Dodge City times. [volume], November 06, 1880, Image 2

About Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892

Image provided by: Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, KS

                
THE DODGE CITY TIMES.
-
SIT.CKIITIOX : $2 00 r Tear, In JMvaotr.
NICHOLAS 15. ELAINE, - Eihtob.
IXDIA.X SUMMEB.
3"he tranquil river tclldetb to the en,
Tbro iiiri 1 bao the froM.n unlK-nms fall;
Tb-white sails alinunerl.v in stlentlv
The hush of dreamland liettt over all.
Our pi!n! lire like llowers in the litrbt.
Nor feel nor learthostlnsjof c thly taln,
Ner dread the thaioft'sot lhceomlnir night,
la pcicv-fiil rest we He; all toll is rain.
Vain are the hopes and fear and doubts of ;
voulh.
We rireani our lives a ay, an J ask not why.
Vain all our lotty nitrations after truth;
Ttnlay we eivnl lis e ac, to-morrow d.e.
Wbynhnuld we work when Nature's beart ll
still
Why should we ftrivc when Nature bids us
reft?
We let ber Influence awect our lieinfill.
Hushed as a child Uu the mother's breast.
The Honor of a Choctaw, i
A VEnr remarkable story is tints tolil '
by the Muscogee Indian Journal: Tlie
execution o( Chester Dixon, convicted
of murder at the last term of tlio Cir- j
cuit Court of tlie Choctaw Nation, took
place Friday at noon in the presence of
but a small numbcrof people. Chester .
Dixon, the munlerer, was a young full-
blooded Choctaw abouti-ereuteeu years i
of age. He was subject to lits, during
which he often lost control of himself.
He was, aside from this malady, con-1
sidercd nilhcr a bright boy. I
Dixon lived with his mother and
stepfather about five miles from Atoka, j
Their nearest neighbors were an Indian
known a3 Washington, and Martha, his .
wife. One afternoon, about a year ago, I
Washington returned from Atoka and !
found that a horrible murder had been
committed. The body of his wife lay
on the Uoor of his cabin in ghastlyfrag
ments. Tito head was severed from the
body, and several terrible gahes had
been indicted with an ax. The bloody
instrument of butchery lay beside the
bleeding victim. The alarm was given
and it was discovered that Dixon had
Teen seen issuing from tho fated house
covered with blood. He was arretted,
but stoutly denied the killing.
He was tried acconling to the Choc
taw law by a competent jury. He was
found guilty, and sentenced to be shot
September" 10, at noon. He was al
lowed to go homo from the Court-room,
unrestrained except by parole of honor
to be at the Court-House at Atoka at
tho hour appointed for his execution.
Choctaw laws provide for no appeal,
else his case would have been reconsid
ered, for alter his conviction ho was at
tacked with a fit, which proved conclu
sively that ho was subject to temporary
aberrations, during which, it is pre
sumed, lie was irresponsible lor ins ac- j
tious. His attorney during histrial had j
nqt made any such pica, anil, the sen-'
tenco of death having been pronounced,
it was unalterable.
On Thursday, Dixon came to Atoka ;
with lus stc-latner, lor tlie purpose ot
ordering.his coffin. He had his meas
ure taken and gave the orders for the
disposition of his body without tho least
appearance of concern. On Friday
morning about one hundred persons,
most of them whites, gathered about
tho Court-House to witness the execu
tion. Up to within half an hour of the
appointed time Dixon had not aj
peared. Our reporter asked his com
panion whether there was not some like
lihood of the prisoner breaking his pa
role.
" If ho is alive he will be hero within i
ten minutes just as sure as the sun i
shines." j
Hardly had the words been spoken '.
when a murmur of " Here ho conies'' j
was heard on all sides, and there rods
up a younjr fellow, slight of build, tall
and straight, but rather awkward in
his movements. Alighting from his
xny, the boy approached a little knot
of Indian women who were gathered
around a blazing log. Without giving
any attention to those around him he
sat down by a stump, and. hanging
down his head, he seemed last in med
itation. Presently a venerable old In
dian approached the boy and spoke to
him In the Choctaw tongue, biddintr
him. as the interpreter said, to meetl
nts late as became a Choctaw Wave; to
remember that nothing but his life
would atone for the life ho had taken,
and not to make the oxidation rrudr-
insly, but to meet his death lecling i
that his people had done justice in con
demning him.
