San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-08-04
Ths Daily Eight.
MONDAY, AUGUST 4, 1890.
ON THE WING NO. 3.
For the Daily LIGHT.

When one would leave Rio Grande
City to cross over to Camargo, he must
first secure pass not to enable him
to leave, but to return. So wecalled on
DIR. Kennedy, the state quarantine
officer. We heard LOUD and bitter
complaints from travellers and parties
from Mexico about this quaran tine,
as uncalled for and useless beneficial
only to few officials there to draw
their pay to enforce q regulation not
needed, there being no small pOx in
Mexico at that point. We had no
means of enquiring into the facts,
though we could not help hearing the
quarantine denounced, as fraud,
vet we must say that we found DR..
Kennedy and his river guards at the
ferry polite and obliging.
Armed with a pass we cross the
cured four mule team to take us
terminus of the Matamoras branch of
the Mexican Nacional railroad, by 10
a. m. Mexicans know some things
and know them well, but some things
they do not know and never will;
and one of these is how to drive
mule or horse team. AS We are leav-
ing the river for CamargO, five miles
away, q Mexican customs officer calls
for our passes and 1 showed him my
pass from DIR. Kennedy and he looked
wise and said "sta buen," and l said
"gracias," and our jehus rushed their
mules off at gallOp. We were in
Camargo in half all hour with our
mules exhausted. There we advance
dollar to buy feed for the mules, but
the mules got no iced. After few
turns in that antiquated, historic
city, Taylor's base of supplies
for his move on Monterey in 1916,
we strike out on:a run again; but the
run does not last long, though they
use the whip vigorously and sling
stones and vile Mexican cuss-words
at the poor mules. All would have
been well could they have appreciated
the Quaker's advice; "thee will get
there, if thee don't drive tco fast"
But they drove too fast and we didn't
get there tor the train that day,
the 22nd, so had SO remain in a dirt
floor jacal, eat frijoles and tortillas
until 10 a. m. the oath.
Well, the old adage says "the dead
dog has white teeth" The only
white teeth we could see were the
beautiful lands we had passed over
in coming from Camargo, rich, black
and alluvial, very easily irrigated.
On onr return we had the pleasure
of having Col. Seguin, son of
Col. John n. Seguin, well known
in Texas history, as a fellow passen-
ger in the Texas stage from Rio
Grande City to Pena, who had maps
and plans for irrigating those very
lands. Could he have been with us
those two long and weary days at
San Miguel, they would not have been
30 long. He and his father were
both natives of San Antonio, and he
had much to tell us of his school days
there and in Missouri. When / told
him was q native of Illinois, then
said he, "You owe me a hat" He
explained by saying: "Once was in
st. Louis when boy, and seeing
something running up and down the
levee on the Illinois shore unlike any
thing L had ever seen, / concluded
to 60 over and see, first feeling in my
pocket for money to pay ferryage;
over there, walked up to it with
open-eyed wonder, when the engineer
let the steam escape; perhaps to alarm
me. 1 was awfully frightened, and
ran for the ferry, leaving my hat in
my haste, and did not stop to get it,
though many shouted to me to 60
back and get it. I did not recover
my fright until back in st. Louis hat
less"
There was no hat store near us,
or on the way, or he should have had
his hat, though thirty-six years had
passed since then.
Another amusing incident he re-
lated was as he was on his way to
Orleans, under the care of Mrs. FIRE.
mont, on one of those famous ante.
bellum Mississippi river steamers.
He was small boy and could speak
no English and she could speak only
English and French. The ia
bles were long and we'll loaded
and the bills of fare elaborate
"When seated at the table," said he,
II put my finger on the frat item OF
said bill by way of saying what I
wanted to eat. 1t proved to be one of
the soups, something that did not
like, but got rid of it as best as 1
could, and put my finger on the next
item. 1t proved to be another kind OF
soup. 1 ate that also, but fearing that
the third item might be soup also, 1
then began at the bottom of the bill
of fare, and 1 put my finger on the
last item. 1t turned out to be tea.
something 1 had never used and did
not like, but heroically drank 1t,