El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-11-20
COL. TOM OCHILTREE
Proved To BE Another Jonah On the
st. PAUL How the Colonel Mis-
sed His Dinner party.-A Bunch
OF Keys and a High Hat.-The
Colonel and His Imaginary CO.
lony OF Dogs. Lively Times
Dr0mIsed In WashInnfon
Promised In WASHINGTON
Special Correspondence CT the HEsALD


| WASHINGTON. ID. c.. Nov. 15.-
Among the passengers of the ill-fate
ocean liner st. Paul when the vesse
narrowly escaped complete destruction
and hundreds of lives were placed il
jeopardy was Col. Thomas p. Ochil
tree of Texas.
To those who know the famous citi
zen of the Lone Star state the onl
wonder expressed has been that the 81
Paul was able to reach port under an.
circumstances. To have Col. Ochiltre
on board. it is said. is like having be
tween decks the original Jonah.
Whoever heard of ship twistin,
one whole set of machinery out o
placer" is the question all are asking
Col. Tom Ochiltree has received all tn,
blame
| Col. Ochiltree after reaching port OF
the St. Paul Immediately took possess
ion of New York. and the metropoli:
having both the colonel and the cleo
ton commissions on hand at the same
time has had considerable difficulty il
| keeping its balance.
AS the result of the Texans visit
abroad several new Ochiltree stories
have seen the light of day. They be-
| long to a bran new batch and are a
credit to the famous character who has
brought honor to his state and fur
niShed amusement galore to the people
of the capitol.
1t seems that while in London Col
Ochiltree. who occupied an expensive
suite of apartments in one of the fash
ionable residences of PicadiIly received
many invitations to dine. which Col.
Ochiltree. being above all things a
ladies man was not slow in accepting.
One one occasion he accepted an in
vitation to dine but was forced by cir
cumstances over which he had no con-
troll to break il at the last moment. 1t
happened in this wise:
Shortly after five o'clock he began
making his preparations. They were
most elaborate. His valet with great
difficulty. and under bombardment
of choice sections of the dictionary. fl
nally placed the great man inside of
his dress suit. brushed his hair. and
started him off. 1t was by this time
about eight thirty.
The colonel drilled off down the
street in search of a cab and had got
ten about two streets from his place
of residence when he suddenly remem-
bered that in his haste to depart he had
to carry with i'm the bunch of
keys with which he is always accom-
panied. and which counted among the
other members of the key family to
tic tWo II poSSlDic
to regain the shelter of his home when
he wished to retire at night.
Col. Ochiltree accordingly retraced
his steps. When he reached his home
he rang the door bell violently several
times. His valet believing il to he
false alarm looked out of the window.
Col. Ochiltree babe him
throw the bunch of keys down. Now
Col. Ochiltree's bunch of keys is moth
70 Ia tod sxlt IN, -
he jimmies used to pry open his varied
of luridly colored leather
trunks and as his strong boxes number
in the neighborhood of half hundred
Il will be seen that there was con-
siderable old copper attached to the
huge brass ring which bound the keys
together
The valet protested and offered to
bring the keys down five flights of
stairs but the Texan was obdurate.
He would not listen to reason.
Throw them out of the window he
beloved so loud that all of the neigh
,Ors looked out of the windows for ,
several blocks around. Throw them
,ut of the window"
He then took a place of vantage on
he sidewalk. held out his new silk
lat. and then in voice of thunder
the valet to take good aim
lnu throw the Keys.
The valet did as he was bid. He
ook good and careful aim. He inn
lgined himself United States gunner
Getting a sight on a Spanish man of
var. He aimed so well in fact that the
lunch of keys came hurting down re-
'olving and suffering in the air and
truck the tall and shiny high" hat
quare in the middle. There was
ound of something tearing and
lunch of old metal bumped on the
idewalk. and Col. Ochiltree was view |
ng the valet and offering up sundry !
prayers through hole in his hat |
through which horse and wagon !
ould have been easily driven.
That knocked the dinner party so far |
Is Col. Ochiltre was concerned and he !
emained at home that evening much |
o the discomfort of his valet
The colonel will soon return to
and his welcome will be a
warm and hearty one. However. it is
Understood he is little uneasy On
lis last visit here he promised half the
society women of Washington some
hing like sixteen hundred dogs Not
hat Col Ochiltree ever owned a dog
lie never did. He only pretended he !
lid.
When the conversation turned to ca
lines at a swell reception one night
md an attache of one of the legations
vas telling about the fine animal he
'wned. Col. Ochiltree was hurt He
talked of the fine dog he
'ossessed. OF course Col. Ochiltree's
log was better than any dog anybody
yer owned. In short time he had
all of the pups. The next day
he news spread that Col. Ochiltree had
many fine dogs. and hundreds of re-
1nefS NOR hnt l.;
exam did not refuse one. In a week
e had promised nearly two thousand
ups and the situation was becoming
rificnl