Newspaper Page Text
VOL. V.
JOE SPICER, GENTLEMAN.
It was said of Joe Spicer at least
three years before he was captured
that lie was a gentleman from herd
to heel, and that lie would die like
a gentleman, whether in bed or
dangling at the end of a rope. In
the cruise of time he held up five
stages, robbed a dozen lone trave¬
lers and relieved an army paymas¬
ter of his chest, but he always did
these things with an apology which
took a good deal of the sting away.
When Sheriff Bill Johnson chas¬
ed Mr. Spicer into the hills and was
shot in the leg and made helpless,
Joe returned to the spot where he
was lying and doffed his hat to him
and said:
“Really, Bill, I’m sorry for this
nndhope you won’t be laid up. Heres
whisky—here’s water—here’s my
horse, and I’ll help you into the
saddle and give you a good start
towards home. 1 wish you wouldn’t
chase me around any more. You
are a gentleman and I’m a gentle¬
man, and I hate to shoot you.
One day, after Joe had held up
the Fisli River stage in his usual
urbane and courteous manner, a
posse struck a hot trail and van
him to earth. Through a fall of
his horse he was captured, and as
lie had wounded two men while
the pursuit lasted he realized that
lie would be tried on the spot by
Judge Lynch.
“Gentlemen,” lie said in his
most gracious way, “am I correct
in supposing you wish to finish
this job as soon as possible and
get back home?”
“That’s about the size of it, Joe,”
remarked the leader of ihe posse.
“I presume you brought along a
rope for hanging purposes?”
“Of course.”
“Well, I see no reason why you
shouldn’t proceed to carry out
your wishes. I will certainly do
all lean to make it an enjoyable
occasion.”
“That’s kind of you, Joe, and
just what might have been ex¬
pected. Don’t you want to own
up a few trifling things before you
go?”
“Anything to oblige you. gentle¬
men.”
Ho was then asked regarding
two shooting scrapes and several
robberies which the
were not quite clear about, and
solved the mystery by
iris guilt. He had about $3,000 in
the hands of a friend in Custer
City, and he expressed his
to leave $500 towaids a public hos¬
pital and have the balance for¬
warded to relatives. He presented
his horse to the sheriff and his
guns to the mayor of Deadvvood,
and then rose up and said:
“Geutlemen, I’m sorrry to cause
you this trouble, but I’m here to
• be hung.”
“Yes, Joe, we’ve got to hang ye.
Hope thar’ won’t be no hard feel
in’s.”
“Not a one. Let me see the rope.
Looks to be all right. Is it that
limb up there?”
“That’s the one.”
“You couldn’t have made a bet¬
ter choice. I”ll slip my head into
the noose, if you please, as I want a
sure thing of it.”
“Sure you’ve said all you want
to, Joe?” queried the leader.
“Let me see! Yes, I think I
have. Where’s the grave to be?”
“Over by that brush.”
“That’s right. Nevermind about
a head-board unless it happens to
come handy. Well, gentlemen, I’m
ready and waiting, and wish you
all a pleaseut journey home.”
There was a smile on his face as
they pulled him up, and the smile
was there as they cut him down.
They said it was the smile of a
gentleman, aud that Joe
was the gentlemanest gentleman in
all the Black hills country.
nr' V %
(mm 1 & ii
m n s? m II
L L.
Devoted to the Interest of Johnson County and Middle Georgia.
WRIGHTSVILLE, GA, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1897,
WAITING FOR HIS MASTER.
It was only an ill-kept and ugly
little cur that sat in front of a cl e
serted east side shop, says a Buf¬
falo writer in the New York Press,
but (he story it told was all the
more patljeticon that account.
The big policeman knew the sto¬
ry well enough, so lie spoke to the
dog. “Hello, Jack! Ail alone
yet?”
The stump of a tail that was
nearly lost in the unkept wool of
the small- creature wagged a sad
sort of reply to the officer and the
entire collection got on its feet a
moment, in response to the salu¬
tation, then it settled down again.
It would not do to give any one
the idea that anything short of a
genuine watch clog was on that
lonely front step.
“Poor fellow!” said the kind
hearted roundsman, stopping just
long enough to pat the dog for a
moment. “So lie is not back yet.
Well, be will be here in a few clays.
Bo patient a little longer.”
The clog’s story was well known
to people who frequent the most
doubtful part of Clinton street,
lie has but one friend in (he world,
ancl that friend is down at the
penitentiary, doing time as usual
for not being able to Jet liquor
alone. Time was when John
Thompson was a prosperous shoe¬
maker, and he would be still, no
doubt, but for his only love affair.
When scarcely at his majority ho
courted a fine young woman and
sought to make her his wife, but
she preferred another, and Thomp¬
son took a drink when she turned
her back on him.
