TELEVISION ALL-AMERICAN COWBOY BLACK BART A True Story of THFRF were many colorful outlaws in the days Vert, but the strangest and most ■.,. i gentleman who called hi.; He was a handrt who specialized 1 in stagecoach robbery and practical |okes He had a sardonic sense of humor tlLat highlighted hi* criminal career from beginning to end The name he had selected for himself, inspired by a character in a detective stoty. wa«. m itself, a joke, for "Bl*ck Bui *M blue-eyed, light haired and fair skinned If *i.> ihe fadsion in those days among wage robbers to mask their la.es with the red bandana handkerchief* the) ordinarily wore about rheir necks Black Bart wu different He conducted business with a flour sack over hi* head, or rather over the derby he wore *nd hi* head Two hole* cut in the cloth enabled htm to tee his victims, but all they could see of him were two incongruously merry eye* Four word* rompused his routine instructions to Ibe stagecoach driver Thro* down the box' His was the shortest command m the history of stage- coach robbery And the most cffeiiivc The lUgecoi staring down the gun barrets, never had to be told i tiey threw down the bo* About the derby hat he wore beneath the flour sack— he held this jaunty item of drew in high cu«m for when he wasn't occupied with business, and was minus the flour sack, he liked down the fashionable streets of San Francisco, dofhng th» headgear *>'!' * flourish that made ladies sigh and men hate him One day a stagecoach was rattling along the road near the Russian River, in California, when the flour -sac* hpuie rod* out from some concealing brush, rifle in hand, and gave the now familiar command. Throw down lire box. " While the bandit proceeded to weaken the strong- box with an axe. the v!ag«oa,h driver proceeded to town to report the P iocee-)ings to the Sheriff When the duvet .eturncd to the scene of the crime w.th the Sheriff, the box was hacked oc-cn and its contents gone But the bandit had left some thing inside the box a pi ece of paper with four l.net of doggerel written on it The verse was • .... >u FOB The P08> The Sheriff and the dm over that one for quite a spell, and if they hadn t the Old West from the files of Buster Crobbe come from cattle country where cryptic b dt-vigned to he read, they might never have doped it out. POti. of course, meant Poet ' Ine incident received much publicity, bred much interest Ande from the partis directly concerned, nobody worried about the stolen money, Jj wanted to know who Black Bart a long time before anyone found out. Some weeks later another stagecoach was relieved ngbox. Again, the emptied box yielded a poem: Here / l*y mt 4ou-n to sleep, to watt 'be tomMg Ptrbapl , pifbapt defeat, mi everlasting Ut come u-bai will, HI "> " 01. »»J (ondilio* (dfl't be uorit, And if there's money m that box, 'tit mrnnny in my pnrie. —Blab B*i. tbe P08 The deteilives ass!gned to the case spent a tot of time trying to figure out why Black Bart spelt money cotrectly the hist time, and then mis- spelled it the second time If this contradiction had any significance at all. it »as probably that Black ■ about it Finally, one of the detectives solved the jointing out that nobody cm stand poeli anyway, so who were they to trv it' Robbery followed robbery, and Throw down the box ' became the popular quip of the tunes. liens went about saying throw down the box' in much the same manner as Easterners said Twenty three skiddoo ' tart became the most feared stagecoach robber in the history ol California. AUbomtb hi he and his flour mask had terrified 2« stagecoach drivers, and gained for himself the valuables stored m 28 strongboxes — civile a record. And all this time law-officers were on the alert for some dark and swarthy sinister looking indi- what else ' Jt r*w, jusT"* ^r«t tija\ \ i , i : L wui OCT Tin' ^fll\mM| L COMFOKTAtLE'.^aaaaaak^ai It IT? J ^H^WHAT KIN(>**£ Ky OF ANIMAL. MADE' *3l THAT TRACK? : W r? ! ^-■■■■■Pk^^^p*^-" «^- **■ H* ■I ft jfrirv » ■ r 4 1 %!■■(-'>- a Abm '^." r r 1 # '-** s :SHT~'p' >3» ,1 X -.v '::■■ -■ ' 9 4 a «» <4S^K y J * # - «*^i«4 »^ . M " ^*v x *^B •/'■. **r* w o Jf * 2 /V i^c£^ -^Jfcwj PAi, ' m HOMES? ON WC ¥**MC£ • THey w4rneo /me at the- a*0BA8i.t tit.l« HEA»Q OF CO E EXTRAORDINARY SHOWOOWM BETWEEN THE RIFLE -t six-oum that took place in hol brook. Arizona, tilER 4, 1887. 