Show Officer Could Not Resist I A wellknown United Stales Marshal related the following experience to a group at the Great Northern recently Fifteen years ago I was deputy sheriff of Monterey county Cal Now thats a whopping big country with eighty miles of sea coast and a scattered I scat-tered population of only 30000 Well the ranchmen had things so much their i own way then that they paid no attention atten-tion to the State game laws One day the railroad company telephoned t the I Sheriff that a fellow of the name of Jim Murdock had shipped some venison to San Francisco That was all the old Jan wanted Look here he said you just drive over to Soledad and serve this warrant on Jim Murdock l was about 3 oclock Inthe after I noon when I reached Jlmu ranch After I Af-ter I had finished reading the warrant I he laughed and said Well if you say I 1 shipped that venison I reckon I did i Just wait live minutes and Ill go back with you He Hoon returned carrying a Winchester rIfle I confess I was knocked out until Jim Bald Oh I just wanted to show JOU the gun that did the work Isnt It a beauty Now gentlemen I was n pretty good shot myself In those days and before I became an oIHcnr I guess I killed about as many deer and quail Inseason and out of stason as ever Jim MUl ole did So I couldnt help admiring the gun I was the latest f torn and as l examined ex-amined I closely I noticed it was loaded When I handed It back Jim said T wont bother taking 11 back to the house well Just take it along May bo youll need It to conVlct me with Well wodrove along and I soon sized Jim up as a pretty good salt of fellow The road had l just turned Into some timber land and Jim and I were swapplnT opinions on politics when all at once he said soft like Look And gentlumun not twenty yards In front of that buggy was trotting the finest buck that ever bore hors I never knew how It happened boys but before I knew where I was I up with Jims gun and killed that doer And I swear I didnt realize what I had done until t saw Jim grabbing the lines and laughing fit to kill himself Then I knew I had to face the music I never exchanged another word with Jim but drove Into town aK fast as I could I delivered Jim and myself up and we vero each fined JfiO But the fine was nothing compared to the Judges reprimand and the chatting 1 had to stand from the whole county during the rest of my term of office Chicago RecordHerald |