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


When we had got into the shaft
slammed the door and surrounded the
prisoner with a glittering array of six
shooters. Paget's saber flashed ont and
about as he saluted the court We all
duCked ont of the way of that saber,
and theprisoner looked as If it was
toss up as to whether he was to be
guillotlned on the spot or merely spit
ted on the saber and roasted over a
slow fire. He didn't say anything. but
he looked the part of the man who was
sorry he had sold whiskey.
AS soon as ] could quiet Paget and
his saluting saber we went on with the
trial. I was scowling at the culprit
and Paget and his guards were play
ing their parts up to the handle. The
case was going hard against the pris-
oner, and l noticed a peculiar twitch
about his mouth and a certain palenesS
which betokened great mental strain.
Just as / was about to wink at Paget
to get in some evidence in rebuttal, the
blooming idiot threw up both hands,
sank to his knees and pleaded guilty.
II looked at Paget and Paget looked
foolishly at me- The court was dis
concerted for once in it's life. and there
was nothing to do but to sentence the
! wretch But what sentence could
| impose? That was the burning ques-
| ton for there was really nothing that
| done.
so YOU plead guilty do YOU? 1 said
to the prisoner in the corner. You sold
whiskey did you, when the orders were
for you to shut up? Capt. Paget. take
this man out and execute him. Shoot
him just as quick as you can stand
him up agains dead wall
Then l trusted to Paget's wit to
save the situation. and lie did it no
bly,.
General" said he. 1 would respect
fully direct your attention to Gen
Scurry's orders that no more execu-
lions take place in daylight
:" That's a fact. 1 had forgotten
said 1. Just put this fellow to work
recovering bodies and shoot him after
dark
AS Paget was hauling him away to
press gang to work he whispered to
me that he would arrange to have him
escape along toward evening. and head
off the execution in that way. He did
and | expect the whiskey seller is run
ming vet. for l haven't seen him since.
An hour or two after the trial lot
of correspondents of newspapers
rushed into headquarters to get de-
tails of the eighteen saloonkeepers l
had shot for selling hwiskey The
news spread all over the city, every
man who told it added another saloon
drink of whiskey was about the
hardest thing to get in Galveston. 1t
was summary way of doing things.
But it made Christians out of the wills
key people. and that was the point.
MCaleb and the Barber
Col. McCaleb tells another story of
barber which is not bad. Two days
after the storm the sum total of the
colonel'S assets was a suit of borrowed
clothes and SO cents incash. which he
had borrowed from Billy Easton. clerk
at the fremont hotel. He had been in
the sun all day and his face was burn
ed and his beard was stubby So he
debated with himself as to the advisa-
bility of parting with Is cents for a
shave. Finally he decided on a shave,
and spread himself out in a barber
ber's chair. The barber shaved him
all right, and when he got through Nc
Caleb passed him his half dollar The
barber passed 25 cents in change.
What does this mean?" the colonel
asked.
We are charging 25 cents for a
shave since the Storm" answered the
barber. as he turned to towel another
customer.
See here, Mr.. Barber said the now
thoroughly aroused colonel. who was
destined to be deputy dictator of the
to see the day that l would Kill a bar
Der for two nickels. but that day is
here, and you'll diSgorge that dime or
start to glory. Act quickly
There was something about Mecca
lebS manner that was convincing, and
the barber produced the disputed dime
The next day the same barber went to
the adjutant generals Office for pass
which would keep him out of press
gangs.
McCaleb recognized him.
You are the barber who boosts
prices at times like these, are you?
Well. you are not a good thing for the
barber business" and calling the re-
doubtable Capt. Paget. he instructed
him to put Mr. Barber to work in the
worst place he could find. There was
no tip this time to let him escape. and
he worked while martial law lasted.
McCaleb'S way of discouraging eXtor-
ton was effective. After that the cost
of shave remained stationary at Is
cents
Col. McCaleb was just about as busy
while ne was adjutant general as
man ever gets to be- There was
pressure on mis- Office from a thousand
sources all the time. and 1t was re-
markabie the way he managed to keep
going. Suave and diplomatic one mo-
ment. charging around like a mad bull
the next. and meeting friend with a
smile and a cordial handsnake the next.
We're a few of the phases of this pc
culiar creature which his work as ad-
jutant general developed Crowds in
the adiutant's Office varied in size from
10 to 200. and somehow or other Col.
McCaleb managed to attend to their
wants with lightning rapidity He
would listen to the tale of Woe rob it