The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1908-05-29
Los Gatos, Cal, May -, 1903.

Los Gatos, Cal, May -, 1908.
Dear Pioneer Express:
Ever since used to sail chips on a
mud puddle in front of the house after q
rain, I've wanted to see real war YES
sci and now I've gone and went and
done it. Paw says "Whenever you can
get free ticket to a show, go to it,
He said that Teddy had sent the feet
out here at our expense and he thought
we ought to go see it, SO me and Paw
and Nav and Sis went up to Frisco last
week to help whoop 'er up. Say! you
wouldn't believe it to see that city that
they'd had the puddin' shook out Of
them only two years ago and then a fire
come along and lick up what was left.
They've got most beautiful bunch Of
buildings where the debris was the last
time I saw it, and some of 'em tall
enough to "sweep the cobwebs from the
sky" as Mother Goose used to say, and
they're all right up to the minute too
OF course there's lot of holes to be
filed up, but it takes lots of bricks to
do it and lots of mud to make the
bricks, but we've an election coming on
and they'll soon start to throw mud and
I'm in hopes they'll catch enough to
make the bricks. That's better use for
itanyhow, but I digress-as our preacher
used to say.
We thought we'd slide up the day be-
fore the show opened and avoid the
rush, but Gee Whiz! the number of
people that did the same thing was a
corker. There was SOC, 900 ahead of us
actual count, and what beat me was
didn't know dinged one of them. We
started bright and early the next morn
ing for the Preside, which is sort of a
grown up Fort Pembina. Dye remem.
Der how thick Gene Harris bees used to
get on limb in July? Well, that's the
way the street cars were. heard one
man say they was "too damned full for
comfort" or something like that-and as
he weighed about $50 pounds I took his
word for it. 1t was great place for
helping the milliner. There was many
a 'merry widow" started out bright and
crisp that morning that come home at
night all frazzled out.
When we got to the Preside, began
to feel at home. There was the same
old blue uniforms and the same old un-
comfortable-looking ambulances drawn
by the same old docile-looking mules.
The walk through the grounds was a
/. long one-up hill and down. Here we
saw big bunch of cannon of all sizes
and makes, from the vintage of '49 up to
now. The latest ones are the biggest
ones and, like the big boys at school
used to be-the most cowardly, for they
pop up, shoot, and then dodge down
again just like they was afraid. Their
powder has joined the anti.cigarette
league too and don't smoke any more.
Well, after walking about steen miles
it seemed to me, wa arrived at the
Golden Gate, but Lor' what a disap-
pointment. had hoped that we were
early enough that I might be chosen as
one of the bunch that should hold the
Gate open while Fighting Bob and his
boys slid in, but no gate was in sight.
asked why and was told that they had
so dinged many grafters in the city and
that they had stolen the Golden Gate,
run it through the mint, distributed it
among the supervisors, and now they
own benzine buggies, while the most Of
the other people ride in the street cars.
Even the hinges were gone, so took my
place on the hillside, dug my heels into
the sand and waited for the fun to be-
gin. AS far as the eye could reach on
both sides of the bay, the shores were
lined with people just as anxious to see
the show as was.
1t was about noon when they hove in
sight Il guess hove is the word to use)
and the nearer they hoved the more ex-
cited we grew. When the head boat,
which was Bob's, and named after the
wooden nutmeg state, got opposite us,
the folks on the opposite side of the bay
got SO excited Pm dinged if they didn't
shoot right at em-yes they did-and
kept pluggin away until they had fired
21 times, but never hit 'em once. After
they got through Bob fired few just to
let them know he had some ammunition
left. Say. but the boats looked swell.
They had been newly white-washed and
all the top parts, including the smoke
stacks, we're painted nice clean dun
color, and all eighteen Of 'em slid in as
easy as you please in straight line
and exactly the same distance apart.
They didn't look so terrible big to me.
OF course any one Of them looked bigger
than the Chico, still from where I was
they seemed about The proper size for
Ned Cavlleer and G. g. Thompson to
make fishing boats Of, to go up Tongue