The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-06-16

Ciothiers' association convention at At
lantic City to flooding Connecticut with
bogus wood alcohol distilled from nut
megs.
lone spring me and Andy had been
over in Mexico on a flying trip during
which a Philadelphia capitalist had
paid us 81 800 for a half interest in a
silver mine in Chihuahua. Oh, yes, the
mine was all right. The other half in
terest must have been worth two or
three hundred thousand. l often Won
dered who owned that mine.
I'm coming back to the United States
me and Andy stubbed our toes against
a little town in Texas on the bank of
the Rio Grande. The name of it was
Bird City; but it wasn't. The town had
about 1900 Inhabitants, mostly men. I
figured out that their principal means
Of existence was in living close to tall
chaparral. Some of 'em were stockmen
and some gamblers and some horse
peculators, and plenty were in the
smuggling line. Me and Andy put up
a hotel that was built like something
between a roof garden and a sectional
bookcase. 1t began to rain the day we
got there. AS the saying is. Juniper
Aqusrius was sure turning on the wa
ter plugs on Mount Amphibious.
Now, there were three saloons in
Bird City. though neither Andy nor me
drank. But we could see the towns
people making triangular procession
from one to another all day and half
the night Everybody seemed to know
what to do with as much money as
they had.
THE third day of the rain it Stacked
up awhile i'm the afternoon. so me and
Andy walked out to the edge of town
to view the mudscape Bird City was
b11iIt hot do RI
deep, wide arroyo that used to be the
old bed of the river. The bank between
the stream and its old bed was crack
ing and giving way, when we saw it,
on account of the high water caused
by the rain. Andy looks at it a long
time. That mans intellects was never
idle. And then he unfOlds to me a in
Simultaneous idea that has occurred to
him. Right there we organized a trust; !
and we walked back into town and put
it on the market.
First we went to the main saloon
in Bird City, called the Blue Snake
and bought it. It cost us $1,000. And
then we dropped IN, casual, at Mexican
Joe's place, referred to the rain, and
bought him out for $500. The other
one came easy at $500.
The next morning Bird City woke
up and found itself Sn island. The
llNtI Udu DuSleu through us Olu c0dfl-
mel, and the town was surrounded by
roaring torrents. The rain was still
raining, and there was heavy clouds i'm
the northwest that presa Sed about six
more mean annual rdinfalls during the
next two weeks. But the worst was
yet TO come
Bird City hoped out of it's nest,
waggled its pin feathers and strOlled
out for its matutinal toot. LO, Mex
lean JOe's place was closed, and like
wise the other little 'dobe life-saving
station. SO, naturally. the body polite
emitS thirsty CALCULATIONS of surprise
and ports hellum for the Blue Snake
And what does it find there?
Behind one end of the bar sits JEFF
fers0n Peters. octopus, with d sixshoot-
er on each side of him. ready to make
change or cOrpses as the case may be
There are three bartenders; and on the
wall is a ten-fOOt sign reading: "A1I
Drinks one Dollar" Andy sits on the
safe in his neat blue suit and gold
banded cigar on the lookout for ener-
gencieS. The town marshal is there
with two deputies to keep order. having
been promised free drinks by the trust.
Well, sir. it took Bird City just ten
minutes to realize that it was i'm cage
We expected trouble: out there wasn't
any. The citizens saw that we had
en-. The nearest railroad was thirty
miles away; and it would be two weeks
at least before the river would be ford
able SO they began to cuss, amiably.
ana throw down dollars on tn bar till
It sounded like a selection on the Xylo-
phone