Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1894-07-14
HAD run WITH THE DRUMMER,

HAD FUN WITH THE DRUMMER.
The Knight Of the Gripsack Came Out -
Well ~ Could Ne Expected.
I'm 1882" said Harry Caruthers,
Of Missouri, ~ was drumming for q
St Louis hardware nrm In western
Texas 1t was In the stormy days
Of free.grass agitation. There was q
general uprising against the fencing
IN Of large tracts Of grazing land on
which the small cattle owners stock
had from time immemUrial pastured
gratis. The people were up In arms
because grass was no longer to be o
free commodity. To emphasize their
displeasure and to discourage the
fencing 10 Of the lands they began,
In many counties west OF Fort Worth,
TO cut the barbed wire fencing 80
that their l0nghorns could again
roam 1T sweet will over the broad
acres thickiy carpeted with the nutri.
tiOus mesquite grass.
'Of course the owners Of the
fenced territory objected, and good
many shooting s,rapes followed. The
knight OF the nippers,' as the fence
cutters were called, came In collision
with the law, but still they perse-
vered ic their work, aud In the silent
hours Ut the night, on the desOlate
stretches Ut the prairie, bands of res.
Olute fellows would lay low miles
upon miles Of detested wire. Final.
ly the Governor OF the state called Q
special session Of the Legislature,
which made wire cutting a felony,
and gradually the business was
broken un
"Mhile the excitement was at its
height I was making one Of my reg.
,ilar trips, j0urneyinR In q buggy, as
there was no railroad In that section
then, and on u certain August after.
mon was nearing BrownwO0d, the
county seat Of Brown County, In
which there was the nsrcest opposi.
ton to fencing up the land. AZ /
got within about three miles Of town
there came advancing toward me Q
hand Of ut least twenty r0ugh.look
fellows on native ponies, every man
OF them carrying Y Winchester rifle.
There was nothing to alarm me In
this, however, as st0ckmcn In that
country usually carry their guns with
them, and there was no reason to
apprehend danger But 10 q few
seconds / was undeceived, and will
frankly own to being one of the worst
scared men that ever felt his heart
sink down into his boots was or.
dered to halt In language made
pointed by reason OF It's irreverence,
aud the leader Of tho company re.
quested the to throw up my hands
1 p they went, and ! expected to be
perforated by bullets every second.
"NOw. you d. tenderfOot, tell US
what you are; declare yourself right
here II you expect to see another sun.
rise. Are ye fu: Tree grass or agin
it~
ut was q critical moment, and
did some rapid thinking. felt q
little bit OF relief In knowing that
hadn't encountered q gang Of robbers,
hut how to answer that question
stumped me. II l answered wrong
might ~ we'll say my prsyera /
couldn't guess whether the crowd
had suffered from the depredatiOns Of
the free grazers or In sympathy with
theu.
"A bright idea struck me, aud
without asking permission 10 drop
my hands ! hauled out my bag OF
samples, opened II hurriedly, and be.
gau to crate: Gentlemen, pardon, /
beg you, Q stranger 10 the land from
expressing any positive views ON q
subject that he does not cOmpre hend
like yourselves Please take a glance
at my samples You will, know,
excuse q poor St Louis drummer
from taxing Sides but you can get
here anything you like. ! am pre-.
pared to sell you barbed wire aud
wire slretchers, or II you prefer
hatchets and wire cutters II would
afford me equal pleasure to supply
your wants In that line
Then I made q low bow and tried
to smile, but I guess It was Q slckiy
effort for / still wasn't sure but that
I'd b. assassinated. When the en-.
tire gang. that had looked solemn a.
owls all the time, broke into bolster.
Gus laughter 40 soon 40 my speech
was ended ! felt that my life was
saved. The rascals had only been
having q little fun with me, but the
fun was all on one side.