Month: October 2017
Poor Carl!
Could it be?
Well George did believe in reincarnation
Carve Your Pumpkin Like A Man!
Oriental Saloon Gunfight in Tombstone, Arizona
A gunfight in front of the Oriental Saloon in Tombstone, Arizona, this event took place between Luke Short and Charlie Storms, both of whom were professional gamblers and known gunfighters on February 25, 1881.
The Oriental Saloon, which opened in the previous summer on the northeast corner of Allen and Fifth Streets was described as “most elegant”, “simply gorgeous”, and the “finest” saloon in town. The bar, carpeting, furnishings, and live piano and violin music were impressive, but despite its upscale nature, the establishment would see its share of violence in the rough and tumble town of Tombstone.
Two compartments made up the Oriental, one was the “saloon” and the other was the “gaming” section. Concerned about maintaining a quality environment and wished to attract high rollers, the saloon gave Wyatt Earp a one-quarter interest in the gambling concession for his services as a manager and enforcer in January, 1881. To assist him Earp invited his friend Bat Masterson to come to Tombstone in February, 1881. Masterson accepted and he helped by running the faro tables.
Luke Short, cowboy, gunfighter, U.S. Army scout, dispatch rider, gambler, boxing promoter and saloon owner arrived in Tombstone in late November, 1880, where he meet up with the likes of Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, and he too, soon held an interest in the gambling concession at the Oriental.
The presence of Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and Luke Short provided the elegant establishment with top security.
On the morning of Friday, February 25, 1881, Short was serving as the lookout, seated next to the dealer at a faro game in the Oriental. At the table was another known gunfighter and gambler — a man named Charlie Storms, who had recently arrived in Tombstone. Storms, who had been drinking all night and was unaware of Short’s shooting skills, began to make a number of rude comments to Short. Just as the two were about to pull out their six-guns, in walked Bat Masterson. Friends with both gamblers, Masterson stopped the fight and talked Storms into returning to his room at the San Jose House.
For a short time, it seemed as if the confrontation had blown over, when suddenly, as Masterson and Short were talking on the boardwalk in front of the Oriental Saloon, Storms reappeared, took hold of Luke’s arm and pulled him off the sidewalk. Then Storms went for his gun, but Short beat him to the draw and shot him through the heart, blowing him backwards and setting his shirt afire. As Charlie was falling to the ground, Luke shot him again. As Storms lay on the ground dead, Luke Short turned to Masterson and said, “You sure as hell pick some of the damnedest people for friends, Bat!” One bystander reported that “the faro games went right on as though nothing had happened.”
Bat Masterson, who was in Tombstone at the time, described what happened in a magazine article he wrote in 1907:
“Charlie Storms and I were very close friends, as much as Short and I were, and for that reason I did not care to see him get into what I knew would be a very serious difficulty. Storms did not know Short and, like the bad man in Leadville, had sized him up as an insignificant-looking fellow, whom he could slap in the face without expecting a return. Both were about to pull their pistols when I jumped between them and grabbed Storms, at the same time requesting Luke not to shoot, a request I knew he would respect if it was possible without endangering his own life too much. I had no trouble in getting Storms out of the house, as he knew me to be his friend. When Storms and I reached the street, I advised him to go to his room and take a sleep, for I then learned for the first time that he had been up all night, and had been quarreling with other persons…
I was just explaining to Luke that Storms was a very decent sort of man when, lo and behold! There he stood before us, without saying a word, at the same time pulling his pistol. Luke stuck the muzzle of his pistol against Storm’s heart and pulled the trigger. The bullet tore the heart asunder and, as he was falling, Luke shot him again. Storms was dead when he hit the ground.”
Short was arrested by Tombstone city Marshal Ben Sippy for killing Storms. During the preliminary hearing, Masterson testified that Short acted in self defense and Short was released. The Arizona Weekly reported that Storms was around 60 years old and that he was survived by a widow in San Francisco.
Shortly afterwards, Luke Short left Tombstone, and was soon headed toward Dodge City, Kansas, where he would buy an interest in the Long Branch Saloon.
In June, 1881, the original Oriental Saloon burned to the ground in a devastating fire that destroyed much of Tombstone’s business district. But, the Oriental was quickly rebuilt and continues to stand today, listed in the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966
By Kathy Weiser-Alexander, August, 2017.
Sources:
Keeping the Peace
Tombstone Times
Wikipedia – Luke Short
Wikipedia – Charlie Storms
Also See:
Tombstone – The Town Too Tough To Die
Luke Short
Charlie Storms
It makes Sense to me!
Australia's Gun Buy Back Program
This could happen here! Grumpy
Australia’s New Buyback Program Yields 51,000 Guns Destined for Destruction
Australia’s summer-long National Firearms Amnesty has ended, resulting in 51,000 firearms confiscated and destined for destruction. The amnesty ran from July 1 to the end of September as the second nationwide amnesty since 1996. Australians face fines up to $280,000 and 14 years in jail if discovered in possession of an unregistered firearm.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Reuters that the amnesty would prevent future mass-casualty events like the one seen recently in Las Vegas.
