Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-16
STORIES OF HOUSTON
Son of the Renowned Sam
Houston of Texas.
A POWERFUL ATHLETE
KICKED A GAMBLING JOINT INTO
KINDLING WOOD.
Fierce Fight With the Two jennings
Brothers-Had Great Influence
With the Indians

Temple houston. VINO uleQ IN poverty
and obscurity in Woodward. Okla, the
other day. was a sparkling example for the
theorists who maintain that there Is such
thing as the transmission of mental
traits observed a veteran inspector of In
dian agencies.
Temple was the youngest son OF Sam
Houston, that renowned able and dauntless
man of mystery and melancholy. governor
OF Tennessee and president of the republic
of Texas. 1 never saw Sam Houston. OF
course. but I've met many old frontiersmen
who knew him we'll. l knew Temple Hous-
ton for nearly thirty years. He was ex-
actly the same manner of man as his father.
according to all OF the stories about Sam
Houston that were related to me by men
who were Intimately associated with the
sire. He possessed the same intellectual
traits and eccentrfcities, the same scorn for
SNUG conventforality, the Identical reck-
lessness and utter ignorance of fear. And
In appearance Temple Houston resembled
his father so much that the old-timers ad
verted to him as the spit out of the old
mans mouth
In his younger manhood before disspa-
ton gained the same sort of a clutch upon
him that 1t gained upon his renowned IA
Their, Temple Houston was one OF the most
Spiendfd-looking men of his time, all but
fnvfncible athlete in all of the rough sports
OF the southwest, of the most commanding
presence and carriage, and a thoroughbred
from head to heel. He was born with his
fathers superior intellect. and would have
made a great name for himself as a GRIM
iEai lawyer had he not, throughout his life,
buried himself in the new settlements where
there was little chance for him to gain such
distinction except In the outposts Of civili-
Zation. He had his fathers dislike for thick
ly-settled districts, and he lived and died
without ever having seen a great city.
Drink began to get strange hold upon
him before he reached his thirtieth year.
H. was idolized by all Texans as well as
by all hands in the old Indian Territory, but
the cup was his downfall. running the more
than fair chance that was his for many
years OF becoming commanding political
figure In the southwest. I never knew q
man to hate drink so bitterly and to de-
claim against 1t passionately as Temple
Houston. and still he yielded to 1t. He was
difficult man in his cups. Nevertheless, he
used to make frequent addresses before
church congrega tons in Texas. and he al
ways chose as his subject the evils of drink.
carrying people eff their feet with his elo-
quent arrangements Of the liquid damna-
ton; nor were his words any the less force
full or powerful for good because everybody
listening to him knew perfectly we'll that
Temple Houston himself was permitting his
own frequent indulgence in heavy sprees to
cloud his life and career. He could not con-
quer himself. but his tremendously earnest
talks on temperance drove many a rum
begged Texan to lifelong sobriety
Demolished Gambling Establishment.
1T happened. however. that all of the
many encounters and mix-ups in which
Temple Houston figured throughout his
militant life occurred when he was per-
fectly sober.
He had not taken drink of liquor for
year, for example, when he accomplished
his famous feat of literally kicking the
gambling establishment Of Jim Penfeld, In
Guthrie, to kindling wood
That happened in the early days OF
| Guthrie. Jim Penf1eld started the first faro
bank and ali-around gambling plant in the
| new settlement. One night Temple Hous-
| ton, who had only got into Guthrie from
Woodward a few hours before on some law
business, wandered into the Penf1eld plan,
before the big business of the night had
| begun. The only player in the room was g
| reckless young chap from st. Louis, with
| whose father Houston was well acquainted
| Temple recognized the boy. who was more
| than half drunk, as soon as he entered the
| room, and nodded to the youngster. Then
| he stood and watched the faro play for a
| while, to get the run out of the box as
| the gamblers express 1t, before sitting in
| himself.
He hadn't been standing by five minutes
| before he observed with astonishment that
| Sam Callahan, the dealer, was taking ad-
vantage Of the drunken boys condition and
| engaging In the double-slip thing-which
| was made easy enough for the reason that
| the tipsy young fellow wasn't keeping any
| cases. but idiotically depending upon his
memory to inform him as to the cards that
| were In and out of the box.
| Houston didn't say anything at first. He
| had always understood Penheld's gambling
| plant to be on the level, and he wanted to
be sure he wasn't making any mistake
| Presently Penfield himself walked over to
| where Houston was standing, and after an
| exchange of greetings, stood and watched
the game himself. Callahan. the dealer
again deliberately worked phony play
| and rake-down on the tipsy boy from st.
Louis. Houston shot q lightning side
| glance at Penfield to see If the proprietor
| had noticed the cheating. His eye caught
Penfield's, who had turned quick slant
| wise gaze upon Houston to note whether
| the latter had seen the dirty box work.
! Houston strolled over to the window.
| threw his cigar out Of II and then returned
| to where Penfeld was standing.
'Penf1eld,' he said, quietly, you've got a
| crook for dealer, and you know 1t.
| Which is by way of saying that you're a
ID crook yourself
Nobody knew better than Temple Hous-
| ton what 1t was going to mean for him to
express himself that way. But he was an
| individual who always stood back of his
| words. The expression of deadly rage had
| hardly begun to wrinkle Penfields face be-
| fore Houston wrapped both of his powerful
| arms around Penfield's rugged body. With
| his left hand Houston snatched Penfield' s
| gun out Of the gamblers rear right-hand
| and thrusting Penield away from him,
| Houston landed a terrific blow with his
| malIet-lke right fist on the point of Pen
! fields jaw, knocking the gambling house
| proprietor senseless.
Laid Out the Dealer.
by this time Sam Callahan, the dealer
| and Sam was himself a bad lot from the
| Cochise countrywide had sat stunned dur
| ing the early part of the performance, was
| grabbing a gun out Of the table drawer at
| his right.
But that part of the business, too, had
been well calculated upon by Houston. He
made a flying leap over the table. clearing
| It, and. with all of the momentum of his
| big frame, his feet landed square In the
middle of Callahan's chest, just as the
| dealer was in the act of raising his gun 10
| fire. The gun was kicked out of his hand
| and discharged by the trigger catching on
| the edge of the table as it fell, and the bull
| let going through the brim of Houston s
SLOUGH hat. Callahan went down like a
| log, with not enough wind left In his body
| to ventilate an orchid. and Houston went
| down with the wreck of the table.
"rhe youngster at the table had staggered
| to his feet with Houston's first words to
nj MI he