The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-09-24
ROMANTIC CAREER
 LED BY HOUSTON Son of the Noted Sam Houston
 of Texas WAS POWERFUL ATHLETE Once Kicked Gambling Joint Into Kin ding Wood-Had Fierce Fight With Two Jennings Broth
 srs--Was Good Speaker.
WAS POWERFUL ATHLETE
From the Washington Star.


 Temple Houston, who died in poverty and obscurity in Woodward, Okla, the other day, was sparkling example for the theorists who maintain that there is such a thing as the transmission of men tai traits," observed a veteran inspector of Indian agencies.
 'Temple was the youngest son or sam Houston, that renowned able and daunt- less man of mystery and melancholy, governor of Tennessee and president of the republic of Texas. l never saw sam Houston, of course but I've met many old frontiersmen who knew him well. knew Temple Houston for nearly thirty years He was exactly 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 intimate ly associated with the sire. He possessed the same intellectual traits and eccentric ities the same scorn for snug conven- tlonality, the identical recklesness and utter ignorance of fear. And in appear ance Temple Houston resembled his ia ther so much that the old-timers ad- verted to him as the spit out of the old mans mouth
  sipation gained the same sort of a clutch upon him that it gained upon his renown- ed father, Temple Houston was one of the most splendid-looking men of hts time, an all but invincible athlete in all of the rough sports of the southwest Of the most commanding presence and car riage and a thoroughbred from head to heel He was born with his fathers su- perior intellect, and would have made a great name for himself as criminal law yer 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 civilization. He had his fathers dis like for thickly settled districts, and he lived and died without ever having seen a great city.
 Drink began to get strangle hold up- on him before he reached his thfrtieth year. He was idolzed by all Texas as well as by all hands in the old Indian Territory, but the cup was his down. fall, ruinng the more than fair chance that was his for many years of becoming a commanding political figure in the southwest I never knew a man to hate drink so bitterly and to declaim against 1t so passionat ,y as Temple Houston and still he yielded to it. He was periodical thinker and an extremely dlf- ficult man in his cups. Nevertheless, he used to make frequent addresses before church cOnRregdIlOnS III Ie8dS, anu hC ai- ways chose as his subject the evils of drink. carrying people off their feet with his eloduent arragnment of the liquid damnation'; nor were his words any the less forceful or powerful for good because everybody listening to him knew perfect ly well that Temple Houston himself was permitting his own frequent indulgence in heavy sprees to cloud his life and career He could not conquer himself, but his tremendously earnest talks on tenn perance drove many a rum-bogged Texan to lifelong sobriety.
 Demolished Gambling House.
 .'It 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 accomp- Iished his famous feat of literally kicking the gambling establishment of Jim P"a- field in Guthrie, to kindlng wood.
 'That happened in the early days of Guthrie Jim Penfield started the first faro bank and all-around gambling plant in the new settlement. One night Temple Houston, who had only got into Guthrie from Woodward few hours before on some law business, wandered into the Penfield plant before the big business of the night had begun. The only player In the room was reckless young chap from St. Louis, with whose father Hous- ton was well acquainted. Temple recog- nized 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 while, to get the run out of the box, as the gamblers express It, before sitting In himself
 "He hadn't been standing by five min utes before he observed with astonish- ment that Sam Callahan, the dealer, was taking advantage of the drunken boys condition and engaging in the double-slip thing-which was made easy enough Tor 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 Penfield's gam bling plant to be on the level, and he wanted to be sure he wasn't making any mistake. Presently Penfeld himself walk ed 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 a lightning side glance at Penf1eld to see if the proprietor had noticed the cheating. His eye caught Penfelds, who had turned quick santwise gaze upon Houston to note whether the latter had seed the dirty box work.
 Houston strolled over to the window, threw his cigar out of it and then re- turned to where Penfield was standing.
 "s'Penfield.' he said, quietly, you've got crook for dealer, and you know it. Which is by way of saying that you're d-d crook ourself.'
 Nobody knew better than Temple Houston 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 Penfeld's face before Houston wrapped both of his powerful arms around Pen fields rugged body. With his left hand Houston snatched Penfield's gun out of the gamblers rear right-hand pocket. Then suddenly strengthening up and thrusting Penf1eld away from him. Hous- ton landed a terrific blow with his mal- let-like right fist on the point of Pen fields jaw, knocking the gambling house proprietor sense1ess.
 Laid Out the Dealer.
 By this time Sam Callahan, the deal er-and Sam was himself bad lot from the Cochise country-who had sat stunned during the early part of the performance. was grabbing a gun out of the table