The Red Cloud chief., 1899-01-06

~ the M1bSl y , ippi
sssdsssa.sss&SSSss, river, enticed by the
sSSSeLxSGGscISsM] promise OF wealth
and adventure, to the Wild life OF tho
country awaiting development" They
became members Of surveying parties
or served In other capacities on the
line of railway which daily stretched
out soutber,y from Paso del Norte TO-
wards the City Of Mexico. Camping
o,t dur.2s summer months In some Oh
the eastern forests had partially pre-
pared them FOR the rough life they had
chosen; and enjoying, for the time be-
Ing, their freedom from the restraints
OF society. they contented themselves
with the hope OF gathering up enough
experience and money to enable them
TO live advantageously in GODS
country" after a few years OF roughing
II on the frontier.
Open air life In that wonderful ell
mate is wont to develop the heartiest
Of appetites, and these young men dis
posed Of three meals per diem with n
xest far superior to that which they
had manifested at daintier boards In q
more refined civilization. For, be Il
remarked, the cuisine OF the frontier
was OF the crudest character imagin-
able. In the engineer camps, the
boys lived on such fare as could be
secured from the railroads commits
eary, varied by occasional purchases oil
provisions OF the class afforded by the
scattered ranches and Mexican villages.
For the %sustenance OF the tr~ack-laying
and bodybuilding gangs, boarding
trains'' were established. Box cars.
placed upon q temporary aiding, were
fitted up with appliances for cooking
meals and sewing them to hungry and
not over-fastidious workmen. AS the
lend OF the track" rapidly advanced
into the interior OF Mexico, the board
Ing train" also advanced, leaving be-
hind 4. at each removal, immense piles
of tin cans, to testify to subsequent
occupants of the locality as TO the kind
and quantity Of food devoured by
American railroad builders. In the
provincial towns through which the
railway passed, boarding tents were
spread, wherein, upon rude tables.
covered with marbleized oilcloth,
meals were served, at three for a dol
lar, the score being kept upon tickets
containing the numbers 1 TO 81. These
tickets were purchased for 81 cash. and
q number was punched out by
the proprietor as the satiated holder
left the tent. a few Americans e
p%erimented with the cuisine Of the
M~exicans. and cultivated q taste for fri
joles (black beans), chile-con-carne
cred pepper and dried meat served In q
stew. tortillas (corn cakes). ensilladas
tamales and the like. There was little
ill-natured grumbling over the fare IN
any case. Dissatisfaction was usually
expressed by changing about from one
boarding tent" to another. or from
boarding tent to Mexican household,
The ill-natured grumbling was heard
only from those VINO had never In their
lives before known anything better
than what the boarding facilities OF
railroad construction afforded.
The result Of these conditions was
democratic. The wide social differ.
ences OF past years were wholly lost
to sight In the patrons Of the boarding
train, boarding tents or Mexican
boarding house. At any meal time
there might have been found. In cor
duroy suits. surrounding the rough
planks Of the boarding train tables OF
the oilcloth covered boards OF the
boarding tent. young men who used
pewter or German silver spoons and
steel forks, drank out OF tin cups and
ate off Of tin plates. who in times moi
long past had donned broatcloth dress
suits; whose knees had felt ut home
under elegant oaks and mahoganies
men who appreciated cut glass and
sevres. and who had not been unfamil.
lar with napkins and finger glasses. II
Is even admitted by one OF them, who
was subsequently reclaimed from tnt
degradation Of the boarding car cook
cry, that after he struck the frontier
he learned to convey beans from hi!
tin plate to his mouth upon a knife
blade, before he learned to handle hi.
sho%oting-irons. And there were mel
who made their boast that they liked
nothing better than chile-con-carnt
and frijoles. seasoned with converse
tion In Mexican Spanish; and that they
, got a better three meals for their dol
lar than the patrons of the boarding
tent; who were nevertheless suspected
OF sitting memories OF elegant theatel
! dinners In eastern cities and Of pub
, lie banquets at world-famous hostel
! ries.
About the middle OF December, II
1sS-. several OF these sons of the civ
5 ilized Orient met in Paso del Mort.
: the border town goes by the name o
La Ciudad Juarez now), and gathere,
, around the cheerful blaze OF mesquite
Z stumps burning In the adobe fire-plac,
= Of n Dunlap. This man had Just &C
complished the first stage of the evolu
!. ton Of the hotel from tho boardin,
tent, by renting a n story adob'
= building where he could furnish bed
as well as meals, and where one roon