The Snyder Signal. (Snyder, Tex.), Vol. THIRTY-THIRD YEAR, No. FIFTY-TWO, Ed. 1 Friday, June 11, 1920 Page: 8 of 16
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Law and Order in Texas
By
O. Henry
(Continued from Page Two)
"It was at the door of the freight depot'
says I. 'But the law will not be balked at a
quibble like that.'
"We put up at a big hotel on Broad-
way. The next morning I goes down about
two miles of stairsteps to the bottom and
hunts for Luke. It ain't no use. It looks like
San Jacinto day in San Antone. There's a
thousand folks milling around in a kind of a
roofed-over plaza with marble pavements and
trees growing right out of 'em and 1 see no
more chance of finding Luke than if we was
hunting each other in the big pear Hat down
below Old Fort Ewell. lint soon Luke and me
runs together in one of the turns of them mar-
ble alleys.
" 'It ain't no use Bud' says he. 'I can't find
no place to eat at. I've been looking for res-
taurant signs and smelling for ham all over
the camp. But I'm used to going hungry when
I have to. Now' says he 'I'm going out and
get a hack and ride down to the address on
this Scudder card. You stay here and try to
hustle some grub. But 1 doubt if you'll find it.
I wish we'd brought alone some cornmeal and
bacon and beans. I'll be back when I see this
Scudder if the trail ain't wiped out.'
"So I starts foraging for breakfast. For the
honor of old Frio county I didn't want to seem
green to them abolitionists so every time 1
turned a corner in them marble halls I went up
to the first desk or counter I see and looks
around for grub. If I didn't see what I wanted
I asked for something else. In about half an
hour I had a dozen cigars live story magazines
and seven or eight railroad timetables in my
pockets and never a smell of colfee or bacon to
point out the trail.
"Once a lady sitting at a table and playing
a game kind of like pushpin told me to go into
a closet that she called Number 3. I went in
and shut the door and the blamed thing lit
itself up. I set down on a stool before a shelf
and waited. Thinks I 'This is a private dining
room.' But no waiter never came. When I
got to sweating good and hard I goes out
again.
" 'Did you get what vou wanted' says she.
" 'No ma'am.' says I. 'Not a bite.'
" 'Then there's no charge' says she.
" 'Thanky ma'am' says I and I takes up
the trail again.
"By and by I thinks I'll shed etiquette; and
I picks up one them boys with blue clothes and
yellow buttons in front and he leads me to
what he calls the cafl'ay breakfast room. And
the first thing I lays my eyes on when 1 go in
is that boy that hail shot Pedro Johnson. He
was sitting all alone at a little table hitting a
egg with a spoon like he was afraid he'd
break it.
"I takes the chair across the table from him ;
and he looks insulted and makes a move like
he was going to get up.
" 'Keep still son' says I. 'You're appre-
hended arrested and in charge of the Texas
authorities. Go on and hammer that egg some
more if it's the inside of it you want. Now
what did vou shoot Mr. Johnson of Pearsall
for!"
" 'And may I ask who you are?' says he.
" 'You may' says I. 'Go ahead.'
" 'I suppose you're on' says this kid without
batting his eyes. 'But what are you eating?
Here waiter!' he calls out raising his finger.
'Take this gentleman's order.'
" 'A beefsteak' says I 'and some fried eggs
and a can of peaches and a quart of coffee will
about suffice.'
"We 'talk awhile about the sundries of life
and then he says:
" 'What are you going to do about that shoot-
ing? I had to shoot that man' says he. 'He
called me names that I couldn't overlook and
then he struck me. He carried a gun too.
What else could I do?'
"'We'll have to take you back to Texas'
says I.
" 'I'd like to go back' says the boy with
a kind of a grin 'if it wasn't on an occasion
of this kind. It's the life I like. I've always
wanted to ride and shoot and live in the open
ever since I can remember.'
" 'Who was this gang of stout parties you
took this trip with'." I asks.
" 'My step father' says he 'and some busi-
ness partners of his in some Mexican mining
and land schemes.'
" 'I saw you shoot Tedro Johnson' says I
'and I took that little popgun away from you
that you did it with. And when I did so I
noticed three or four little scars in a row over
your right eyebrow. You've been in rookus be-
fore haven't you?'
