The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-08-28
TWO cows AND A CALF.
If You See Them Please Wire the La
Porte Agent at Houston Collect"
Galveston Tribune

If You See Them Please Wire the La
Porte Agent at Houston "CoIlect."
Galveston Tribune.
If the frgidity that exists between the
Galveston, Houston and Northern Tia
Porte) railroad and the other lines that
enter the classic city of Houston could be
put to commercial use ice making would
be great industry in the coast country
and there would be skating instead OF
mosquitoes along Buffalo bayou.
Connecting lines have a mean, contempt
able habit of compelling the Galveston,
Houston and Northern to pay freight on
stuff before they will turn it over to the
La Porte for handling, and they are eter-
nally kicking because the La Porte adj
mires the rolling stock of other lines and
keeps 1t in local use occasionally. II is
true that the La Porte is rather short of
rolling stock, but where is there road
that hasn't been in that fix at some time
in its career?
But this story is about the Galveston,
Houston and Northern agent in Houston
and what happened to him. The story ~
told merely as an illustration of the vicis-
STUDIES OF railroading in Texas and in
hopes that If you see two COWS and calf
lying around loose you will telegraph the
fact collect" to the aforesaid agent.
II appears that the Houston agent of the
Missouri, Kansas and Texas telephoned
to the Houston agent of the La Porte the
other day something like this: I've got
two COWS and calf here on stock car
billed for such and such place on your
road. The freight is so much. II you'll
send the money over I'll make delivery TO
you"
The La Porte man ''frisked" himself, as
hn fpe tk- md taI tttrt
money to pay the Missouri. Kansas and
Texas freight charge. He sent the money
to the Katy office and sat down to wait
for the Katy people to switch the stock
car containing the two COWS and calf
onto the La Porte track. Stock cars are
hot stuff on the La Porte. They need EN-
in their business.
But the mild hammered gentleman who
presides over the destinies of the La Porte
freight office in Houston reckoned wrong.
The agent of the Katy, when he received
the good money of the La Porte gentle
man, didn't order the stock car switched
over to the La Porte yards. Instead he
got him some rope and he got those two
COWS and a calf out of the stock car and
he hired small boy. and thut small boy
led those two cows and calf Eom the
Katy depot to the La Porte depot and then
that boy tied those TWO COWS and a calf To
a telegraph pole and went into the La
Porte freight office and said to the cha
grined agent: There's your old COWS
out there" And then the youth departed.
The agent of the La Porte saw that he
was In a fix. He didn't have-s box car
or a stock car or even fiat car. The near
est approach to car he had ON hand was
a day coach, and, ingenious as a railroader
is. the problem OF how to transport those
two COWS and calf from Houston 10 tae,'
destination "stumped' the La Porte man.
He said some things over the phone to the
Katy man and then he said some other
things that he couldn't very well say over
the wire. While he was still thinking
over the bovine problem switch engine