The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940 Page: 144
576 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern tIistorical Quarterly
Indecision had no part in the movements of the man. He
was short in stature, but strongly built, with very light, closely
trimmed hair, smooth, determined face, and aggressive, gold-
rimmed nose glasses. He was well dressed in the prevailing
Eastern style. His air denoted a quiet but conscious reserve
force, if not actual authority. . . . Into the First National
Bank . . . the newcomer walked, never slowing his brisk
step until he stood at the cashier's window. . . .
The national bank examiner was named J. F. C. Nettlewick,
according to O. Henry, in 190.1 when Ainslee's Magazine pub-
lished "Friends in San Rosario."
This man, whom the ex-cowpuncher bank president described
as "one of Uncle Sam's greyhounds," reappeared in 1903, when
Everybody's Magazine published O. Henry's story, "A Call Loan."
This time the bank examiner was
. . . a dyspeptic man, wearing double-magnifying
glasses" who "inserted an official-looking card between the
bars of the cashier's window of the First National Bank. Five
minutes later the bank force was dancing at the beck and call
of a national bank examiner.
This examiner [0. Henry says], Mr. J. Edgar Todd, proved
to be a thorough one.
But we shall hear more of the bank matter, for it is a tragic
scene in the last act of the drama of Will Porter's life in Austin
during the closing years of the last century. A prologue is not
inappropriate at this point to give a thumb-nail picture of Porter's
years in Austin.
In 1884, when Will Porter arrived in Austin, the Capital had a
population of ten or twelve thousand.
Porter made his home for the first three years in Austin with
the Harrells at 1008 Lavaca Street. In May of 1884 he went to
work for Morley Brothers Drug Company on East Sixth Street,
where he remained for several months. His next job was helping
in the Harrell Cigar Store to wait on the trade. In the fall of
1884 Porter became bookkeeper for Maddox Brothers & Anderson,
a firm of real estate dealers.
In January of 1887 Porter went to work as a draftsman in the
General Land Office, where he remained for four years, resigning
January 21, 1891. Meanwhile he was married-in July, 1887-
to Athol Estes.144
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 43, July 1939 - April, 1940, periodical, 1940; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101111/m1/158/?rotate=270: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.