The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-09-18
GAaIBLm- FOR HIS LIFE.
American, Stranded I'm Mexican Town,
Takes Desperate Chance.


counts himself a loser in the long run.
whether he is lucky or not" said the
mining promoter as he tarried over
his post-luncheon cigar in New
street cafe. I've bumped m against
ABOUT every hazard in the category of
| chance, piktng away at penny ante or
pIanklng down thousand-doIlar yell
low boy on the ponies. Yet the only
winner was when 1 made a lucky
| turn at that most sordid OF games,
| craps On that occasion more than
money was at stake, for with every
! nip OF the dice 1 knew that my lib
| erty, my health, and perhaps my life,
| were involved.
Il had gone to Mexico on a land
coIon1z1ng scheme, the purpose OF
which was the development of a rich
| aHuV1aI jungle about $50 miles up the
Panaco river from Tampico, in Mexi-
CO. There were millions in it, as Col
onel Sellers might have said. but I
didn't find them At the end of a
month I found myself back in Tam
pico with SIS Mexican.
THAT SIS Mex didn't drive away
the blues resultant from being 5000
miles away from home, friendIess, out
of a job and practically dumb, for L
knew just about enough Spanish to
inquire the way to the dingy little no.
tel My ignorance of the language
kept me from getting a white mans
job, and as for manual labor, could
mt hope to compete with poems at 30
cents Mexican per day and a kilo of
corn every Saturday. Then came the
coast fever, caused by drinking that
fever-germed aqua, with its bitter
sanitary conditions. I had to quench
my thirst with lemonade at the hotel
bar. two drinks for a quarter and the
constant diet of fish kept my mouth
parched all the time
Il got my first real scare when went
to doctor. He was a splendid young
chap. member Of fine Philadelphia
family The Lord only knows what turn
OF the wheel ever sent him to that cor
ner of the world.
:" Get out of this country, young man.
he commanded You'll die IL you stay
here A sea voyage will fix you up in
six weeks. and then you can come back
If you want to-"
back here If get away I replied But
I haven't the money to pay for steam
ship ticket
" so it's that way he humrned with
an ominous raising of eyebrows. DO
you owe any money!
About two weeks board bill and a
bar BILL 1 answered.
Bad, bad he muttered. Mexico Is q
tough place for the busted Gringo- No
one-not even his own countrymen-wiu
aid or respect him His only chance, If
he's in debt, is to obtain passage on
some ship stoker or deck hand. He's
g. wonder if he can escape the eye of
these white uniformed Mexican police.
The American debtor is a marked man.
He can't walk a block that the word
is not passed along to the next police
man. Nothing will be done until he tries
to board a train or something of the
sort and then he can call himself lucky
If he gets out of one of these vile dun
geons in less than eight months or a
year In your fix that would mean
death. Now write to your friends and
get some help Meanwhile. steer clear
of the railroad stations
"Only the man who has been strand
ed in some tropical port can appFe-
cfate how such place becomes re-
ceptacIe for human driftwood- Two
days after struck Tampico ran face
to face with a man I had known in
tinately in Chicago. I was on the
point of saying Hello. Chapman
when the hotel keeper called him
Collins Then I remembered that he
had been treasurer of a little South
Side building and loan concern and
kept my mouth shut
consequently when I bumped into
an old acquaintance one day 1 waited |
for him TO say something. He did He |
sprang the usual: How are you
fxed?'
:" Fiat replied.
/" same here. except this he said. |
pulling out a half dollar. He sug-
gested refreshments with the air of |
he tried to stifie his thirst with Chi
huahua beer. topped of with a tum- |
bier of mescal. I found he still had |
his old name-Wayne. and old An
thony, from whom he claimed descent |
never could have shown himself more
of a madcap than that same James |
Julian Wayne. He dug up money
how, I never knew-just enough to |
tank up with. but never enough to pay /
his board bill He kept those white /
zrfa \
patio of the hotel when he got on a |
tear. and he was the terror of every |
keeper of dance hall in the town He |
had an average of two fights a day, |
and one time kept him from being /
run through with a sword cane only |
by stepping in between him and a |
Greaser dandy with a chair and
off a whole crowd of
braves.
"MescaI had produced a wholesome
answer to one OF my letters came
bringing a draft for $35. 1t was
enough to square my hotel bill, but
not enough to pay for steamship
S67 Mexican. paid the hotel bill and
had about $50 left
'sWayne was sober enough to want |
to get out of town. The only way to
pet the wherewithal was to risk our
resources at some gambling joint. We
had set our mark at the price of
massage to New York We had de-
ctded to be satisfied with the steerage.
and If we had little extra money we
exnected to be able to get second
cabin comforts from the steward and
purser-
.sIn the gambling Joint we entered
Rad NV choice of monte. roulette or
crars OF course. there was poker. but
7 wanted to tackle one Of the house
knew nothing of monte. The
roulette wheel was in charge of two
shriveIed croupiers that made the ball
-rrliT, for three minutes before IL stop
ped. I didn't like such slow action I
wanted be broke or a big winner as
quickly as possible. Then 1 knew that
craps was new to that part of Mexico.