“Every single one of those 51,000 guns could be used, could have been used in a crime where Australians could be killed – now they can‘t,” Turnbull said. He added that the stockpile of weapons owned by the Las Vegas shooter would be impossible to acquire in Australia.
The amnesty’s final tally of surrendered firearms included some antiques, including a World War I-era Luger, Smith & Wesson 455 from World War II, and a mid-19th century Beaumont Adams revolver. Other items included a grenade from World War II and homemade sub-machine gun.
Media publications have hailed the Australia’s gun control efforts as a victory for public safety, with Washington Postcolumnist Eugene Robinson arguing recently on NBC that the United States should consider implementing similar policies.
SEE ALSO: Gun Buybacks Are Waste of Time, No Evidence They Reduce Crime
Australian gun laws, which vary from state to state, place heavy restrictions on handgun ownership. Firearms can only be purchased by individuals with a license who prove that they are active hunters, active members of a local shooting club, competitive shooters, farmers, or collectors. Firearm safety courses are mandatory, and police are required to periodically inspect the homes of gun-owners to ensure that guns are properly stored.
But critics have long argued that buyback programs are ineffective, buying up a fractional number of firearms in circulation and that Australia’s strict regulations have merely bolstered a completely unregulated black market.
The Australian Institute of Criminology estimates that there are 3 million legally-registered firearms in the country.
New South Wales MP David Shoebridge recently questioned the amnesty effort, observing that his state is “on track to have a record 1 million registered firearms by 2020.”
Since enacting restrictive gun laws, Australia has fought against illegal gun-smuggling, including schemes that ship unregistered firearms into Australia via the mail. It is unknown how exactly how many guns have been brought into Australia illegally, but an investigative series by Australia’s NewDaily in 2015 uncovered police data indicating that New South Wales firearms charges rose by 83 percent from 2014 to 2015, compared to 2005 and 2006. Similar numbers were also evident in Victoria.
SEE ALSO: Big Lie Busted: Australia’s Gun Violence is Real and Rising…
Buyback programs are not isolated to Australia. They have been enacted in the United States on a local level. Seattle, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Fort Worth, and Dallas are among the cities that have all launched gun buyback efforts this year. Studies have shown that, as voluntarily removals, gun buybacks do not generally yield guns types that are commonly used in homicide or suicide.
Research by the Police Executive Research Forum (1996) showed “that those who are either using guns to carry out crimes or as protection in the course of engaging in other illegal activities, such as drug selling, have actively acquired their guns and are unlikely to want to participate in such programs.” Guns surrendered during buybacks are usually old and malfunctioned.
The Story behind Oktoberfest
The History of Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest – In September?
Oktoberfest traditionally starts in the third weekend in September and ends the first sunday of October.
What is Oktoberfest?
It began with the Royal Wedding on 12 October 1810.
Crown Prince Ludwig, later to become King Ludwig I, was married to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen on 12 October 1810. The citizens of Munich were invited to attend the festivities held on the fields in front of the city gates to celebrate the happy royal event. The fields were renamed Theresienwiese (“Theres’a Fields”) to honor the Crown Princess, although the locals have since abbreviated the name simply to “Wiesn”. Horse races in the presence of the royal family marked the close of the event that was celebrated as a festival for the whole of Bavaria. The decision to repeat the horse races in subsequest years gave rise to the tradition of Oktoberfest.
The Oktoberfest continues in 1811
In 1811, an added feature to the horse races was the first Agricultural Show, designed to boost Bavarian agriculture. The horse races, which were the oldest – and at one time – the most popular event of the festival are no longer held today. But the Agricultural Show is still held every three years during the Oktoberfest on the southern part of the festival grounds.
More and more things to see and do
In the first few decades, the choices of amusements were sparse. In 1818, the first carousel and two swings were set up. Vistitors were able to quench their thirst at small beer stands, which grew rapidly in number. In 1896 the beer stands were replaced by the first beer tents and halls set up by the enterprising landlords with the backing of the breweries. The remainder of the festival site was taken up by a fun-fair. The range of carousels offered was already increasing rapidly in the 1870’s as the fairground trade continued to grow and develope in Germany.
184TH Oktoberfest in 2017
(16 September – 3 October 2017)
Today, the Oktoberfest in Munich is the largest festival in the world, with an international flavor characteristic of the 20th century.
At the foot of the Bavaria Statue, adjacent to the Huge Oktoberfest grounds there are also carousels, roller coasters and all the spectacular fun for the enjoyment and excitement of visitors of all ages.
The festivities are accompanied by a program of events, including the Grand Entry of the Oktoberfest Landlords and Breweries, the Costume and Riflemen’s Procession, and a concert involving all the brass bands represented at the “Wiesn”.
The Oktoberfest celebrated its 200th Anniversery in 2010, only Wars and cholera epidemics have briefely interrupted the yearly beer celebration.