" 'I've had these scars ever since I can re-
member' says he. 'I don't know how they
camo there.'
" 'Was you ever in Texas before?' says I.
'"Not that I remember of says he. 'But
1 thought 1 had when we struck the prairie
country. But I guess I hadn't.
"'Have you got a mother?' I ask.-.
" 'She died five years ago' says he.
"Skipping over the most of what followed
when Luke came back 1 turned the kid over
to him. He had seen Scudder and told him
what he wanted; ana u sciuu .--
got active with one of these telephones as sooii
as he left. For in about an hour afterward
there comes to our hotel some of these city
rangers in everyday clothes that they call de-
tectives and marches the whole outfit of us to
what they call a magistrate's court. They ac-
cuse Luke of attempted kidnaping and ask him
what he has to say.
" 'This snipe' says Luke to the judge 'shot
and willfully punctured with malice and fore-
thought one of the most respected and promi-
nent citizens of the town of Pearsall Texas
your honor. And in so doing laid himself lia-
ble to the penitence of law and order. And
I hereby make claim and demand restitution of
the State of New York City for the said al-
leged criminal; and I know he done it.'
" 'Have you the usual and necessary requi-
sition papers from the governor of your
state?' asks the judge.
" 'My usual papers' says Luke 'was taken
away from me at the hotel by these gentlemen
who represent law and order in your city. They
was two Colt's .15's that I've packed for nine
years; and if I don't get 'em back there'll be
more trouble. You can ask anybody in Frio
tounty about Luke Summers. 1 don't usually
need any other kind of papers for what 1 do.'
"I see the judge looks mad so I steps up and
says :
"'Your honor the aforesaid defendant Mr.
Luke Summers sheritf of Frio county Texas is
as line a man as ever drew a rope or upheld
the statutes and codicils of the greatest state in
the I'liion. But he '
"The judge hits his table with a wooden
hammer and asks who I am.
" 'Bud Oakley' says I 'office deputy to the
sheriffs office of Frio county. Texas. Kepre-
senting' says I 'the Law. Luke Summers'
I goes on 'represents Order. And if your honor
will give me about ten minutes in private talk
I'll explain the whole thing to you and show
you the equitable and legal requisition papers
which I carry in my pocket.'
"The judge kind of half smiles and says .
will talk with me in hi.? private room. n W'y
I put the whole thing up to him in sucl h . f
guage as I had and when he goes outs.de p
a ounces the verdict that the young man 1
dTeml into the hands of the Texas authoit
ties; and calls the next case.
"Skipping over much of what happened (
the way back. Til tell you how the th.ng wou: t
up in Pearsall.
"When we got the prisoner in the slieril (
office I says to Luk":
'"You remember that kid of yours that t
iv lroin you wh c
p
the bu.'t-up came'.'
"Luke looks black and angry. He'd nov
let anybody talk to hir.i about that busme.
and he never mentioned it himsell. . g
" 'Too the mark.' i I. 'I yu n-memb fi
when he was toddling around on the porch a.
fell down on a pair of Mexican spurs and c
four little holes over his right eye? Look '
the prisoner?' says I. 'look at his no ;e and t
shape of his head and --why you old fool. iloi j
you know your own son? I knew him.' sa i
I 'when he perforated Mr. Johnson at the i
pot.' J.
"Luke comes over to me shaking dl over.
never saw him lose his nerve before. j
"'Bud.' says he 'I've never had that boy c-j
of mv mind one day or one night since lie wi
took'awnv. But I never let on. But can j i
hold him? Can we make him stay? I'll ma
the best man of him that ever put his foot j
a stirrup. Wait a minute' says he all excit-
and out of his mind -'I've got .something he
in mv desk 1 reckon it II hoi.i legal yci i
looked :it it a thousand times. "Cus-to-dy
the child." We can hold him on that caj
we? Le'me see if 1 can find that decree.
"Luke begins t' tear his de.k to pieces.
