The Minneapolis journal., 1901-04-04
TOWNS FIRST PLUG
How Dickinson, N. D., Received a
Silk Hat.
CALF CHAsING---GREAT SPORT
Three Stories of the Troubles of
Three Travelling Men In the
DakOtas.

/ 0aAAOA<ASs
A ''plug hat" is rare bird in Nort1
Dakota. The summer winds are too Wig.
Iorous. the winters too fetching, and, as fal
| as the western country is concerned, the
| cowboys ''resoluted' the plug off the
fashion plate back in the eighties.
Fred Clayton is one of the old-time Min
neapolis travelling men. He pioneered
| trade in advance Of the railroads. He wa:
in the cow country soon after the North
eTn Pacific reached Dickinson. He ha(
| the distinction of having worn silk tilt
through the varying turns of Dakotf
climate, for several years, but Ghe Dick
| inson cowboys ruled him out The day
| that Clayton struck Dickinson the cow
punehers we're in their glory. All hands
were bowling up The annual round.
up was to take place in a few days. Clay
| ton and his plug were spied and the
| vigorous deniZens of the plains at a mas.
| meeting in the Humble Joe'' saloon, ap-
pointed committee to bring Clayton in
The Dickinson Of those days was truly
bright spot. The prevailing color was rec
| and the cowboy managed to keep the tin
deep and rich. Senator McGillivray wal
| there then, a vender of prunes and ful
coats. He endeavored to have Clayton.
prosecutors deal with him lightly, but al
| the Humble Joe," placed upon the bal
and told to listen to the oracle. A tall
| lean, spare individual came forward tt
notify the criminal of the charge against
him. He eyed the commercial diplomat
severely, sized up the plug, shifted his cue
of Climax and said:
stranger, you've come inter these hya1
| parts violating the law NV the land an6
smashing ther customs and traditions Of
| the cow-punchers' paradise by carrying one
! Nv them id things on ther top Of vel
| head. What have yer ter say?'
Clayton saw that he was in the hands OF
his enemies and promptly pleaded guilty
He was carried out into the street, but
before the crowd had time to make the
next move, he offered up the sacrifice by
| tossing the plug" into the air dozer
pistols cracked and the silk tile came
down shattered wreck The small boys
tied it to the tail of the fastest dog
| Clayton took the rest of his medicine by
| trying to ride bucking broncho.
"Dad" Lacked Horse Sense
Many Minneapolis commercial travellers
| have been investing their money the past
few years in farm lands. Dad" Sprague
| is one Of them. Dad sells cigars His
principal stamping ground is North Da-
kota. Last summer he purchased a half
|
deavored to force the Great Northern
coast train to stop at it's station, by
| legislative act.
| Dad has had some wonderful dreams
| about that farm. He admits that the soil
is not friendly to tea culture and that the
climate bars the shaddock. But he is sure
Of fax and he don't know about tobacco.
| In the course of events as they rush
! through the life of farmer, Dad was
served by his manager with a requisi-
tion for horses. Dads" ideas Of what
farm horse ought to be are something
good to behold If they are not scientific
| He proceeded much on the theory of the
bride Of a few weeks, who has her own
| exact ideas on just the house she wants
! to rent, and starts on journey through
| Minneapolis with her idea for a. com
panion. Dad" sailed in. He knew that
many horse traders were liars, but he was
not prepared to put them all in that
| category. In an unfortunate moment he
| let his guard Of suspicion fall, and the
! result was four horses that caused the
| manager much profanity and the plow
| many moods Of hesitation. All attempts
to trade them to the neighbors for days
works. "popple WOOD or second hand
| harvesters failed and worry had placed
the animals in that condition where no
canning factory would consider them de-
sirable. Last week dad" was doing Min
neapolis for another two pair which he
| intends to send up along with the next
homeseekers' excursion, but he has a
| horse expert with him in whom he has
confidence.
Patrick Roe Chases Calves.
For many years the Dublin Bay face Of
Patrick Roe has done service as an ad-
vance card for a well-known brand Of soap
| in Minnesota and the Dakotas. Pat came
lastly from Hudson, Wis, just after the
| trottirg horse fever struck the town
Pats horse was fourth. The one behind
him was tagged.
! There is just one time in Pats career
| as a courier of trade that he will admit
being tagged SO that he knew it. While
at a small town in South Dakota Pat was
invited to attend "calf chase" The ''cali
chase was novel to him. He had fol-
| lowed the fox and chased the rest Of the
string in trotting race, but the fleet calf
he had never seen on the runway.
While Pat and his friend were on their
! way to the hunting grounds he casually
noticed that most of the town was out for
| a drive and en- route to the big ranch
where the calves were run. They were on
hand to watch the game and in the events
| that followed, the crowd seemd to be al
| just the spot where Pat did not want them
In order to give Pat a realization of the
| true value of the sport he was seated in
| blackboard" with the owner OF the
ranch, ma with a kidly eye and a de-
| termined jaw. The calves were started
| and the dogs after them. Pats "buck-
| board" was drawn by a pair of bronchos
| that knew not how to trot. 1t was a gal
| lOp from the start. Down the hill they
| flew, Pat saw a creek ahead He asked
| the driver if he had not better 'sIow up.' -
| The driver responded that he could not
catch the calves if he did. The bronchos
gave wonderful leap. Pat went into the
air, but did not miss the buggy when he
came down-caught it by an eyebrow On
tore the bronchos, up hill and down dale.
Part of the time Mr.. Roe was in the air.
| part of it he was hanging to the edge of
| the seat. Once he was spilled to the
ground entirely but his bed was in shall
| low straw pile. He finally met grief when
the calves endeavored to escape by "cut-
ing cross lots" The old man "put the
bud to the team. He wanted to make a
bridge that crossed another small river
somewhere near that point, but he missed
the place and did nit have time to go
| round. The bronchos managed to scram-
BILE up the bank-they had been there be-
| fore.
Pats friends were at the spot and the
crowd fished him out of the drink The
calves escaped. The merchant who bought
soap of Pat told him that no travelling
| man had yet been able to catch them.
w. E. Davis