Shiner gazette. [volume] (Shiner, Tex.) 1893-current, 1908-04-30

hand clasp, pledge prosit" with
upturned mugs
Here, toe, from many a noun
attn ranch come Englishmen
and Scotchmen, tall, fair-haired,
broad-shouldered, enjoying with
stole placidity the whole bloom
ing row, willing enough to
pledge Texas independence, or
even American Independence,
anything or everything except
the bloody Beef Trust. One met
also dapper Frenchmen and
wandered perhaps into one of a
hlaf dozen cafes where the wines
of Texas served as a substitute
for the vintage of old France.
Swarthy Polacks, too, from their
settlement of the Medina River,
and big, tow-headed Swedes,|
mingle in the procession. Then,
too, was grinning Sambo, of eb-
ony hue, with his high white col
lar and rolling eyes, and many
a dusky damsel, clad in an array
of color that would put Solo
mons glory to shame.
The dominant factor, howev-
er, in this cosmopolitan fete is
the Anglo-SaXon, and to him it is
essentially an historical celebra-
ton. Remember the Alamo" is
blazoned in flowers by day and
electric lights by nights. The lit
tie chapel of the Alamo, all that
is now left of the famous mis-
sion of San Antonio De Valero,
is the shrine to which his pill
grimage is made, for here was
enacted one Of the bloodiest and
most heroic of all the events of
American history.
Col. William B. Travis, with
176 Americans, among whom
were the celebrated Col. James
Bowie, inventor of the Bowie
knife, and David Crockett, the
frontier philosopher, were be-
sieged in that little stone chapel
by an army of Mexicans vari-
ously estimated at from five to
seven thousand. But a week
before. the Mexican commander,
General Santa Anna, had sane
toned the murder of a band of
Americans acquired at Goliad.
And now Colonel Travis and his
men knew only too well that to
surrender or retreat meant COM
plete humiliation. Gathering his
men into the nave of the chapel,
Colonel Travis explained to them
the gravity of the situation. "If
we surrender" he said, eve will
be shot without taking the life
of a single Mexican. If we
try to escape through the Mexi-
can lines we shall be butchered
before we can dispatch our adj
versaries. Yet, to every man l
give permission to surrender or
escape. My desire and decision
is to remain in the fort and fight
as long as breath remains in my
body. But, do as you think
best, each of you, and those who
consent to remain with me to
the end will give me joy unspeak-
able"
Then, amid a solemn and OPP
pressive silence, he stepped back
and drew line with his swords
point across the dirt floor of the
chapel. "Those who will remain
with me and fight till we die,
step across this line"
Then was a moments pause
and Colonel Bowie, who lay on
his cot helpless, with pneumonia,
said: "Will two of you boys
carry me over, l am not able to
walk" AS the cot bearers
moved forward, teh entire garri-
son, except one man, moved res
olutely across the line.
Colonel Travis hurried to the
ramparts and answered Santa
Annals summons to surrender
with cannon shot. AT once a
red flag was run up on the tower
of the Cathedral of San Fernan-
do, a signal for utter destruction
of the garrison. So the terrible
siege began, and for twelve days
the handful of American SOL
diers, by desperate and incessant
fighting, held the Mexican ar
nv. that outnumbered them thir-