The Gun Store
Legend Recalls
Unsolved Mystery
(Continued from Page One)
day, adding a bit of gloss here
and there and rolling the fact
and fiction together until it fi
nally emerges into a tale typical
of this country.
Barney Chambers came to
Klamath Falls 40 years ago. He
was a native of Flint, Ohio, but
i talk was of the early Texas
fx and the part he played in
I cattle country of that state,
his young manhood in Col
do. Jarney, (his Christian name
..-! James Barney) started in
. business here with a little card,
room on Main. He rented
bicycles and In some way started
buying and lending guns, It was
a fertile field. Everybody want
.; guns. Soon he opened The
un Store and chose as the
mbol the huge wooden gun
hich still Is, today, the sign.
Meeting Place .
It was the pot-bellied stove, as
...ucli as the close, companionable
conversation of long winter days,
that made The Gun Store the
. meeting place for the town.
Loggers jokingly referred to
"coming to town" as "spending
the winter at Barney's." Indians
were made welcome and they
brought hides and skins to Bar
ney for trade. The basement
was a well perfumed cellar with
whiffs of leather and fur seeping
through the floorboards for all
comers to sniff.
We used to go into The Gun
Store for news some 21 years
ago. Barney always knew
everything. We used to see that
detective of the old school, Fred
Morlcy, in there around the
stove. Looking back, the thing
that immediately comes to mind
was that smell of hides, bob
cat, coyote and mink. The In
dians and trappers probably
were not too particular as to the
degree of the finished product,
Barney didn't seem to care,
either. He would ring the cash
register and business was from
hand to hand.
There was a little banking go
ing on too, as we remember, like
the Brick Store of a still earlier
business generation here.
- Murderl
Near that old pot-bellied stove
took place one of the big murders
of the 20's. Johnny Ansel had
worked for Barney for 17 years.
It was a Saturday morning, the
last day of the year, 1927, and
Johnny Ansel was opening the
safe for morning business when
a bullet crashed through his head
and he was dead. I
The bullet that killed Ansel
came from a 38-40 pistol and
Barney told officers that only
three of these guns existed in
Klamath county. One belonged
to John Meek, a logger in the
Odessa country on the west side
of Upper Klamath lake.
The manhunt was on. There
went up a hue and cry for John
Meek. Pictures of the woods
man, standing by a huge log and
with a cross-cut saw in his hand,
were circulated throughout the
nation. There was a reward of
$5000. Neat money even in
these days.
John Meek has not been seen
from that day to this. Rumor
and theory still fly today, even
20 years later.
Still in Business
The Gun Store is still in bus
iness. The window displays
can't support the atmosphere of
the old days. They're neat now.
and rather foxy. The loggers'
shirts have a dash, but there's
something of the old flavor gone.
Maybe it's the absence of
Barney's early collection of relics
of the frontier country, stuffed
birds and animals, rusty muzzle
loaders and knives; the prize
pair or horns from a now ex
tinct longhorn species of cattle
which,' as the story goes, dis
appeared one winter night near
ly a century ago in a Texas
storm.
Maybe It's the absence of that
newly killed odor of marsh rats. !
But the gun hangs high.
BOYS MEET GIRL
SHREVEPORT, La., Feb. 2 (IP)
When a centenary college class
in freshman English met for the
first time, the instructor found
the class consisted chiefly of vet
erans and one girl. The instruc
tor, undaunted, Introduced each
boy in turn to tho girl.
"Now," said one vet to the
teacher, "make tho married ones
stand up, so she'll know which
is which."
Tho teacher obliged.
Slide Cleared
From SP Tracks
MEDFORD, Feb. 2 VP)
Southern Pacific trains again
were rolling between here and
Roscburg today after a slide on
the tracks near Glcndale was
cleared.
Thursday night, train pass
engers transferred to a bus be
tween Grants Pass and Rose
burg. Yei. it's "tailor made" to fit
you when you insure with Hans
Norland. 123 N. 6th.
Winners of Preliminary
Auditions for Klamath
Foils
"Klamath County
Kapers"
1. Charles "Bud" Selby,
vocalist,
1946 Manianita St.
2. Irma Ruth McBride.
vocalist.
407 N. 9th St.
3. Patsy Young, vocalist,
2146 Home St.
4. Elwood and Dick Tracy,
instrumentalists,
2S25 Applagata Ave.
5. Thirsa Eliiabath Glidden,
vocalist,.
450S Denver Ave.
(. Barbara Jean McMahon,
vocalist,
1202 Division St.
7. George E. Willis,
vocalist,
109 Broad St.. No. S.
S. Girls' Trio: Mary Van
denberg, Harriet Lave
nik. Vivian Kierns.
