OCR Text |
Show f"H S Personal Impressions of j j a Reformed Desperado j By H. E. Westgute. Those who have had tho pleasure of meeting Frank James during his stav In Salt Lake City have been greatly impressed im-pressed with him. Xot that he has scored a decided hit as nn actor, for Frank James Is not an actor by any means; not that he is different in appearance from other men particularly, but because he was once a member of tho most noted gang of outlaws that ever existed, and of his own freo will surrendered and has since lived a quiet, peaceful life. In this respect Frank James of Missouri may be termed 'the one man of a million.' I met him the other day at the Knuts-ford Knuts-ford and spfiit fnllv an hour with him We talked of every thing of hla boyhood days, the days in which he was surrounded surround-ed by influences that later caused him to i lead tin- lib of an outlaw, ot his surrender surren-der i . i the Governor of the state of hiH own ftee will: of his relea.se from prison, Ol bis experiences In the theatrical line, and of blfl home life on the Old Missouri farm, which, by the way. Is a subject most dear to him. 'I think I wa.s intended for a farmer," said Mr James. "There Is something about thnt kind of a life which appeals to me and I am never really contented anywhere :ds Kspei iall do I long for the old Missouri home s I grow older. I like to be close to nature, to be out of doors among the horses and cattle, and to live as 1 lived when a boy. I might add I hat I Intend to return to that kind of a Ufa shortly, and, as I am now C years of. age, I will probably cud my days there. One. does not need a great deal of money If It Is Invested properly and taken care of and I have absolutely no desire, to U . jiii. dale wi alth." As Frank James made the statenrjnl that he had no desire to accumulate wealth, I could not help but think of tho times wh.-n hi had risked his life to gain S few thousand dollars. I thought of the times when h and his brother Jesse had ridden all night and all day through wooded wood-ed lands and underbrush to escape the posses In puryult 1 thought how thi y sutfered wh. n unable to secure food, and how da after day. when wounded by pis. tol and rifle bullets they had be. n nur.. d by friends, until nble to go on their way i thought of ail this and then i realized how thoroughly the good in Frank James had driven out tho bad how the longing for a quiet home life had taken the pi ice of the boyhood yearnings for excitement and tho border life. Win n you look Flank James In the eyo (and If you converse with him you will he compelled to meet his gaze) you am Impressed Im-pressed with the kindly expression of his face To be sure there Is that about him which would denote firmness of purpose, that penetrating look In his eyes Which seems to pierce you. and yet It Is mellowed mel-lowed by his kind voice and refined manners. man-ners. I wanted to ask him about his brother Jess and whether or nol In hla opinion he would have ever surrendered had Jesse lived, but I knew that It would bo" opening a conversation distasteful to him und I changed the subject to th Younger boys. ' ' V s , i'o.. Younger Is th- onlv one remaining re-maining he said "Jesse nnd i were bu -. used of heli g . onnccti d with that Nnrth-llsld, Nnrth-llsld, Minn., bank robbery, In which all Of the Younger boys were captured, but we were hundreds of miles away and knew nothing of It until It was all over. As you know, Cole Is now at liberty to go anywhere In the I nlted States except In Minnesota." Someway when I ngaln shook hands With Frank James and B lid good-bye io him. I had forgotten th-it he was once an outlaw Even his enemies gave him cred It In those days for protecting children and women, nnd the brothers were never known to Injure or rob a friend. Circumstances Cir-cumstances ha driven many good men to become outcasts-'and many people believe be-lieve circumstances drove Frank and Jesse James to become outlaws. |