Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1893-07-27
HENNESSY'S ESCAPE.
How He Avoided the Penalty of
Flirting with Mexican Girl


with broad brimmed felt hat showed
on the back of his head, sat in the cor
ridor of the Metropolitan the other
night swapping stories with some New
York drummers. Ho was Walter Grove,
OF Monte Vista, Col, who was in town
working up some irrigation schemes
for eastern capital to be invested down
in Mexico.
''You very often hear It said that the
revengefulness and treachery of the
lower class of Mcxicans Is ovcrrated,"
said Grove, "but to one who has lived
in that country and studied the people
carefully there are very few tales that
can be told of them too remarkable for
belief. / recollect particularly one case
OF a young fellow who is working with
me down in old Mexico now who came
very near passing in his checks through
not approaching the kind of people he
was dealing with.
SIN the state of chihuahua, on the
western edge of Mapimi desert, we had
put in big dam for a storage reser-
voir to irrigate the mesaland lying
above the level OF the Rio Conchos val
ley.
ut was right at the entrance of a
big box canyon running up to the bar
rem hills that run along the edge of the
desert. The only things that grow
there are pinon trees and jack rabbits,
with small sprinkling of chalmisa
and grease weed. But there are peri
odic rains, when the water comes down
through those bare canyons in wall
ten feet high, and enough water goes
to waste in twenty-four hours to irri-
gate a whole county for season.
1--WE got in our dams all right and
about twenty miles of main ditch, and
everything went very well, considering
the fact that we were working new
venture in a country where it usually
, takes an innovation couple of centu-
ries to settle down and feel at home.
II put this young fellow, Nick Hen
messy, in charge of the dam. He had
his Office of couple of rooms there,
with Mexican TO cook for him and to
help around and about. All he had to
do was to ride the line of the ditch and
look after the state Of things at the
dam which he had helped to build.
There was a little telegraph line from
the Office down to the land company's
home ranch, about ten miles below the
dam, the nearest settlement of any
sort, and Nick used to take signal serv
ice observations to help pass away the
time. But, as l said, he didn't know
the people.
''In the first place, he got himseli
disliked for demonstrating with the
Mexicans for loading two hundred and
fifty pound of stuff or thereabouts or
their poor little burros. They haven
any humane societies in that country
Then he got into unpleasant relation:
with the sheep herders, all of whom
are embryo murderers by nature, By
chipping into fight and helping 6
couple Of lonely cattlemen the herder,
were trying to bushwhack mp in the
hills one evening. That was all right
Of course, for the cow-punchcrs hap
pened to be Americans, but Nicl
winged couple of the sheep men, ant
they naturally had it in for him after
ward. Finally he did the business To-
himself by flirting with the alcade'
daughter over in the adjoining plaza
She was the only manageable girl il
the county, and he couldn't have fount
better way to get loco in his coffee, O.
to secure some other Of the delicate at
tentions in order in such case.
1.-THE dam was big masonry one
built pretty much after the Roman
model, with securing sluices at the bot
tom and a lateral passageway through
the center, with valve doors at eacl
sluice gate to shut when the dan
is full, while the passage that ran int
the length Of the dam opened up to tn
top through man hole at each end
one of these right by the door of the OF
fee and the other on the abutmen
across the river.
"Well, by the time Nick had bee
down there three months and got thes
three separate fights on his hands, hi
paid-up life insurance policy woul
have been good speculation. He di
not appreciate that, of course, for tn
Mexicans were polite, knowing the
would soon have their innings
There was always more or less
them that had nothing to do save hans
ing around the dam, Ginning wit
Hennessy's man Their time came on
evening when there was a big thunder
storm coming up in the mountains.
was on toward the end of sumne'
when nearly all Of the bed of the daT
was dry except little triclzle of watt
turned off into the main ditch, an
Nick was in the habit of taking boo
end q blanket in the afternoon IN