Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1907-06-01
WENT IN A HURRY
MAN LITERALLY ROLLED OUT OF
TROUBLE.
Oid-Tlmer Tells Of Tough Experience
in Western Texas Town Where
the Country Was Wide
Open.


brought out "reminiscences of the early
days when the games were run wide
open in many of the towns OF the
state. Jess Fry of San Antonio, who
was in the front during the construc-
ton of the Southern Pacific through
the western part of Texas, tells this
story.
in 1884 l was railroad and. express
agent at a new station, which was
then the end of the line of the South
ern Pacific This experience of mine
happened on monthly pay day.
Every workingman in camp had
money. Most of them had the gam
bling fever; and leeches from all over
the west were on hand to get their
share of the dinero.
"On this particular day the most
notorious of the professional gamblers
in camp was Ike Winters, who had
come over from Tombstone, Ariz.
Along in the evening Winters and
few others started poker game in
tent which was pitched just at the
edge of a steep hill. When ] got
through with my duties as agent /
went up to take a look at the game.
II was invited to take hand, and
that being about the only way to pass
away the time / sat in. The other
players were sitting upon empty pow
der kegs and boxes, and / went to the
commissary tent near by and got an
empty -four barrel, which / used for
seat.
THE game progressed without in
cident for an hour or two, and then
there occurred the biggest rumpus l
was ever in. There were five or
six players besides Winters. Among
them was half-breed Mexican who
had come over from Mexico with a
reputation as killer.
He was, like Winters, a profession
al gambler. Winters was unacquaint-
ed with this half-breed Mexican. He
took him to be foreman of con-
struction gang, probably. Had he
known his desperate character, don't
believe he would have been so quick
to precipitate the trouble.
''The pot was a large one. The half
breed Mexican and Winters caught
match hands. Both men claimed the
pot. Each started to reach for it
about the same instant, each draw
ing his gun with his right hand. They
fired at each other simultaneously.
That was only the beginning Of
the melee. The light was knocked out,
and in the darkness the flash of pis-
tolls could be seen. l am old enough
now to admit that / was scared.
THE first thought that occurred to
me was that | must seek some place
of safety. Why not crawl into the
empty -four barrel? / got into the bar
rel all right, and was lying there
trembling when one of the gamblers
gave the barrel a kick to get it out
of his way and sent it beneath the
flap of the tent and away it went.
rolling down that steep hill, with me
inside of it.
That hill was nearly half a mile
long, and the barrel went tumbling
down it, humping over stones and
crushing through the desert vegeta-
ton. Toward the end Of the decliv-
ity it was going at a terrific speed.
Il suffered untold agony during that
terrible ride. l could not get out.
I was rolled over and over at the
ate of hundred times second, it
seemed to me. 1t happened that there
were no nails protruding through the
barrel. Had there been I would have
been punctured full of holes.
The barrel finally came to stand
still and / crawled out. was bruised
all over, but managed to pull myself
up the steep hill to the railroad sta
ton. l had escaped from the scene of
the shooting, but / felt that | would
probably have Jared better had re-
manned there.
THE shooting ARRAY resulted in the
killing OF Winters, the half-breed Mex
lean and another gambler. IN. Y.