Newport daily independent., 1905-11-04
AS BAD AS A FIRE
ts Move Three Times Ia one Night.

Did you ever sleep in three differ snt towns and in three different hotels in one night, paying three times for . rather incomplete nights rest2'
 The old travelling man threw out the question in an unconcerned way after having listened in silence for an hour while the other members of the Corner club reeled of yard after yard of stories about the road, it's pleasures, it's dan- gers and it's humors. The pause that followed was only broken by some vio- lent but futile efforts by the stuttersr to launch a sentence.
 Well, I have done it." the old travel. ing man continued. And 1 may add that although I have been kept on the road for 20 years have never met man who was able to boast of the same ex- perience. It came about in this way: I was down In Texas in 1881 and 1882. and New Years day found me in smaN town called Longview, with my nose turned in the direction of the neighbor- ing town of Tyler. To get to one of these towns from the other you must travel on two different railroads and cover about 40 miles of ground, al- though the towns are hardly more than 15 miles apart as the crow flies. Long view is on the International & Great Northern. while Tyler is on the Mineola branch of the Texas Pacific. The two railroads cross each other at a juno- ton called Troop, about "A miles from Longview and IS miles from Tyler.
 ''I was having my dinner in the hotel at Longview about six o'clock on tho evening of New Years day, when a first. class mortimer came sweeping down upon us. If you have never met genu- inc Texas norther pray that you may be spared from having the experience. The wind will spring up without mo- ment's warning, and have seen 1t low CT tho temperature 50 degreesin 60 min. utes. Everyone had been going around in his shirt sleeves. After the northeR began an ulster was needed. Thsrs was no fire in the house and no com fort. My train did not leave until il: :lo p. m. The only thing could think of was to take room and go to bed, and 70 did. awoke at 10: 30, jumped into my clothes and caught my train.
 ''My watch showed a few minutes after midnight when I arrived at Troop and heard that the west-bound train on the Texas Pacific was any way from two to three hours late. A band of immigrants was waiting for the same train and they filled the waiting room. Some were cooking 8 meal on the red hot stove in the middle of the room. Others were sleeping on the benches and on the floor. There was not va cant seat to be had and the atmosphere was indescribable. The air outside'was pure enough, but the thermometer reg istered ten degrees above zero, which ls not very comfortable temperature for man without an oyercOat or gloves. There was only one way to keep warm-to cross the tracks to the little hotel opposite the station and crawl into a warm bed for couple of hours. and this did.
 "I slept till 4:15 and caught tho be- lated train at 4:43. There was only ono passenger, who left the train when VI reached Tyler at 5:15, and that was l. 1t was pitch dark then, cold as Alaska and so quiet that your steps sounded like hammer beats along the streets. No one was stirring in the hotel at that time and it took me quarter of an hour to wake up an old negro who was sleep ing on the floor in the office. The first thing I did when got inside the house was to dig out the keys to the bar and to gulp down two big drinks of whisky. And then I asked for fire.
 "'No coal massa,' the old nigger an swered, grinning like split water melon; no wood, no nuffing. Massa had better go to bed
 "And 30 I did, to be sure, for the third time that night. It was 6:4b o'clock in the morning then and I slept like dead man till 9:30. Have you ever heard the like of it? And yet my lodg- ing for that night cost rue only $1.50, OF 50 cents at each hotel. The fun of it. when 1t was all over. was worth $l.50, I think, ,"-N. Y. Sun.