The San Angelo press. (San Angelo, Tex.) 1897-1907, 1905-07-20
WEST TEXAS CURED HIM
Tells How lie Waited Expect
Ing to Die, but uot Well.


until he has been condemned to
the cooling board" said Judge Il
J. Hammer, of Colorado City, one
of the most successful attorneys
in Western Texas, who was in
Fort Worth yesterday. "In 1886
/ was pronounced as good as dead
by half score of doctors. / was
told that / had bugs and that
my ascent to the regions above
the clouds was only matter of
short time. One doctor gave me
six weeks to live. Another, more
charitable perhaps, gave me six
months. All Of them, however,
gave ms to understand that the
great reaper was ready to chuck
me in the graveyard.
81 was then living In Calves
ton. After being sentenced for
the last time / made up my mind
that / would go west solely for
the purpose of prolonging my life
few weeks. / remember that
the day before l took the train
from Galveston that | went to
the magnificent beach there. /
saw the waves of the gulf gain
strength as they came toward the
shore. ] saw them break into
pillows saw the pillows roll on
the beach and play with the sand.
/ thought life was beautiful
thing. l heard the song of the
sea and l thought it as grand as
could be made by heavens harp.
II then retraced my steps
through town to the wharves |
saw busy people going to and fro
with never thought that death
was lurking near. / thought
them lucky indeed. j went to
the wharves, where lay the great
ships that sail the seas. Every
one of them was freighted with
the energies of lives. The call of
the sea gull made mockery of my
existence. As ! viewed the busy
'longshoremen / felt that III sight
Of such strong men, weak indeed
was the thread of my life.
81 left Galveston on morning
that was dismal III the extreme.
A misty rain was falling and the
damp atmosphere was oppressive.
But for all this | felt that ] was
leaving a beautiful world. ! went
to Abilene and from that place ]
went to Haskell, where | sat me
down, in a figurative sense, to
await my summons.
Now, this waiting to die is
about the most tiresome PROPOSE
ton that one can tackle. | knew
that ! was doomed, for every doc
tor / had seen had frankly told
me so. / further knew because
on one or two occasions | had
dreamed that / had seen a coffin
and that ! was inside of it. While
not exactly reconciled to the
thought, | had prepared to die.
CATER waiting year for the
end, / began to tire of the job. /
felt neither better nor worse than
/ had when ! first went to Has.
kell. / weighed about the same,
some 1870 pounds. Then | con-
cluded that if had to croak, |
would do it while busy. Instead
of doing nothing during the short
space between the present and
eternity / got busy. The pure air
of that section and the labors
performed soon began to tell Oh
me in n favorable way TO make
a long story short, after eighteen
years / am still here, and am feel
ing as fine as a fiddler. But the
next time doctor tells me that
am getting ready to shuttle, III
tell him that he had better guess
again. The only regretable thing
about my case is that it causec
me to lose a great deal Of faith ii
physicians as whole"
In speaking of condition.
around Colorado City, Judgc
Hammer said that lands that fou
years ago sold for 81 and $3 al
acre are now bringing So anC
$40.
"The cattlemen have abou
made up their minds that thei
days are numbered around Colo
RADIO City," said Judge Hammer
"That section is producing cottol
and other crops as beautifully a
any section in the state. In fac
this year gin has been erected
about thirty miles west of Colo
RADIO City, and next year / ex
pect to see the agricultural lin
, 90 further west atlll ~