San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-11-14
gl1e Daily Eight.
NOVEMBER "A, 1891.
KING SNIPES.


Having resided tor several years
adjacent to q section house, on the 1
& g. n. r. r., it has been my pleas
ure through close observation to be
come thoroughly acquainted with the
habits and peculiarities of king snipes
name somewhat jeeringly given By
higher officers of Gould system to the
COMMON laborers along the railroad
Webster gives the definition small
bird to the word snipe and the section
hand so dubbed we think highly ap
plicsble and humbly suggest the
original giver be presented with al
least an annual free pass.
The railroad Is composed OF divi-
sions and sections, the latter being
managed every eight and ten miles
by five or six men, who, with the aid
OF hand-car daily propel Themselves
up and down the railroad in dllligent
search of broken rails, rotten ties,
etc, meanwhile always keeping an
active lookout for fear Of q collision
from an advancing freight train.
Snipes are of all nationalities
from the venerable gray haired Paddy
on the brink of the grave down to the
Mexican greaser, while lately the
thick Tipped negro is gradually as.
Stunning great railroad RESPONSE oIlity.
The ordinary working attire of the
sTipes during the week usually con-
sists OF a SLOUGH hat, duck trousers
and billed shirt, the latter IN sum-
mer invariably ranging with the
thermometer or worn in the latest
style. q la Father Hubbard. AS they
cheat their washerwoman by washing
their own clothes upon the Sabbath,
their toilet upon that day is aboutthe
same as any other, with the addition
perhaps of short coat called a jump
er, and an immense boy handker.
chief, that always escapes and flies at
full mast from their hip pocket be-
hind, giving to the snipe anything
but tidy or fastidious look. Each
gang has Its boss or foreman, who Is
but another correct illust ration of the
snipe, and from the huge Waterbury
watch he sports, that always
manages to keep time alternately,
moreover, from his choice vocabulary
of oaths and the great authority he
exercises over the rest of the gang,
1t is to be wisely presumed that his
knowledge of railToading is far su-
perior to the average plebian snipe.
These men, although indetatigable
workmen, never hurry through life,
nor have they ever been known TO &C
celebrate their movements while out
on the road, except it be when the
roadnaster to inspect comes down
through a near cut like q wolf on the
fold, when one would think that
holy st. Patrick himself had dropped
from the clouds, 80 active and re-
verential those Irish paddles become.
The roadmaster is treated with great
pomp and reverence by all snipedOm.
Many q poor snipe, when out of the
city limits, can be seen daily breath
lessly rus hing to the nearest grocery,
where he will spend his last nickle
for cigar with which to treat his
railroad excellency. When sober, the
snipe is a quiet, inoffensive kind of q
bird. He has no particular
religion, no love affairs and can boast
ofno enemies save the bed bug, and
the bottle from one of which he may
be considered equally as migratory as
for the other. So uncongenial are
the Snipes relations toward the "bug"
that have been frequently amused
at eventide to see a whole gang of
sleepy exasperated snipes shoulder
tattered comfort apiece and file their
way half mile to sleep all night up.
on an old forsaken spider-haunted
railroad platform. He can easily sub
sist whole month upon hairy hash,
dynamite biscuit and boiled "praties"
until pay day when pocketing his
check for S. he will Immediately
strike out for the nearest saloon, buy
a bottle of celebrated Texas Whiskey
and may or may not return. One bot.
tie is generally supplemented by an
other until his last dollar is spent.
In case ne has no access 10 City
life the snipe after a long debauch
can we'll sober down on such
patent medicines as DR.. Harter's iron
tonic, McLean's Strengthening
cordial etc., etc., and although con-
tanning much greater cathartic than
alchoholic principles, the snipe has
been known to swallow twelve
bottles of Hoster's Bitters in single
day and 90 TO work the next. Bill
Nye himself could but family por-
tray the wild and eccentric gyrations
of drunken section boss. He roams
around at random works at leisure
and lives in mortal horror of being
fired. a drunken boss while in all
his glory has been known to reck-
lessly flag a freight train coming
down a steep grade at the rate of so
miles per hour to the great horror of
the fireman and engineer. Should he
be fred he will Indignantly pack up
his few duds in the Identical red
handkerchief run a long pole through
the center and Immediately take tie
ticket down the railroad to the near
est section house where if the bugs
are not too numerous he will be like