Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-06-27
From the ST. Louis Republican.
TWO WASTED LIVES.

Perhaps many of those who crossed the
GuH of Mexico in 1865 and 1866 will
remember the Hotel Confederate" in
the city Of Cordova. It was managed by
shrewd little fellow from Northwest
ern Texas, and this rare specimen
operated the caravansary in a way that
puzzled natives and sojourners.
Some time in the spring Of 1866 John
Mckay, al engineer from the Cumbres
was carried up the steps and into the
office of the landlord, Mckay was an
invalid. He had exposed himself while
in the employ Of the Imperial Railway
Company and was rapidly passing into a
hopeless decline. He had been notably
reckless and disposed to live fast. Of all
the staff Of English and American
engineers he was the most expert and the
ablest.
Vast sums Of money were squandered
IN connection with this railway enter
prise. The employees flung away all their
earnings st play. They would toll all
day in the gorges and on the hillside,
and then devote the night to monte and
faro. Mckay was a desperate player,
and at times he would drink with the
recklessness Of the most abandoned
drunkard.
Seemingly he tookno account of time or
Of health. His plans, his past history,
and his grief were communicated to no
one He had no confdant in the land
of the cactus and brigand. Among the
army Of railroad men at that time en-
gagged at the Maltrata centre, his face
was the saddest of ALL Many time he
would saddle his mustang and gallop
toward the snow-covered Orizaba peak.
People who saw him while on these rides
say that his face was gloomy and that he
rode recklesslv. One he was seen walk
ing away from his cabin towards the
hills; and then for hours he faced the
plateau with the sleet and rain beating
upon his head. He quarrelled with no
one; but while at play in cafe he was
insulted, when pistol encounter fol-
lowed, ending in the wounding of Mckay
and the death of his assailant. The
same evening a poor woman approached
him, asking for charity, when he emptied
his pockets into her hand. Mckay was,
at this time, drifting rapidly into the
widest dissipation. He courted monte
and drank the fiery rum of the country,
besides frequently facing the poisonous
night winds, until fearful cough be-
gan 20 rack him. When the French
troops abandoned the distant metropolis
and prepared to march towards the Gulf,
q panic seized the projectors of the road,
and the numerous bands Of men on the
Cumbres and along the line of the rail
way scattered hither and thither.
Mckay, too, worn out and sick babe
adleu TO the hills and cliffs forever, and
sirfted down to the lowlands. He was
sick and without money. Bitterly did
he then repent of his folly.
Without some means of subsistence a
stranger must fall bp the way, for with
all the tropical fullness and wonderful
powers of production of the soil, to one
without money the land seems a vast
desert. A Mexican can look upon
Starving man without one jot of SYM
patty. He never dreams of charity.
No wonder the young engineer of the
Cumbres looked gloomy as he made
survey Of the future. [ saw him as he
sat on the balcony of the hotel the day
Of his arrival
Indeed, he was then compelled to &C
cept help from his old comrades who
were passing out of the empire And
Mckay was a changed man. From this
time on he touched no liquor, and when
once solicited to play, refused. But he
would sit for hours together on a bal
cony, his face turned eastward, with a
look Of woe.
He listened to the Doctors plan of
moving him to the coast, and believed
life mi ght be prolonged in the warm air
Of the lowlands. But the lower country
was swarming with guerrillas; so time
wore on, Mckay remaining in the Span
Isl -Iexican city of Cordova, surely and
swiftly drifting towards dissolution.
And when spring rains had ceased in
the valley, and coffee-trees had grown
red with ripening fruit, the host grew
uneasy about his rich guests poverty
and probable disease. Mckay would &C
eept charity from no one. He was
proud as large landed baron. He
owed no man. Even losses at faro were
iiquidated to a last farthing. He looked
Hpon the advances of his friends as so
many loans to be cancelled upon an ar
rival OF a remittance from Boston. He
was growing restless about the delay.
Each mail was fresh hope and at the
same time bitter disappointment. But
hope died at last; and from that day on
no smile ever stole into the face of the