While the old man was talking
Dixon held his head down, but at the
conclusion of the speech he looked up,
held out his hand, and. in the hearty
grasp ho gave tho old man's hand,
seemed to imply that ho would not
falter, and he never did throughout it
all. Several men and women then
came up aud shook hands with him.
He looked up at each one with a glance
of recognition, but ncversokc a word.
At about ll:4oo" clock the Sheriff, Win.
Kelson, brought the doomed boy an
entire change of clothing, which he
puton. While Dixon wa dressing for
the grave, eascreyes watched his every
motion to discover, if pos-ible. the
least evidence of emotion, but he ad
justed every button without a sign of
tremor. Ite then sat down on a blan
ket while his mother combed his hair.
Tho Sheriff then announced that the
time had come. Dixon arose and
walked to the spot pointed out by the
officer, and stood facing his coffin. His
stepfather held his right hand, his
cousin supporting him on the left. Tho
same old man who had spoken to Dixon
before now made a mark with charcoal
upon the boy's breast just over the
heart, and spoke a few wonls of encour
agement. The Sheriff then bound a
handkerchief over Dixon's eyes, com
manded him to kneel, and immediately
thereafter beckoned a man who bad
until then kept out of sight. This was
Abner Woods, a cousin of tho con
demned. Dixon had chosen him to do
the shooting. Abner advanced, and,
taking his position about live paces
from the boy, he leveled his Winchester
rifle, took steady aim and fired.
Tlie ball went to the mark. Almost
simultaneously with tho report of the
rille Dixon fell forward, uttered a groan
and died without a struggle. The
mother of the dead took charge of tho
remains, which were buried by a few
friends. Tiio entire proceeding passed
without a semblance of excitement.
Everything was conducted properly ami
decorously. As contrasted with the
civilized mode of punishment the Choc
taw method is more humane, more
effective, ami is more likely to deter
others from capital offenses.
The Ladies of Cyprus.
An American lady recently returned
from Cyprus gives some interesting
facts concerning the Cypriote women.
Two-thirds of them are Greek, and tho
remainder Turkish, with a sprinkling
of Europeans. Beauty is not their
strong point in fact the' are fearfully
ugly. Tlie Greek ladies are more intel
ligent than the men, and their handi
workin lace-making, in cotton-spinning,
in the manufacture of silk, is often
splendid, but they arc opposed to the
introduction of steam and the modern
improvements. The Turkish ladies are
inferior to the Greeks, indolent aud un
educated, but a cross between the Arab
and Turk is extremely intelligent and
witty. The Greek women have a French
eve for colors; "my Greek maid wore a
blue cashmere skirt, a fine black velvet
jacket opened in front, with loose
sleeves gold embroidered, ana under it
a white silk chemise a sort of gauze
with a heavy stripe and trimmed with
white lace, cut low in the neck, and set
off with considerable jewelry," for
a Greek woman dresses to be seeu,
while if a Turkish woman allows her
veil to fall and shows herself, her hus
band is entitled to a divorce. The
Turkish married women wear no jewel
ry; only young ladies wear it, and they
marry often at fifteen years of age.
Greek women walk out freelv in the
evening and often with masculine es
corts, but Turkish women are never
seen in .public with a man, nor after
sundown Though the Greek women
often talk, very agreeably, and are ex
trcmelv polished in manners, they can
not write their own names, and are un
able to read a line. There are plenty
of children in Cyprus, and they are
treated as if they were dogs. Even
when belonging to good families, their
liair often is matted, their bodies are
dirtyi and beaten in n frightful manner
by the parents. Yet every father thinks
it his duty to provide a house and
garden for each of his children es
pecially for a daughter, and parents
frequently relinquish their own home
to a daughter who is about to be mar
ried.' H. 1'. Etxnin-j Post.
Ik the great retail stores in Philadel
phia pneumatic tubes have been intro
duced to do the work of cash boys.
The Wild Hog of India.
Those who have formed their concep
tion of pig exclusively upon the tame
, pig of the civilized sty nave no
for office and get laid out by over threa
thousand votes.
