Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-10-02


bed n she Earliest end OF the long
room. phai be went OIL and reap
peared WiJ Blankets a small boy,
hatch. hfd rails. He climbed ON
chairt rduailol the two opposite cor
ners u pAf 30 blankets 90 the oppo-
site sdr Yi tle room, stretching the
blanEcr4 glth ii HIS might 10 make
them i1sch Then no got down and
nailel iho lower corners to the door,
hauliu1 u both directions, TO make II
rcncl HliA down and across. BY this
time ho chrnn slealy blanket was all
corn only ubout two feot wide In
the middle and, regarded as a screen
or BARRIER was about as nimsy and vain
n prs Isn as & modern social conven-
tiora U.s. u- though he had written IA
air Iieru Inc WALL ln the next
layur uutsido the blanket Was 'lacod
an r.ouriy woman, young won n and
stnE vigorous baby. thcn uintl,er
blai Methodist preacher, a blan'
koi Heii aud "A horse thief and 50
on
Tue night was lurid one. The baby
was dissatisfied with the arrangement
OF things and protested loudly At fire.
quent intervals; the young woman gig
glod and the older ono recrimiuated.
The Methodist preacher snored TIL
everyone was terrified lost he should
strangle: then he had the nightmare
and yelled, whereat oil the overstNincd
nerves in the place gave way and the
whole outfit yelled In concert. The
horse thief who was being taken back
to the scene OF his former Irregular ac-
tivities, whore he was morally certain
an enthusiastic community awaited his
with aud II ahAAfsHaa
made break for liberty somewhere IN
the small hours, and there was am
other general all-around big time
before he could be got back
Thon Dune and his partner, who
hadn't been able TO sleep much, and felt
| a bitter need Of some gentle stilnulant,
| tried TO make y sneak for u drink, but
| were detected by the two women, who
| shrieked frightfully, and peace and
| quiet and some sort OF understanding
! were not established till about daylight,
! when everybody crawled out OF bed,
| dressed, glared suspiciously AZ every
] body else. the men wont and got
| Aundry and various drinks, the women
crept fcarfully TO the dining room, and
later all went their respective ways,
convinced that they had narrowly es-
capped with their lives.
Later there was the hotel at Pan
handle City, with the cheesecloth pui-
titions tackled upon the studding,
which gave such pleasing and divert
ing silhouettes Of 1.-THE fat ola man and
the stubborn collar button,' and whore
about the only way to undross in scclu-
sion was TO crawl under the bed and do
il there.
The first hotel in Tascosa long be-
fore the days of Quanah and Panhandle
City was
1.-THE WAGON TIRE HOUSE,
owing its name 10 tho proprietor.
custom OF hammering on an old wager
tire 10 intimate to hungry souls thai
hash was ready. Later IL moved he
quarters across the street and becam,
the Cattle Exchange The tx
change, like all the buildings in Tas
cosa, was adobe with dirt floors unt
roof. IL was long, single string o
rooms in the shape of an l., and having
no inside connecting doors, 80 that yOl
had to go out ON the street 30 get from
any one room TO any other. Curiou,
rooms they would have seemed
TO Eastern eyes, with Brussels
carpets ON the dirt iio0rs and lace cur
tains at the little windows. OF course
there we're no locks on any OF the doors,
and the cowboys used 10 stroll In, In
their artless, childlike way, and go to
bed without disturbing anyone to an
nounce their presence orask permission,
and 10 was a regular part of the hotel
business 10 go round with a lantern,
about - or | o'clock, wake up the Incl
dental and unchartored cowboys, and
make them pay or pull their freight
Brack Thomas, Jim East, Frosty and
some other eilervescent spirits among
the boarders used to lure the pct burro
into tho dining room after Mrs, Russell
had II swept, garnished and the table
laid out In iestal trim, with ginger
snaps and cakes galore, which We're the
burros favorlte "wanlty,n and which
he would circle grayely around the
table to eat from the various plates till
he was discovered and an effort made to
eject him, when earthquakes. eruptions,
war, famine, pcstilence and all forms Of
bloody violence would break loose In
| that dining room instanter.
IL was here at the old exchange that
striking picture was presented 20 tn =
eve OF the behOdcr only about a year
ago. after tho Graham boys had "shot
! upn Charming, and Dave Graham had
been terribly wounded by the citizens
who captured them. He was lying IN
one of the rooms, white and wretched
and listlcss and when the people began
20 20 past TO grand ball he asked to
have his bed pulled up TO the door so he
could look out and see them. And as
they went past he lay and looked NJ
them with child-lilfe interest, making
a strange picture, with his guard sit
ting beside him.
| A HOTEL PROPRIETOR WITH VARIED
TALENTS.
Old Squire Russell was the proprie-
tor, and his duties were as varied and
| OF rs large scope as country psrson' b
or frontier editors. He married the
/ folks, tried the boys for all sorts Of ir-
Irregularities and misdemeanors, drank
and rcjoiced with the flush and iovlal,
| consoled the afflicted, the busted and
disappointed, nursed and sympathised
1 with the sick, and closed many, many
dying eyes, that had looked their last
on familiar faces and scenes years ago,
1 and thousands Of miles away-besides
! waiting upon table.
Yes, the old man was much more
than hotel keeper. To many forlorn
| and stranded ones who only just made
| his friendly port; 10 the new ones who
came from the East 10 meet some one