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Show OLD ROY BEAN, JUSTICE PEACE! ttc Is "the Law of Texas, West of the ! Pecos" as ac-oniplirhotl brrtcndrr ' 1 fl'-l a Urge beer g'jfi w ti pure a'..-. hi! a -..I , t'-en he revers-d th Terror e If h : hid tx-'n hanl'lns a toy. "Niw. l-k j hre. stranirei." sail Mr. Erin. Is ton- Jr but dee;!v tonn. '.you hive -been f, n-: 1 r (C fault w.th the qnlltv of . my whisky aid you hare wen proper j to .atiafyyour fn-tl Mous taste, to o-Jer a pecull-.r drink which I hare tak'a ' the trouble to prepare for you." The Terror turned his wYte fice toward the bar. and when he saw a tar.tr.tu'a and a vinegar mm II xtting about ia a tumbler of alcohol he uttered a gom of distress an J hi knee begin to tremble. "There la the recul.ar dr1r.k end the trimmings that you ord-ri. young man. aoj my na.'r.e U Roy Loan." said the old man. aa he pushed For many yean one of the ato-k ' atones of the profesicnal funny mm ' f the country tag been of the coroner! ho held an Inquest over the bo-!y of i a man found dead, and in one of whose pocket wa a pistol and In an- i Jther loO. The story relate that the j wroner stopped the Inque st at on.-e ', apon discovering the pistol and cash ; and fined the dead man Smj for raryln a pistol without a permit. colle.Ung Ms fine from the cath pot ket. I neral solemnities were an affair of th ' pact, the killer u honored with a request to app-ar at the bar whera j liquids and JuHire were dispensed al- j ternat!y. The STbe who waa "the : law of Texas w-t of the Pcco" hat ' evidently devoted some spare rro-re-.ti to the study of hi first murder eaa, for the judgment t!.at was rendrei and entertd cn the docket is certaln- ly without a p-irallM. I "I hare raref'ily exa-n'nrd the crlm- jvMjjiX y Jiii foir . W I - 1 ' j.wt H M tte trembling Terror towards the bar. liown In thi. part o Texas write. l j , 1 t ; j 1 T), lrIwlM .n ,hr,h,r .UrmM a Fort Clark corrcpomlem. ia m e maa U , ,7 i f strainer found toK" enough to bg tor wlta whose action thl. simple and In- U , a ,j " ,xJa "ercy. "Urlnk every drop of It or I enuou. U orl.lnated. He Is Roy . , 'L ;J- will break your neck." said Jur)K Bean, who for ten year, In the young j ' j j , The dowQ lays of Texas wa justice of the peace t t( j - j awfu, m,xture nd w,h A ,,atn oJ and coroner of the town of A inerar y I terror sprang out Into the street. H Roon. being, a he expreeeed It the fA "hit the earth a-runnlng." and h law of Texas weet of the Peoos. Hi T V4 & never slackened h'.s sped until the la ftlll living at the town of Ijingtry, t'?J town of Vlcenar Koon waj far behlnl an the Sunset railroad. 300 miles wnt N hlm , u ,uppo,i thM th, I " lown In this part of Texas, write a Fort Clark correeponde nt. Is the maa wlta whose action thl simple and In-enuoua In-enuoua ta originated. He Is Roy Bean, who for tea year In the young lays of Texa wa justice of the peace and coroner of the town of Vlnerar Roon, being, aa he expressed It. "the law of Texas west of tbe Peoos." H la ftlll living at the town of Ingtry, an the Sunset railroad, 300 miles wet f 5an Antonio. No man know whence he came. The railroad builder build-er found him away out here on the great desert plains, and when the gamblers gam-blers and toughs and tenderfcet came along with the first trains and at once proceeded to run the country according accord-ing to their own notions, old Roy Bean declared himself a Jutttce of the peace and boldly announced "I am the law of Texa west of the Peco." It l biKhlv probable that a few people who were In favor of law and order In-tltrd In-tltrd the atranne character to ai-suroe the judl. lal position, and that on account ac-count of his desperate courage and fearless Judicial demeanor be after- ' the trembling Terror towards the bar. The a finxed and thoroughly alarmnd stranger found voice enough to beg for mercy. "Urlnk every drop of It or t will break your neck." said Judge Bean. The poor devil gulp.l down the awful mixture, and w.th a acream of terror sprang out Into the street- He "hit the earth a-runnlng." and he never slackened h'.s sped until the town of Vinegar Koon wa far behlnl htm. It la supposed that tbe msn'a stomach Instantly rejected the fearful poison, for he lived to tell of his experience ex-perience In Vlncrar Roon. though he said there was not gold enoiinh In the world to hire him to revisit the place. No lawyer wa allowed in those old days to quet,t!on the Jiirbdl.tlon of the court or take an appeal to higher Judicial Judi-cial authority. He fined a "pettyf.jg-glng "pettyf.jg-glng lawyer." a he railed the attorneys attor-neys for even hlutlr.g at an appeal. "I will have you to understand, lr." roared the enraged Justice of the big Jud:cUl district, "that there Is no appeal ap-peal from this court. I am the law of Texas west of the Peco River. Ict the supreme court at Austin snd your Inal statute of Texas." said Roy Bean, "and I find that thera la plenty of law to punish one white man for killing another, an-other, but there la no law to punl.