The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1911-05-18
"REMINISCENCES OF OTHER DAYS
''Old Timer" Tells of the Mexican
Border in the Days Gone BY.

| beautiful moonlight night our train
| wound its way along the wild scenery
of DEVILS river where craig and
boulders hung in great black masses
overhead. Here a painted cave, a
rendezvous of the warlike Indian
who in times of pursuit by the Texas
rangers found a safe asylum, and on
the walls of this cave rude paintings
drawn by them representing the In
dian killing the pale face in all forms
are to be seen, and the knife raised
to take the scalp of the hapless one
fallen into their hands. Soon all the
| falls along the river are passed,
mountain after mountain rises in the
distance as we wind along on our
eastern journey. Soon the mountains
become smaller and hills of fantastic
design break into view, some resem-
bling great toad stools, others huge
umbrellas, now cultivated fields are
| to be seen, and the valley of the Rio
Grande is entered. What scene is
prettier than all this by moonlight!
Soon a sharp whistle from the pom
derous mogul is sounded, the brake
man hurries through the train, shouts
eel Paso-change cars for San An
tonic and all points East" On ar
rival it is found the Eastbound train
| has gone. We are three hours late
and twenty-one hours to wait, as the
| next train left next evening at $50.
| This was $50 p. m. we arrived, so
| a chance of seeing the city and our
| Mexican neighbors across the river.
Soon hotel is found and nice sup
per served, then a nice bed with a
soft feather pillow to rest on was
certainly a luxury to the way-worn
| wanderer of the West.
| After a refreshing sleep, the gong
sounds for breakfast. The cool, crisp
mountain air gives tone to the sys-
tenn, and with a spring and bound
the simple toilet soon is made, break
fast disposed of, and ready for the
exploration of two cities. About this
time the proprietor came in, his
eyes blood red, hair disheveled; a
few questions piled to the bright
youth who was clerk revealed the
fact that his employer had spent the
| night at the then Monte Carlo of
America. In company with Chi
cagoan the sight hunting began. To
this bank of faro we went, not to
gamble but to see, to learn, and
there we saw, learned, and were con-
vinced that the gaming table has no
charms for us, even though thous-
ands, yea, tens of thousands of gold
and silver, was in sight. Long rows
of tables extending back for an hum
dred feet or more, each table filled
with four players, heaps of gold
stacked on each, the six-shooters OF
| the players on the corners, all calm,
| not a word spoken, silent as the
/ grave. The players, some of whom
had sat the game three days and
nights, haggard and worn, they look
ed only at the gold, the yellow gold.
On the left was another wing where
| the silver dollars were gained and
lost, for as we stood and watched the
steady flow of Mexicans and Chinese
buy his dollars worth of chips, then
cast on some color of his choice. One
in five took two dollars, the others
marched out empty-handed, not one
displaying any sign of elation or dis
| appointment at his gain or loss.
Soon tired of this we sought the
street; on entering this we came to
| a sharp curve to see a string of bur-
| ros loaded with wood dug out of the
ground, only switches above, but
large roots that supplied the stoves
| and fireplaces of the city. Following
the street railway tracks we came
to the bridge that spanned the Rio
Grande: boarding one were soon on
Mexican soil and in the city of
Juarez, so much talked and written
about now. Here we met pleas
ant-faced old gentleman who proved
to be an official from our govern
ment who took pleasure in plotting
US over the city. A cigar wanted he
led us to the finest or rather the
place where one of the best was OBJ
tainable, also a glass of pure grape
brandy, to all purchasers of a cigar
free who felt so inclined. Here a
cigar store was great festoons of red
strange sight to American eyes in a
peppers extending entirely around
the room, which gave novel effect
to all, and every place visited was