'HIS It THE VORT QF Oh ANAZIN3 MAN AMD AM AMAJiNQ INCIKNl M ISwT AfTJIt TnE wAfleEi^EEN THE STATES, THE SHORT Q\JH — THE REVOLVER, TOOK OVgR THE JQ6 QF CLEARINfl i I THg wKSTfRH PLAiM ANO MOUNTAINS. The SIXOwN I OlO in share in defeating the inqiahs. Bulunlme iiiut revolver d*) little to c Weal — in fad tt did mor» \\ wild... On September 4,1887, a strong* stght rode Into Hoibrooh-"the brand-new Sheriff of Apoche County-- omon named Commodore P. Owen' He hod been nomed after Commodore Perry, hero of the naval battle of Loke Erie. In 1887 ony com -country citizen could get too barbershop, and long hair was considered an affectation. To moke matters worse, Owens corned his sixgun on hs left side where he hod to reoch across his own body to draw. 6 IT A LOAO oTTsuCM PURTY "V 7 " SHERIFFS ORDER J CURLY LOCKS') DON'T LIVE COWBOTf /HE SETTER^/ LONG IN THESE h_^y MOT LET THEVPARTS—/MIT / ( APACHES SEE ) TENDERFOOT '""T SCALP^ WILL NEVER SCS rOMOMOW There wasn't juet ore Slevan* In the hous* four of the deadly gunmen wen inside. How Andy's brother John managed fo miss the Sheriff Ot such close range it Incredible, but he did mist, and before hi could squeeze, off a second shot — Even ot he tired Ot his would -be assassins, Owens had caught a glimpse of moving figures through the window.' He lett the poich J the Sheriff. but — V) ' | ij P?r li 5om H 0u »*ort Bltrtn*,*'** »ounQe?< mtmbtr gl *h« clon.lp'Ora, out upon in« porch, but b*f«t r* could pelt And that wot th« ftdtA th#r»tonous Btwantboy*. In /#** than o minute, *«/' deodly «*Pf»»* "'** J." 1 * nun hod bMT vonqu ***d by WW mort wth ""•/** and thot mon hadn't \ ' filSHTFUL PLACE \ the Hi$TO*Y \ ' THE *£sr. %MMn STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP. MANAGE- MENT. CIRCULATION, ETC.. REQUIRED SV THE ACT Of CONGRESS OF AUGUST M. I.ll. At AMENDED BY THE ACTS OF MARCH X fit AND JULY 2. ISM) ftdKor of UM 11 lowing l>. iu ihr . jm in* • MM MhOMMW u uurndM br 1 JuU I, 1**0 i«ii«i »•". p,»-.i la** KtwulAtlonii. printed oo u,* m*(M or tbU form, naniei in-f 4di of rJW pub I rtlluir. and buuunw k« Publinn*r Paniom Fiuvnlw Publl •"0 Kift* ».«j. n>* ran ul N T . ■n>id A Mootr. MM rifln Annua, N«*> N T . U»...<°i KdKar. Nod. Bulnc* l.'lioi B Papa 13 Cvmm*r«1«l Ri ^IvE ■ t Th* 0« n«r is Thf Raitrrn Color Printing Company. 23 CommarMn w po Btix \» in.i" Ui'trbury 10. I'uiui . ttF,fr..»o RfllllbUcaB. IDC , ' 1 lrt.rni.irth St . War at bury 10. C. *" Dupuy. Watarbury 10, Conn. •acurlty holdrra Paragraph, i And ' lorluila. Id tun n» atotSholdar or arrojItF holder apprar a« (male* or KmlMni a. aiatrrapha ahon i.-f nduun itSo ■ nv iKU-Diriiti la Hi' tuo p*/t • HlMii't ri.u Ituix* i*ii« unJ baiLaf ■• to Ibt rdnantAaom nnd aondltloa* under wbipb «.*•«.- iidrt And atcurlty oblden »ho do not appear -*- Of 'tut WmpUT a. iruxaH. bold en ana aacanOc* In n capacity outer than thai HABOIJi A MOORE. Editor I'm to and mbm-r'.beB b*roM nt 'b)i 10 tb day WM»')it, l»St 1(1 1»H) (Continue J f>;m the iniide Front Cover) that he neither smoked ot drink. In that region, this alone would nuke a man look suspicious, but the landlady) teen age daughter also observed that the sleeve of hit coat had been ripped, and very crudely mended with white thread. A man so tort- Mctahly attired would hardly tolerate such a blem- ish And further more what was a man dressed like that doing m to remore a settlement? A stagecoach had been robbed the day before, and a detective scouring the surrounding territory in a search fot Black Bart, stopped ofi at this board- ing house to learn if any strangers had been about. » nbed the blue-eyca, fair haired gentle- man of about 50, and at last the officers of the law bad a description of the many they sought They had the description, but not the man And tbey might never have caught op with the bandit if Black Bart hadn't dropped a handkert hicf He had just finished obtaining another strong- box from a stagecoach driver, when the driver, evi- dently made of Sterner stuff than his predecessors, thai he'd acted in a cowardly manner by giving up the box without an argument. To re- deem himself, he picked up his rifle and started shooting at the flour sack bandit- Black B*r1 left the scene m a hurry. The driver got back his box and hi* wit respect And a detective got the handkerchief Black Bart dropped in his haste to depart. On it was a laun- dry mark The fact that a stagecoach robber should be so dandified that he had his