He is only 28 now, but lie is an
habitual drunkard, ancl he wil
spend the rest of his life in that
state, no doubt. Before he was
jilted he was as sober ancl 'hard¬
working as any one, but as soon as
Iiis lady love left him he turned
recluse. He 1ms a little shoe shop,
where he does some work when
out of the lock up, but he lets his
neighbors alone. He is just the
person tc have as only companion
a mite of a dog, and this creature
is the perfection of devotion to his
master.
Whenever Thompson is locked
up the dog follows as far as lie is
permitted, seldom going home till
kicked out of the station more
than once, and then he keeps soli¬
tary watch till.his master is back
again. If the neighbors feed him
occasionally he eat3 and wags his
tail. If they forget, he fasts.
IMPROVED RAPID FIRING GUN.
The new automatic Hotchkiss
mitrailleuse is a gun which fired
off 500 or 600 infantry cartridges
per minute. It loads, closes the
breech, fires, opens the breech
again, throws out iheempty shell,
and puts in a new cartridge as ac¬
curately as a soldier would do. A
strong gun barrell is screwed in
front of a movable breech box,
containing the operating mecha¬
nism. A cogged piston is in a cy¬
linder which communicates with
the barrell and runs on a parallel
line below it. When a shot is fired
gases from the powder penetrate
the chamber In front of the pis¬
ton and push it back to a position
where a catch holds it. When the
trigger is again pressed, the catch
is released and a spring causes the
piston to fly back to its former
place. This piston performs auto,
matically the work of a gunner, by
moving through an arrangement
of cogs and pinions. The cartridges
are placed one behind mother on
on brass strips, where they are held
by clasps. There are thirty car¬
tridges on a strip. The strips are
so aranged in pasteboard boxes that
when one is exausted it is only
uecessary to liflrthe lid of the box
It Is Not
How Cheap
You can adver
tise, but, whut
good results you
can obtain by
using THE RE—
CORD’S columns.
Cheap
Advertise=
ments
Can get nothing 113-,
but cheap
sults. Try
The Record’s
columns for up
to-date results
to your satisfac- {
tion.
Em Hofifi IN DEALINGS. fl!
COMMERCIAL tip! . A PRINTING '1‘ Hg 6
WE 'L___________________________________ H; . ‘
Flam am! ornamental Job Punting at Every fl
Letter Heads, Note Heads, Bi“ Heads, Cards, Envelopes, Invitations, Posters, Etc!
I
WEI COMPETE WITH THE CITIES IN QUALITY AND PRICE- Wk!
THAT OUR WORK OUTRIVALS THAT OF OUR COMETITORS BOTH IN QUAI
PV~Q511KM§EEEE£L4§£EJ§M
If You
Were He!
Yes, if you were
'the creditor and
' saw the march
ant sitting idly
in his shop ac
cum’lating more
(1 u a t ,' cobwebs
and out-of—style
goods than cash,
you would prob
ably feel like ask
ing, Why don’t
you .
Wake Up
and use the ad
vertising col’uns
of THE RECORD.
an (1 exchange
your stock for
legal tender?
What say you?
to introduce a new strip to the feed¬
er) A radiator is fitted to draw off
ft large part of the heat, ami thus
cool the barrel 1. Two men are
needed to manage to manage the
gun with best results, hut in an
emergency one can handle it. can
ho fired slowly or at the rate of GOO
shots per minute.
MISTAKEN IDENTITY.
A sheriff arrived here from the
southern part of the territory the
other day, laid hands upon onr es¬
teemed contemporary, and made
ready to hear him hence. It was a
case of mistaken identity. How
on earth any one could have mixed
up a hump-backed, lop-sided, skin¬
ny old critter like ourcromtempor
ary with a man who was caelld
“Terrible Bill” and had shot three
men, we cannot possibly under¬
stand, but such was the case. We
were one of a dozen to step forward
and declare the mistake, and the
sheriff went away without a pris¬
oner. Nothing more rediculous
has ever happened in the history
of Giveadam Gulch, and the people
won’t get over laughing for a week.
Our esteemed gave ns no thanks
for swearing to his identity. On
the contrary, lie has threatened to
make it hot for us, believing that
we had something to do with the
case. We hadn’t of course, lint is
it will do him any good to get out
an old gun and pop away at us he
is welcome. He can’t hit a barn
at ten feet, and the only thing we
object to is the wheezy sound his
old pistol makes when lie pulls the
trigger. He ought to pour in some
troches for hoarseness along with
the cartridges, or feed the thing
over night on cough-syrup. We
felt sorry for the sheriff when he
went away, though he t '\id lie
should have felt degraded t^h ^ir life
to take such a man along him
and pass him off ns a terr*
Giveadam Gulcli Disapproves\ ““The
Merchant of Venice.”