" 'Hold on' says I. 'You an- Order and 1
Law. You n-vdn't look for that paper Lu
It ain't a decree any more. It's requisition
pcrs. It'.'' on file in that magistrate's of!
in New York. I took it a!ot:g when we we
becau.e I was of ;'!.. deputy and knew the la
" 'I've got him back' says Luke. 'He's m
again. I never thought--'
" 'Wait a minute' .says I. 'We've got to h.
law and order. You and me have got a p
sei-vc m both in Fiio cour.ty according to
oath and consci-T.i e. The k:d shot IVdro Jul
son. one of Pe.ua!i's m.o.-t prominent and-
" 'Oh. h'li:' says Luke. 'That don't arrvv.
to anything. That fe!'...w wa luilf Moxi
anyhow.' "
Early Times in Texas
(Continued from Page Three)
riz up and made it as light e'en a'most as day
and 1 thought every minit I would see the var-
mints come out and go to work but fur more'n
an hour I didn't see nor hear a thing and I
begun to think that maybe so it was beaver
Sunday and that they wouldn't work that night
at all but still I kep quiet and never budged
except now and again to poke my nose above
the top of the pit to see if anything was goin'
on. I had jess made up my mind that there
wan't any use in stayin longer when I seed
an ole beaver come out'n his house on to the
top of it and look all aroun'. The cunnin'
varmint suspicionod something was wrong fur
he snuffed the wind and looked mity hard to-
wards the place where I was hived. But at
last he 'peared to think that all was right and
liftin' his flat tail ho brung it down on the ruff
of his house with a loud smack. The next minit
the beavers begun to scoot out'n their houses
and dividin' up into squads some begun to cut
down saplin's with their teeth whilst other
squads hauled and rolled them into the water
and some drug mud and grass on their flat tails
to a place where others were mixin' mortar.
All the time this work was goin' on the ole chap
that had come out fust and flapped his tail on
the ruff of his house was flyin' round from one
squad to another orderin' this thing to be did
that way and that thing to be did this way
jess as if he had been the boss of the whole
layout and I s'pose he was. It was raily di-
vartin' to see the way they carried on everyone
workin' like a beaver at his own pertickler
business. Binieby I hearn a great racket and
to-do at one eoiu'l of the pond and peekin'
roun' that way out'n my hole I seed
ten of the beavers with the ole boss directin'
'em workin' at a big saplin' they had cut down.
They had got it to the edge of the water but
there somehow it had stuck fast betwixt two
rocks and they couldn't move it one way or the
other. The ole boss was in a tearin' rage
runnin' fust to one eend of the log and then
to the other and cussin' the whole crowd (1
know he was in reason though I couldn't hear
him) fur a lazy good fur nothin' set of vaga-
bonds but y it the log never budged an inch.
By this time I'd got considerable interested in
the job myself and seein' how easy it would be
fur me ef I had born there to have histed the
log into the water I sung out as loud as I
could afore I knowed what I was doin':
" 'Git a prize under the butt eend ole hoss
and she'll come certain.'
"But the minit I said that bang! went the
ole boss' tail on the yearth and quick as a wink
every beaver let go all holts and tumbled into
the water and in a minit everything was as
quiet roun' the dam as if there wan't a beaver
in five mies of it. The last thing I seed
was the ole boss jess flappin' under the water
arter the rest of 'em had all scooted. It was
so funny the way the varmints acted I laughed
till I shuk the dirt from the sides of the pit.
Then I crawled out and put off fur camp and'
that was the fust and last time I ever seed
the beavers at their work."
more than half a century Shartel has gained
a reputation which he does not deny fur hav-
ing saved money enough to make him inde-
pendent for the rest of his life. However Shar-
tel continues to shine shoes .
At the age of 11 Al Shartel first made his
appearance on the streets of Dayton as a boot-
black. In those days according to Shartel
all bootblacks carried their shining Ixixes under
their arms and hunted up their customers.
Though this custom has changed "Ole Al"
has never forsaken his box to establish a busi-
ness in any one location. From an early hour in
the morning until late at night often midnight
the now aged bootblack travels the streets
FIND THE GOOD
I-'iml the pond that lies lielnw!
Never niind the fault that mars
Or the blemishes and years;
I .ft the potty failures go.
.Sro the kindly drorls men do
Overlook the. trivial flaws!
In the battlo for a cause
l!c you strong hut prnrrous too.
Men's opinions may ho wronp
Put their motives oft am good
If wr only understood.
Much is hidden from the throng.
Ilonest virtue will not hoast.
What is best is hidden dorp.
Kindly hp.-i their secrets keep.
Of it.-elf sin makes the most.