hankies washed by a laundry didn't surprise the detective. Nothing that B.i.lk Bart did could any longer surprise any* body unleu. that it, he did something that wun'l Surprising 7 hat would be a novelty. The only nearby town large enough to boast a laundry that had to use laundry-marks to keep the wash from getting mixed up, was San Francisco. The detective got there as fast as he could There were some 90-odd laundries in that fast- growing metropolis, so it was quite some time be- fore he finally located the laundry which recog- nized the mark, "That handkerchief.' said the laundry owner, "belongs to Mr Charles E Bolton The bandit you're afotf must have stolen it from him Mr. Bolton is a wealthy gentleman ." "He'i wealthy ail right, observed the detective. "But he's no gentleman' ' So, rhe law reached the end of the long trail, and Black Bart was brought to justice At he was escorted into San Quentin prison, he sighed and made a statement which hat become a classic. He said. '"I've always lived an outdoor lilc I m j( raid I'll rind this new one a bit con- fining. Because of his dead-pan manner, no one wat ever quite sure whether he was kidding or tn earnest It was probably both. In prison, he wrote a letter to the last Stage coach driver he bad robbed so unsuccessfully. This worthy had the unusual name of Reason McConnell This letter, perhaps more than anything else, gives us some insight into the peculiar and in a way, de- i haracter of Black Bart. Dtar S,r. You will pleas* pardon mt for tbit long delay in atinoultdging your kind 'tompUments' so baitily sent me sum* tint* b*. i. but yarn may ten fully atturtd, my d*ar sir, that you are remem- btrtd end wttb nothing but lb* mat jf cutty footing*. You writ a man who did bit ubolt duty to bit *mploytr, to yourtttf and to your i imiann>| at large I /We ofttn admired your fine ouaiiltei as a siagecoath driver, and only rtgrtt that I am unable to eompltmtnt you on your marksmambip. You really need mora prattic*, but you'll kindly txtuie mt if I lay 'not at me' I mould tit* to hear from you, boutttr, if tbn it ton- intent with your wishes, and, my dear ur. you bat* my bait wishes for an unmolested, pros- p trout and happy dm* through lift. I am, yams m bast*. -Blank Bart- PS. Yet, I am in bast* — but not in as muib of a hurry as I was on a ttrtam other citation. Black Bait was such a model prisoner that he was released from prison after serving four vrarc an.l two months. He assured the warden that he fully intended to go straight— but. as mentioned before no one could determine whether the man was sen out or joking Having achieved the statu! of a celebnty, news- paper reporters were on hand to record the event of his release One of them asked, Black Bart, have you really changed f" Black Bart reflected a moment than replied solemnly, Why, yes, I have. I am four years older ' Another reported inquired, "Arc you going to write any more poetry ' Another pause for reflection, then, solemnly, "I've already said that I was not going to commit any tnoic Although free, the law officers thought they'd better keep an eye on Black Bart for awhile, just in case. Some days after his release. Black Bart, lugging a heavy valise, checked into a hotel m Visalia, Cali- fornia, He stayed a few days, and then had the valise sent to a detective in San FfUOKn the very tame detective who had caught up to him via the laundry-mark due. Meanwhile, Black Ban dodged the detectives who were keeping tabs on him, and seemingly vanished into than air. As a result of his disappearance, the valise was opened with tenac expectation. It yielded a weird as- sortment of senseless junk - including a dill pickle. Black Bart had been a prankster until the end. And it u-iii the end. Black Bart, bV never heard of again. Where he went, what he did, and what became of him, remains an unsolved mystery to thu day. It may be that he assumed another alias, settled somewhat and lived out the remainder of his life an honest, respectable man. Or it may be that be resumed his career of crime in some other territory. never again making the mistake of having his hand- kerchief* wttsl bJhaiA. Tbuu By MABEL O'SHAY Remember me? I'm your shopping friend, I've really found some things this time that arc cool but coot I'll b« glod to get them for you too — j i»*t uu the coupon an the bottom of the page. • RABBIT — Peter Rabbi* s co ut