-n a citlien of Texa for abootlug a Chinaman." Roy Bean was not at all a bad man. H wa as brave a a lion and liberal to a fault He was the right man In the right place. From Pan Antonio to Law Anuele he wa known as to tamer of the long-haired Wild Bills and all other desperadoes. No task pleaued him better than one that afforded af-forded him an opportunity to make a swaggering, boasting bully wilt and take a seat In the background. little district court at El Paso 'tend ti their bt!lnese and I will 'tend to mine." Feloniet and even divorce cases were tried and the decision enforced. en-forced. In spite of the ar.sry protests of attorneys and the frantic threat of l!llg.inl and prisoner. Divorce were j granted and thieve were convicted and entene.l to the pen'tentiary. Peace j prevailed, and leng before tail strante j character was checked In hi wild I career a child might have carried a purse of gold through the streets of I Vinegar Roon at mlduight without foar of being molested. ward wa appointed to fill U office of Justice of the peace. Early one morning It was reported j In tbe town of Vinegar Roon that a j man bad fallen from a bridge near the place and that his dead body was ly-g ly-g on the ground close to the water Roy Bean, a justice of the peace and ex-offlcio coroner, at on.-e summoned a Jury There was no testimony to be taken. The man was a stranger, and it wa. not eay to determine the cause of his death. He might have fa 1-en 1-en from the bridge or he might have Dn murdered. The coroner the dead body. -d when be f ..und a , p.jttol in one pocket and o0 1" the Other he turned to the Jury and Informed In-formed them that In this matter the aervice. were of no value. .Inc. It would be necessary fof . court to One day one of these gentry from Arizona strolled Into hi place bent on having some recreation. "I have been spending a few weeks In San Antonio." he said, "and my .hooting Irons were getting rusty." After taking a few drink t the bar he began to berate the mild and feeble qualities of tbe I liquids offered for sale in the infant j city. "Give me a little tarantula Juice with a real Vinegar Roon floating around la it!" shouted this Arixont terror. "All right." calmly replied the old man behind the bar. "I think we can accommodate you. but you will have to wait a few momenta." "Well, get up the beverage: " roared the terror, "and I II amuse myself during dur-ing the delay by dropping a few bullet bul-let around promiscuously among the I lamos and bottle and .Ich things." render a veruit i -The court fined tbe dead man 10 for carrying . pUto! d took Pe It the money. .I.e. the fee. of the coroner amounted to Just M. nd he Tody wa. burled on the lonely prairie a, the expense of the cunty. Vinegar Roon wa named after th. mo'tD,Unou. IH.le reptile - i"Gi,:hmo:r?ohT,k I,rh.rr for th. pol-n ol tb ; Boy Bean named ,h. Pace. a and a roomy - Z ' ! bouse, -her. there none w put. bl. authority, for h. wa. eo . proprietor. ., , On. fin. day mb"' ? , .nusually hllariou. mood at V - of . Chinaman Mt . "A you please." uavely replied the old man. "I like to tee a .tranger en-Joy en-Joy hlmfelf." The terror glanced at the polite barkeeper bar-keeper rather suspiciously, but he never once dreamed mat be w talking talk-ing to old Roy B"in. Fairly choking with suppreped merriment, mer-riment, old Roy went out on the plain, only fe "e 'rom hl faloon n1 ,e,.r turning over two or three rock. he got a big tarantula and a "ons-er j ..r moo A'tr mashing the. vinegar rooo. " i bead, of the polM.ou. reptile, he returned re-turned to the bar-room, entering the j door Just the Terror with a wl.d cZU. Tell tvgnn to rain lead among tbe bottle and gl A. the Tron. of the houa .urted throtigU . door, " -""lo" ,n f"':o,n-old f"':o,n-old Ro ihouted. "Keep your loentiemen. Thl. Infant cyclone will; of hort duration." The next In-.nt In-.nt tn. Terror lo-nd hlmaelf .:.nd-I .:.nd-I Jng on bi. bed and hi. weapon, wen. afllng noon th. floor. Mr. Bean ke d JLJU atna l that po..tloa uxiUl |