Still in every living brea.t
(Ilow.s th" spark of something fine;
Like the jewels in a mine
We must search for what is best.
Find the good that lies below!
There are few vde and base
Hut bring smiles to pome one'p gace;
Some will inis.s them when they go.
Thourh th scars of sinning show
And shame walk:! on open ways
Hidden deep Is much to praise
In the good that lies below.
"Why you must have surprised them when
you sung out" said Mr. Pitt "as much as Tarn
()' Shanter did the witches when he roared
out. 'Weel done cuttv sark:'"
"Maybe so" said Uncle Seth "though I never
hearn tell of Mr. Shanter and I've knowed one
time or another purty much all the ole settlers
in this country but come boys" he said "it's
time we were moving and we'd better saddle up
our nags.
(Copyrighted.-
-To be continued.)
SIIINFI) PRESIDENTS' SHOES
The champion bootblack of the world Is
claimed by Dayton Ohio. For ol years Al
Shartel has shined shoes in Dayton at the rate
of more than 10000 pairs yearly During this
hunting his customers or searching for others
whose shoes need "slicking up."
At least three Presidents of the United States
have had their boots blackened by Shartel.
President Hayes was the first then Grover
Cleveland and later William McKinley.
Al has shined shoes so long in Dayton that
the older residents of the city never think of
having this work done by anyone else. If their
shoes need shining they wait for Al to make
his appearance which they know will be within
a few hours as he manages to visit most offices
daily.
In some families Al has shined the shoes of
four generations and in a few instances five.
THi: SWEPT TOOTH AT HIGH SPEED.
Americans are eating 100 pounds of su.
!i luroii "i -:ivv 1 .' ii-li :Vi S t ii Il:i?U N
billion pounds were imported during the 1;;
year just to help out our own crop of beet a
.1 .-ii....... ...i.l it i . ....... jsn 11 . nil rfnnA fcl
l .1111- .W.ll .Wl'l II l 'I.Ul.lttllJ twt IsVJtv.-' i
many nations the consumption of sugar In
low "t pounds a person and the average
civilized countries is alut "." pounds. Arne
ica is indeed a su n t-toothed nation - but it
paying for it.
AIUEST Of ALL I)V AKF TREES.
After growing for ten ears. the Japan'
cypress one of the smallest specimens of t
horticultural world reaches the size of a c
ball. As if exhausted with this trcmcnd'
effort tin next ten years see it increase mi.
a fraction when it practically .-tops grow if-
altogether. ANTIQUE BLOWING MACHINE. -
f I... M. ..i..... ;.. t ....... ;
iiie j'iru .in 'U' i ine ;.i;iir uie j . K ' l i
used . o h) years ago. It consists of a crook
stick with an iron point nailed to it or tied to
it with a piece of rawhide a small handle f
the plowman to steer with and a pole to hit'
a yoke of oven to. This so-called plow w
scratch a furrow in the soil three inches dee
The dairy nossil.jlit'es of Texas is !mi
strated by what the Nisslcy Clean. fry Cn
pany at Ama. ;!!' has acc.tinpl;heil during tf
past twelve months. The Ci eniei y." huilt a'v
cost of f-.).(0'i twi years ago has so increas
to !ou!!c the creamery s capaeitw. I
A professor of Cornel! University is now a
voeatipg the cat -tail as a food. The India
mad" from the cat-tail a sort of flour which t
white man never attempted. The flour w'
made from the root stalks of the plant.
can bp used as a part substitute for wheat flo
and as a complete substitute for cornstarch
puddings.
Naturalists tell us that grashoppers have
their ears on their front legs. '
The demonstration farm operated by 1
First National Pank of Winnshoio. to stin
late intensive cultivation and soil improveim
for Fast Texas has announced that it w
distribute SL'.'.o.ou in eash niizcs this fall f
better staple in cotton and better com.
A recent bulletin of the P.ureau of Standar
indicates that in treatment of wood after en
tion can be expected to be an effective fi
resistant.
THE CLANCY KIDS o Plcasi.ro of Giving..
KAN ONLY 61 VC
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The Snyder Signal. (Snyder, Tex.), Vol. THIRTY-THIRD YEAR, No. FIFTY-TWO, Ed. 1 Friday, June 11, 1920, newspaper, June 11, 1920; Snyder, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth288390/m1/8/?q=waco+tornado: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .