, and Mr. Turner
himself said it was a low bid.
The committee requested John E. Mc-
Clelland. chairman of the committee, to
get City Attorney Mayson to draft the
contract in proper legal form. Chair
man McClelland turned the contract
over to City Electrician Turner. City
Electrician Turner is still holding the
contract without having submitted It to
the city attorney, and the members of
the committee say they will not inter
fere until after the city primary.
No Action Taken.
The electric lights committee met
yesterday afternoon. Chairman Mc-
Clelland, who announced that he would
urge that new street light bids be
asked, was not present, and no other
member of the committee mentioned the
contract.
The members of the committee real
ize that the Georgia Railway and Pow
er Company has a monopoly in Atlanta
to all practical purposes. The bid of
the company was secured after a long
agitation. Preston Arkwright, presi
dent of the company, has announced
that lie would not submit another bid.
As the Central Georgia Power Compa
ny, the only other company with lines
to Atlanta, will not bld, the eouncllmen
consider the present bid the best one
available.
Mr. Turner declares that the city
should build its own plant. The pres
ent contract with the electric company
does not expire until next March, and
the city can legally continue under it
for a year from then. Aiderman John
E. McClelland also advocates a munici
pal plant.
The members of the electric lights
committee are McClelland, Hall, Cham
bers, Mason and Candler.
ACCUSED IN WAYCROSS
SLAYING, SHOT BY OFFICER
WAYCROSS, GA., Sept. • 17.—Rich
ard Knight died this morning from a
gunshot wound, alleged to have been
fired by Amos Jackson. Jackson was
shot when he resisted arrest, but was
caught.
months of suffering, of brooding, of
thirst for vengeance. They had told in
the lines of his face. He was no longer
the happy, prosperous, well kept ranch
man of the olden days. A false
beard covered his cheeks and chin. A
new fire burned in his deep set eyes.
He walked about the streets with his
shotgun under his arm, as a huntsman
carries it. He was hunting, and the
hunt was a still one.
Days passed and there was no sight
of his prey. At last, as once more the
sun was setting and the rays were red,
Boyce appeared He was riding in a
street car. Perhaps he saw the grim
hunter on the sidewalk as he sped past
He did not recognize him if he did.
Boyce alighted one block farther on.
The hunter still stalked him. The last
chapter of the tragedy was to be writ
ten. The safety notch on the gun was
pushed forward and Snead drew nearer.
Shot Down in
Shadow of Church.
The eloper stood before the doorway
of a church. Its sanctuary afforded
him no refuge. He saw the hunter ap
proach, but he did not know that he
was the game.
He saw (he shotgun raised and point
ed. He had no time to flee. The gun
roared and he fell, his right side pierced
with 30 buckshot. It is doubtful if
even in the final moment he recognized
his slayer.
A weeping mother, two heart-broken
brothers were soon on the scene. They,
too, were paying the price. They did
not see the slayer His work was done.
With steady tread he walked to the of
fice of the sheriff He handed over his
snotgun. The six-shooters were un
buckled. Snead stood ready to answer
to man-made law. The law of the
range had been paid Its penalty of
blood.
Sold under the unqualified guarantee of “satisfaction,
or money back.” ) lb. 20c. 1 lb. 10c. —'. t lb. sc.
None better made at any price.
All good Grovcra sell it or will get it for you.
TAFT PINS HOPE
01WW
Expects Support in November
From Conservative Business
Interests and Thinkers.
BEVERLY. MASS., Sept. 17.—Presi
dent Taft in an interview that is re
markable when it is considered inter
views with the chief executive of the
United States Are rare, especially dur
ing a national campaign, voiced his
Ideas today on many phases of the
country's problems.
Referring to the candidates of the
other parties and the other leadens of
the Democrats and Progressives, the
president saldt
“They know where we stand. Ws
can only guess where they stand."
Then the president was askedt
“Mr. President, don't you expect
cess for the regular Republican organiL
zatlon at the polls in November?”
"I am not an optimist,” said Mr. Taftt:
smilingly, "but I thtnk we will
quiet vote of the conservative business!
interests and the thinking laboring men;
on election day which will surprise
them. Not the vote that Is
itself noisily or in straw votes In the
newspapers, but the quiet vote of tb®l
conservative business Interests which.]
prefers the continuing benefits of aH
tried administration to the untrted, InJ
definite promises of those who olamorf
for a change, ■
"There are Indications that Roose
velt will draw as large a vote front ths’
Democrats as from the Republican
ranks in many locaHttes. Thl s ts t}, e
vote of those with Socialistic tendencies’
which would go to Wilson If U did-no*.
go to Roosevelt,”
SHOWGIRLS HOME
BESIEGED BY SWAIN
ONE WHOLE NIGHT
ST. LOUIS, Sept. 17— Pleading on
his knees before a photograph of Miss
Margaret Mather that he be allowed to
see her and tell of hts love, resulted in
alter P. Walsh, a salesman, being
sent to the observation ward of the
city hospital. It was said there Sat
urday he was affected mentally.
Walsh, who is 33 years old, began a
siege of Miss Mather’s home at 11
o’clock at night, and continued it until
11 o’clock next morning. Miss Mather’s
brothers, Frank and Albert, Jr., were
loath to cause his arrest, because the
families long have known each other
and are friendly.
Miss Mather is nineteen yeans old
and one of the "Minstrel Maids” at the
Princess theater. She was returning
home at night when Walsh met her at
the comer, near the Mather home. “I
want you, Margaret," he said. Miss
Mather screamed and her brothers
went to her aid.
Walsh went to the Mather home and
pleaded on hfs knees to be allowed to
see the girl, Albert Mather said. When
he was refused, he walked baok and
forth In the Mather yard until 3 a. tn.
He departed, but returned later and
was admitted to th© house. He imme
diately fell on his knees before Miss
Mather's picture and began to pray,
Mather said.
screams¥heiTdad, gone
30 YEARS,-EMBRACES HER*
ST. IXIUTS, Sept. 17.—When D,
Franklin Osborn, an aged farmer, o 3
Wichita, Kans., arrived at the National
stock yards, In East St. Louis, in charge
of a load of cattle and met "Ben" A.
Welllever, an electrician at the yards,
he was surprised to learn Welllevel l
was the husband of hls daughter,
whom he had not seen for 30 years,
Osborn, then a carpenter at Oska
loosa, lowa, left his wife and three
children to seek better employment,
and, after a long illness, lost track of
his family. Welllever gave him his
first clew of the whereabouts of the
others.
Welllever and Osborn hurried to his
daughter's home. He found her in-the
kitchen, rushed to her and grasped faer
in his arms. Mrs. Welliever, not rec
ognizing her father, struggled to escape
and screamed for help. He explained
his identity, and, after passing the aft
ernoon with his daughter and five
grandchildren, departed for Hale, Mo.,
where he will visit a son whom he has
not seen for 30 years.
Osborn has since married and has
eight children by his second wife.
ROB AND BEAT JUDGE.
CHICAGO. Sept. 17. —Police today
are investigating a mysterious attack
on Municipal Judge James f. Martin,
who was robbed, beaten and left on
the la>wn of a home next his own. Al
though robbery was the ostensible mo
tive, the police think that th<- judge
may have been the victim of a ven
geance plot.
3