El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-10-31


we'll developed propensity for getting
himself into disagreeable jobs as Col.
Hunt McCaleb. who was adjutant gen.
eral of the city forces when Galveston.
Just after the flood. was under martial
law. When Gen. Thomas Scurry was
appointed to the military command of
the city by Mayor Jones he at once Of
fered the appointment of adjutant gen.
eral to Col. McCaleb. Why he did so
is not popular. In normal times he is
an unassuming newspaper plodder of
the most ordinary stripe. But he
seems to fairly revel in a row, and per-
haps that is why Gen. Scurry appointed
him ii the responsible position of adju-
tant general and gave into his hands
the work of managing the great mass
of detail which devolved upon the mill
tary government.
tend with were without precedent.
There was,n law to guide him save
common sense. and according to his
story. when he needed law right bad
ly to cover a case which presented it's
self at the adjutant generals Office he
would grind one out as fast as his stem
ographer could operate a typewriter.
During the ten days of martial law for
ty six general orders were issued. Gen
Scurry says they were models of mill
tary conciSeneSS. In these forty-six
orders this newspaper plodder. whom
the hurricane had tossed into a posit-
ion of deSpotic power second only to
the military governor himself, gave to
the town a code of laws which brought
order out of chaos. defined the common
law rights which would be respected.
and indicated in no uncertain terms
the common law rights. which ceased
to exist under this fearful and peculiar
military despotism. But more wonder
full than this was the fact that the peo-
pie proper. who had been governed
with an iron hand and often at the
muzzle of a rifle, rose up and proclaim
ed against the proposed abrogation of
martial law. 1t was McCaleb who first
suggested to Gen. Scurry that the time
had come to get back to civil govern
ment AS the adjutant general had
been in theclosest touch with the peo-
pie. Gen. Scurry placed the great store
on his opinion. He saw the correct
ness of it and told the mayor that mar
tial law must cease. and in twenty-four
hours the machinery of civil process
was again in motion.
No Military Trappings.
There was no military trappings
about this military deSpotiSm-that is
around headquarters. Gen Scurrys
consisted of a blue flannel shirt civil
liam trousers. and a black SLOUGH hat,
while McCaleb wore a negligee shirt,
with a handkerchief knotted about his
neck. pair of old gray trousers. which
he had borrowed and a dilapidated old
straw hat. which had gone through the
Yet both of these men had
seen service in the army during the
Spanish-American war. the former as
ma jor of the First Texas Volunteer In
fantry and. the latter as lieutenant col
onel of the First United States Volun-
teer Infantry
Col. McCaleb is not the easiest man
on earth to see for an interview. but he
will sometimes talk to his friends. In
this way he talked to me. and this is
about what he said:
We've all had too much of the Sc
rious side of this thing, and 1 don't
want to talk about it. But. in spite
of the fact that ninety-nine per cent. of
the people | met wore faces drawn and
pinched with woe. an occasional CLEAN
of humor would break into the adju-
tant's office. which always came just
in time to keep me from blowing up
under the strain. You know we just
had to keep the saloons closed as tight
as we could. Had the people been able
to get whiskey we would hav had ten
times the trouble we did have. So /
detailed Captain Ormonde Paget of the
Dallas Rough Riders to keep a special
watch on places where whiskey was
usually sold. Paget was the most stri-
king and peculiar character 1 met dur
ing that eventful time. He revels in
war. The trappings of military life
are AZ dear to him as first sweetheart
is to youth of sixteen. When he
first showed up for duty I thought Pa
get was a big joke. His saber and pis-
tolls and uniforms We're funny to see.
nut Paget was not a Joke. He was just
about the most serious thing in town.
He never moved without an orderly at
his heels. But whenever | wanted a
ticklish piece of work done | sent Paget
to do it,
You must understand that there
never was law on the statute books
such Il government as We
had here. The law of necessity. back
ed by public opinion. was our only an
Choir and we had to use the greatest fl
neSse and the most wonderful diplo-
macy to keep out of trouble. We had
never more than one hundred troops to
back us up with bayonets, so pinned
our faith to public opinion and played
our four card flush as if We had four
aces.
Trying a Whiskey Dealer.
One day PaSet scooped in a prom
inent wholesale liquor dealer and char
ged him with selling whiskey. I was
the summary court and tried all these |
cases. IL our old friend Hamlet had
been here he would not have complain |
ed of the laws delay. for that court
was summary in fact as we'll as in
name When Paget would bring in a
prisoner we would haul him out in a
vacant passenger elevator shaft. slam
the door and surround the poor devil
with all the horrors we could conjure