When the Boston Ideal.- l> mat
ic company reached thT ,01 last
Monday to play a three-night en¬
gagement we had a little talk with
the manager and tried to make it
plain to him what our people want¬
ed in the line of theatricals. The
man gave ns to understand that he
knew his business ancl wanted no
advice. The play was Uie“ Mer¬
chant of Venice,” and when we saw
the curtain go up we knew what
would happen. The hoys on the
front, seats waited for the Indians
to appear, but none showed up.
They hung on in hopes of a clog
dance, but no one shuffled. When
it realized that there wasn’t even
going to be a view of Niagara Falls
by Moonlight the shooting began.
In five minutes the house was emp¬
ty and the actors making for the
hills. We caught one glimpse of
the pig headed manager and were
glad to observe that lie was paler
than a ghost and running ahead of
the procession. Next day three or
four of the actors found themselves
out of town, but it was a bust-up
for the company. Let onr people
have what they want and they will
pay for it and enjoy it, but any
attempt to force a tiling upon them
always results disastrously. We
want murder, abduction, rescue,
singing, dancing and a fight with
Indians in a play, and companies
not willing to gratify us should
keep clear of the town.—Arizona
Kicker.
The other day a little boy was heard
relating to his chums his first experi¬
ence in purchasing a pair of shoes.
He said the salesman told him positive¬
ly that the shoes would wear a lotig
time and they had only Worn two
weeks, He declared that he was going
to have the salesman sued for “breach
of promise,”
NO 28 *•1
A STORY ABOUT THE PRINCE.
Albert Edward, prince of Wales’’
is fond of going about London,
either alone or with some trusted 1
friend, and sometimes when in-'
dulging this penchant he meets
with curious adventures. Once'
while passing the mint, late at
night, with'the earl of Carnarvon,
a soldier was observed in the sen-'
try box puffing away at a large"
and exceedingly bad cigar. Both’
the priiice and the earl were so'
ini dried up as to be unrecognizable'
and the prince made talk with the'
sentry at once, declaring that the"
smell of the soldier’s cigar pro¬
nounced it of unusual quality. To'
tills the sentry agreed, but declared^
it impossible for oither of his visi¬
tors to guess the price. The prince
wagered a shilling with the man
and after all possible sums had’
been mentioned and pronounced 1
incorrect the sentry confessed that
it had cost him nothing, as he had
received it as a present.
Much pleased with winning the
wager, the man thereupon com¬
menced guessing with regard ti
the prince’s name, and anothel
shilling was slaked on the question
as to whether he could mention the
right one or not. The soldier haz-'
aided several guesses, mentioning
Smith, Jones, Robinson etc., until*
at last the prince iinformed him’
who he really was.
“O'wly Moses!” cried the soldier
thrusting his cigar into the prince’s*
hand, “ere, catch ’old hov this cigar'
for a minute: stick to hit while I
present arms.”
How the Earth is Heidi
A pretty experiment, conducted
by very simple methods, will show
this terrestrial glole is kept in its
position in space. Secure two'
magnets of equal power, placing
them an- inch or two apart. Their
make a small ball of paper or oth-'
light material, fastening on op¬
posite sides bits of steel or similar'
metal. Fiace the ball betweou the'
magnets, where it will assume of
its own accord a fixed position,
held only by the attraction of the'
magnets which act on’it as do the -
planets on the earth.
Children’s Cute Savings.
A school teacher lately put the ques¬
1 “What is the highest form’ of
life?” “The sri ruffe t” respond¬
a In - igirt member'of the class.
Four-year-old Robbie ran breath¬
lessly into the house, just as the sound
bagpipes was heard coming up the
“Oh, iriama f” he said, “there’s
man out here with a dead pig that
come quick!”
“How do you like your new teacher,
Wallie?” asked his aunt. “Like isn't
the word,” replied Wallie. “Oh! Thert
you love her, do you?” “J do,” said
Wallie, and then after st tong pause, he
added, “Not!”.—Harper’s Bazar.
“What are yer doin’, you young ras¬
cal?” said a fanner to a remarkably
small boy, on finding him standing
under a tree in his orchard with art
apple in his hand. “Please, sir, I Was
only goin’ to put this ”ere aDple hack
on the tree, sir; it had fallen downy
sir.”—Judge.
A little 5-year-old boy, when told by 1
his mother that they would go td see
his baby cousin christened on the foI->
lowing Sunday, replied with a troub-
led countenance that “he hoped the
would go home as soon as he was
with Cousin.” When asked
why he said i “Well, I’ve had enough*
had the measles—and sudli awful
in my stomach. So I don’t want
be christened,"
Fixing a Pn 09 .
“What’s that job worth?” they asked
con trader.
“Well.” he said, slowl j,“that depends
good deal upon circumstances. If it
was orderd by an individual I should
think that a $100 would be about the
limit, hut it done for the city or county
l shouldn’t think of charging a bit less
than $850, with a clause in tne contract
permitting me to make an additional
charge for extra»i’’-*-Cbicago Post*