Waydown Itcbee hoped none of tho
lub would charge him with conceit
Club
when he said that he was cradled with
' r . .. -"--- v., .... wue;
a.iequaie mea oi ne .reenim p.goi ine the a learned to creep with the
Indian lunclc. Like the North American " ,i 3 i.mi,, f m .
Indian, the. pig is debased by con- chHUand back-ache? What he didn't
civilization.
becomes
know about cold shakes no other man
lie
' F"' i ,r J,'n nn.1 V . i " ll0ra t0 I,-'rn- He "ad been
inordinate .thirst for swill. 1 ho distance knocked down, dragged out, left for
I between the tame Indian o Saratoga. (,eaJ d pr0 rud fa burial, an.l vet
I who steals cuicKens auu wauuwauruaK-
en in the gutter, anil tlie tierce
1 warrior of the Western plains is not
1 greater than that which separates the
despised pig of civilization from the
1 wild and fearless nuarrv of the East In-
... ... ,. .. . . iwu uau arnvei
man pig-aiicKer. J..t anur v,s uo,B , chiu an, f(JV(,r scryei, t(J ,,,.., an,,
Gmrtt li'ia nnwr linoti liro-en 1'irti ntff .. .... .
r. ...-. .. ,.. stren"tncn an t
vokes, ami whose moral nature h:
here he was weighing one hundred and
eighty pounds, heels growing long
every day, and a prospect of living to
be a hundred years old. Ho had given
the subject a great deal of thought,
and had arrived at the conclusion that
strengthen all tho best traits in a man's
'-" Itll'l ?- no IT-ill I na n stlnnArf n -'
, never teen poisoned with swill, is one of number of ,, storcs ., cneo"
the bravest inhabitants of the jungle. tcn thousind doctors,
and has been known to attack and put Several other speakc took the
to rout the majestic elephant and the siteviewof the case, and as the dis
ferocious tiger. . cussion waxed warm the President
. VlC !,,1.n:"nof ,e iMt Imlian P'R , squelched it by referring the whole
is imicnt hough no one except a Sliu-t,ct to tho Committee on Astronomr.
! punctilious scientific person ever calls with instructions to report at the earliest
him by it. Among beginners in the art momeat. Detroit t'rxt Press.
of pig-sticking he i sometimes mag-1
niloqucntly described as a wild boar
though lie is very often a wild
sow; but pig-stickers of reputation
uniformly call him a pig or a hog.
A Stork as a Mouser.
A large and handsome whooping
storic, says inciuuncii muiis .xonxirtfi.
Sim iri'tciis often grows to the length , nan be seen daili- strutting ..rniinil th
of four feet and eight or ten inches, and yarj at the residence of Prof. Paige in
reaches the height of three feet, or even this citv. The elongated bird was'pur
forty inches, at the shoulder. When ' chascd"by the professor durin" a visit
full grown his strength is enormous, and to Mexico some months since and has
in speed he will sometimes rival the , become quite tame. Among other food
fastest Arabian horse. He enters upon lnat the stork relishes is a nice fat
existenc in a striped state; subsequent- i mouse. Mrs. Paige has a small wire
ly he becomes brown; when in the prime j trap m the house, and whenever a mouse
of life, ho affects a dingy black color; ' happens to wander therein he becomes
and when old, ho is gray and grizzled. a EWCct morsel for his storkship. The
At no period can Lc be honestly called ot,or dar'Mrs. Paige noticed tho bird
a handsomo or a graceful animal, but standing near the barn watching in
his courage and tenacity of life demand ' tentlv at a small hole leading bcricatli
our respect. ' the building. The stork remained in
In point of teeth the tame pig has au attitudo of watchfulness for nearly
sadly deteriorated. Tlie wild boar of half an hour, and Mrs. Paige, becoming
India, which is the type of tho barbaric curious, concluded to watch and see
pig of all ages, is armed with long semi- ' wi,at followed. Finally she saw a
circular tusks. Those in the lower mouse creep into sight from under tho
jaw sometimes attain the length of barn, and the same instant the intelli
cight or nine inches. They curve out- Rent gtork pounced down on the mouse
ward and upward, and the edges are and "took him in," killing it first and
kept sharp by tho pig's constant habit then eating it. After performing this
of scouring them against the tusks of intelligent feat, tho stork resumed his
tho upper jaw. The swiftness and vigilance at the mouse hole, and after
power with which he uses those tusks ,vatching sharply for over an hour
to carve an enemy are almost incrcd- seemed to grow weary of his work or
iblc. A hunting-dog is frequently cut ?et out of patience, and marching to
neatly in two by a single stroke of ti,e i,ous0 entered tho kitchen, and
a boar's tusks, and horses and men picking up the mouse-trap, from which
arc occasionally killed by boars which he had so often been fed, he returned
have become tired of being hunted, to the barn and set the trap down near
and which try to infuse a littlo variety i the hole, evidently appreciating the use
into the aOair by hunting their ene- , 0f the trap, and believing that it would
catcha mouse tor Inni." II anyone has
got a brighter bird than that we would
like to hear from it.
