The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-21
FORMER DAYS IN TEXAS.
"Reminiscences of Flush Times In
the LONG Star Stntc.

(From the New Orleans Times-DemocratD
The old Judge was in a reminiscent
mood That was plain by the manner in
| which he directed his fire at the big Gus
pidor half way across the hotel lobby.
THE papers tell us he finally began,
that the Texas steer, that famous ami
| NAL with long horns and a band bigger
| than gridiron, is passing away. His
| companion. the being whose face is griz-
zled and whose boots are of rawhide and
whose profanity is appalling is also go
| ing over the Great Divide. The first is
| being succeeded by grade Shorthorns
/ Herfords, and others of the swell set in
cattledom, while the latter is giving way
to the cold-blooded business man, who
has reduced cattle-raising and feeding to
a science, and who follows that avocation
not because he knows nothing else. but
because he has found 1t to be profitable.
We'll, sir. with the passing of these
two the great Commonwealth of the
Southwest loses its most picturesque fea-
lures. BY those who have spent the
greater portion of their lives in this coun-
try, by the cowboy, whose only compan-
ions for weeks at a time have been the
| 'long-horned boys, and whose only boss
| the picturesque man in rawhIde boots
! by all who still possess little sentiment
in spite of the commercial spirit of the
age, this will be noted with feelings OF
! the keenest regret. Much has been said
| against the development of the lonShorn
and more against the cattlemcE, but the
| former brought many dollar ihto Texas
| and kept it here, and the latter was
most important factor in the development
of this State
And speaking of development, l am re-
minded of the great cattle boom we had
here back in the eighties. Almost any
thing that wore horns and hair was worth
its weight in gold. Texas cattlemen had
more money then than they had ever pos
sessed before, or as 1t was subsequently,
proved to the satisfaction of all. they
GliH huNra for
| don't know what caused the BOOM
Thoroughbred cattle didn't do it, for in
those days the longhorn was still king:
But | do know that cattle raising ana
feeding were. for a time very profitable.
indeed. There were many men who re-
ceived in profits more money than they
knew what to do with. Literally, and not
| fguratively, they had money to burn, for
some of them actually showed on occa-
sionally by lighting cigars with $40 bills.
1T was about the time this boom struck
Texas that cattlemen acquired passion
for diamonds. II one man bought stone
as big as the nail on his little finger, his
neighbor must have one that was as big
his thumbnail.
This brought into existence a class Of
peddlers the like of whom was never
known before, and very probably never
will be known again. They didn't handle
tinware nor sell cement that would even
mend a broken heart. Their stock in
trade was diamonds-yes, sir, and of the
finest, too. Think of 1t, Will you! The
lOea OF a man lTOttlnS AROUND over l!lt
plains of West Texas with 100000 worth
of diamonds in his grip and selling them
to the owners of ranches just like other
peddlers of the present time sell suspend
ers and shoestrings to the farmers who
are too busy to go to town. Yet | know
II N be a fact, because | have seen such
peddlers and witnessed the display of their
wares made right out upon the open
prairie / have often wondered why they
were not robbed. but there is not a case
on record. so far as know OF, where one
of these fellows ever suffered loss at the
hands of a highway imam.
After the diamond craze came the
craze for watches of fabulous value. AS
soon as 1t began the diamond peddlers
changed stocks. Hand satchels that had
heretofore been packed with precious
stones now contained watches and watch
charms and chains ] have seen a cattle
man pay 500 for watch that he bought
on his ranch from one of these peddlers.
The timepiece was generally IS karat
gold, with a steer head engraved on the
front lid and prairie scene on the back.
IL was not unusual for the steers eyes
TO be OF small diamonds. and maybe there
would be a good-sized stone in the place
where the brand out to be. The biggest
kind of diamonds were in the watch
charms.
so long as l live / will never forget an
incident | witnessed in a Panhandle town
one day. A cattleman pulled from his
pocket a watch of the kind l have de-
scribed.
How much did you pay for it?'' ask
ed a companion. who owned adjoining
ranch.
Pulling from his pocket a watch that
was identical in every respect to the
other the questioner said that he had one
just as good which had cost him only
500
Z" lymph" said the man with the $500
watch; III bet 500 that / can throw mine
farther down the street than you can
he fag in mir
and the watches were hurled through the
air. Then these two men actually walk
ed leisurely down the street and picked
up what was left of those watches. The
condition of the tickers would have made
a blacksmith weep"
Just because she made those goo-goo
eyes hummed an fastener.
Young man." snarled the judge, tits
your ignorance that makes you incredu-
lous. You make me tired. ! can't blame
you much. though. But here's something
else that / saw and will make affidavit to:
81 once attended a cattlemen's bali in
what is now a big Texas city, and saw dia-
monds sold at a little stand near the door
just the same as they sell red lemonade
and popcorn at a circus. The sales were
heavy. too, and If / could have had the
profit the proprietor of that stand made
on his one nights business 1 don'l believe
I'd be working now.
But these things are all of the dead
past As / said. that kind of a cattleman
is no more. He has been supplanted by
otHefS VINO can ma plenty oil uses Tor
their money IN the ordinary channels of
business. The modern cattleman Is even
thinking Of forming a trust, so they say.
and, backed with enough thoroughbred
cattle. it may be he can do it, for Texas.
In spite of her thousands of magnificent
farms, is still essentially a cattle raising
Country. Sometimes however, | long for
the open handed liberality and the light
heartedness of these cattle kings Of days
gone by. Maybe it's because I'm getting
old but this world seems to me to be get
ting more keen, more cold blooded, more
practical every daV"