Sacred Heart Acad
emy. 9. Clarence Oppagard,
f iddlt.
2122 N. Oak St.
10. Patty Lou Meyers,
vocalist,
621 N. Uth St.
11. Danelle McDonald and
David Ross, tap rou
tine, Isa Dorah Moldo
von Dance Studios.
12. Susan Gans, recitation.
Sacred Heart Acad
emy. 13. Mrs. Juanita Hornsby,
imitations.
Box 323, Klamath
Falls.
14. Alyce Wells, vocalist,
Lalcethor Drive,
Klamath Falls.
Semi-Finals Start
Thursday, Feb. 21
At Pelican Theatre
Plan Now To Attend And
Boost Your Favoritel
Broadcast Over KFJI
8:00 to 9:30
Each Week
Continuous Daily Open 12:30
I
1 Kndi ToUjrl"
'Our Vlnta llv
Tcitdar Umptt''
th KaiiR"
Starts Sunday!
"T ;
,1IW"f"!111
v N V
SHE hod more . UJJ3DDI
; thgn most wo- I ' ,
rmm glvo in a fj ILLLLLil
T: ;AMH BtTTH ftVi
THRILL! To His Deeds of Daring.'
GaUoffke,
with WILLIAM BOYD ,
LAST HOUNDUP
HAVRE, Mont., Feb. 2 (IP)
Tired of residents' complaints of
horses roaming the streets, po
ll,.. I.A.. !... .........1
up,
Officers roped' 25 head bearing
20 different owners' brands.
Thoy plan to sell tho nnliimls at
auction Monduy unless owners
redeem thorn by paying food bills
and roundup "charges. "
Classified Ada Bring Results.
IMillil'Mllg
Continuous Show Sat. Sun, Box Office Opens 12:30
ENDS TODAY I
IT'S WILD I
SUNDAY and MONDAY
J 'STtvTii on
. W"''";,.',"iri MtWMI . Mm MMKT MM KM
PLUS! Terrific 2nd HitI
V 1 -- 1 . I
A
Bell
fbrAdano
JOHH HODMsf
......I ii iNfAlMV
.. miiiiau ui nil
. i - hi ii i i n m rt -.
Glenn IANOAM
Ichurd CONTI
Saturday Feb. 2, 1848
HERALD AND HEWS Tf it
Not one of tho famous pyra
mids of Kgypl, tombs of plmr-
noli, escaped plundering by'Ui
unuiuni tomu rouDera,
.
.
iwwwwwvwv ENDS TODAYi '
Hereon: "Muggi and "Border Stage 9i30
Rides Again" Bandits" "Shoot the Works"
I LIH l-JJ UIH IUJJLIJ
101 IMTORMA1I0N BIAl 1414 OR W
Starts SUNDAY!
WANTED!
IF ru -Willy MUM i
rtfCtfjJJj DEAD OR ALIVI
IP"
h
MM
mt m
is
, ALAN CURTIS ION CHANEY
KENT TAYLOR NOAH BEERY, Jr.
MARTHA O'DRISCOLL JESS BARKER
THOMAS GOMEZ JOHN LITEL
CONTINUOUS SHOWS
SUNDAY 12:30 P. M.
iflMt mil
ROBINSON BENNETT s JJ
DAN DURYEA iff skr
JBarkcrMargaretUndsaw I ( and director ' of
Rosalind Ivan ? Samuel S. tends ) 'Woman in the.
Produced and Directed by FRITZ LANG W' J "
'Based upon the Novel "La Chienne?' II . Vind0W..ji
reenp!ay by DUDLEY NICHOLS 11
Art Direction by Alexander ColitzeV 11 tm $
A DIANA PRODUCTION! A UNIVERSAL RELEASE. (l(lff
Am oSt on,J
i . " jFmimvjmrrmr m ww
ii -t v- i-j 1 1 1 -
iuiopnone 4567 mmmw .m
Continuous Today
n SUNDAY 12:30
44
Starts Saturday Midnite!
DOORS OPEN 11:30 P. M.
just guys from Broadway
and Main Street"
Sometimes tender.
Often funny...
But always human!
Lester Cowan presents
ftAltm
"STomr op
m0m
ii
Sirring.
BURGESS MEREDITH ERNIE PYLE
tn "Pillow
"House f
I o Deoth"
Draeula mmmmWmmmr
with
Robert Mitchum The Captain
Freddie Steele -Jhe Sergeant
Wally Cassell The Private
f You'll low
the songhit of
this picture
Continuous
Sunday!
Doors Open
12:30!
FOR INFORMATION DIAL 4572 OR 4567
Feature
SUNDAVi
li35
5i33
7:32 l
9:31