Bright Post-Office Clerk.
lines. v lien wounded lie is an exceed
ingly dangerous beast to face on foot,
unless the hunter is a lawless ruf
fian who is capable of killing him
with a rifle. Oue can scarcely iraa
cine an Englishman so lost to all
sense of decency a3 to shoot a fox. and the ingenuity of Post-office clerks in
next to that crime ranks, in Anglo- ; reading illegible hieroglyphics, and cor
Indian estimation, the loathsome out- , rectin" blunders of direction, djscrves
rage of killing a pig by any process ex- ' to amons tho wonderful feats of
ceptthatof pig-sticking. W.L.Aldcn, imraan skill. An English periodical
! gives an amusing instance of this inge-
i Harper's Magazine
.,.... .n . i num.. Aueiaieisisnopoiuxioru, aam
How the Ague Affects Colored People. jUcl Wilberforcc, carried on so extctisivo
The Secretary somewhat proudl v an-1 " oIIi,clal correspondence that he wrote
noimccd the receipt of a communication many letters in the cars to save time,
from the National Medical Bureau at I ll wa' accustomed to dale .from the
Washington asked to be placed on a P00. of writing. One such otter,
harmonious footing with the Limekiln d.alc,ll Ka,I ,ncar heading." ami
Club, and promising to incorporate as ned as usual h. Oxoij (Samuel of
much of its f proceedings in medical re- Oxford) came into the hands of a man
ports as could be brought to bear on I who ,vas Sonito' tho ofheial rank of
any issue. Tho Bureau further de- the writer, and of his habit of using tho
sired information from the Club as to , P a' a writing-desk. He, therefore,
the general effect of fever and ague ' interpreted date and signature in tho
lipolytic system of the colored people ' most literal way, and directed his reply
of the North " S. Oxon. Esq., Kail, near Kcad-
Tln Pli-.irmn nt llin CnrnmitteR on Z." The Post-office clerks were
Pills and Liver-pads being out of the s.liarpcr-wittcd. and read in the direc
citv. tho inquiry was given to the meet-. ''"'V110 "j he ,hai1 Pnt ln,to Il ,or
in- for discussion, in order that an early ' the Ictt?,r after a delay of only one or
reply might bo forwarded. ' two mails, found its way to Bishop il-
Sir Isaac Walwle arose to presume , V,crforce, LolM,on residence. CI Eaton
that he had had over a million shakes ' p,:lc- Tl,ere was no red-tape, as in
of the a-ue, each one followed br ! our Post-office, compelling a long jour
moreor less fever, and the effect on ncv to Washington, in order to receive
hissvstemwas to niako him sad and i a new direction. louths Companion.
pensive, and full of thoughts of how his
father was kicked to death by an army
mule.
Whalebone Howkcr begged leave to
say that he had wrestled with ague in
January, July, and all other months in
the year. It had grabbed him at high
noon and shaken him out of his boots,
and it had stolen along his spinal column
at midnight and douoledhim up. It's
effect in his case had caused him to run
The northern magnetic pole of the
earth is at present near the Arctic
circle on the meridian of Omah-u
Hence the needle does not everywhere
point to the astronomical north, and is
constantly variablo within certain
limits. At San Francisco it points
about seventeen degrees to the east of
north, and af Calais, Me., "as much to
the west.
5