El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-12-04

y Z II y
to be-" said Frank W. Mulock,
Il known as Chicken, the tramp
reporter" while WAITING for his private
box CIR, at the Ell Paso freight yards
in 1892 I had good job on the Chi
Cago Inter Ocean, and when G L
YerkeS the former street car mag
nate bought the paper, he put in an en-
tireIy new staff and that let me out. L
went to Hammond, Ind, to catch
train for Indianapolis AS the Monon
flyer started out, I jumped aboard the
blind baggage. The snow and sleet
was falling fast and it was so cold my
coat sleeve was frozen fast to the
handbars Of the baggage coach. When
I got settled on the blind I noticed a
fellow passenger, who told me he was
a drygOOds clerk, thrown out of WORK
We rode as far as Monticello, Ind,
when the negro porter came up to US
and told US that he knew we were on
the train all the time, but that We
could not ride any further. We pleaded
with him to let US stick and he SAID
that if we could stand it he could.
when the train stopped for the en-
gine to get water, the kind hearted
engineer came back to US and invited
US to come up into the engine and get
warm. We accepted his invitation, but
when we returned to our places on the
blind, we felt the cold more than ever
At about 8 o'clock in the morning we
arrived in Indianapolis nearly frozen
NV new found friend said he had an
aunt that he was going TO look up
and I was left alone. I liked up TO
the Sentinel office and got thaWed out
in the stereotyper's room and laid down
for a short nap.
Gets Sunday Scissor Assignment.
AT noon I braced the managing
editor for a Job, and he gave me an
assignment interviewing some dele
gates to a state Sunday school con-
ventiOn- Two days work in the Indi-
ana capital found me without a JOB
again and I struck out for Cincinnati.
The railroad detectives watched the
passenger trains 50 closely that 1 was
compelled TO take freight.
4 arrived in 'Cincy without any
thing special happening. l brushed up
my clothes and visited John r. Nc
Lean, owner of the Cincinnati En-
quirer. I asked him for work and she
gave me a note to the managing ed
itOr, who assigned me to a boarding
house with the orders to wash and
feed I'D An hour later 1 returned to
the office and was assigned to report
a political meeting. In two more days
I was again adrift.
while in the Ohio metropolis met
Gene Miller, who had a boot on one
foot and a shoe on the other, with a
two months growth of beard, long
hair and a straw hat. I Staked him 10
a shave and hair cut, a second hand
hat and pair of shoes. Miller had for
meTly been the society editor on the
Inter Ocean and was considered the
Beau Brummel of Chicago newspaper
dom While in the Windy city he
hardly deigned TO speak to me. In his
hard luck he was glad to claim me as
a friend. Miller induced me TO go 10
New Orleans with him, telling me that
he had a brother in the Crescent city
who was president of the street car
system and electric light works and
that we would be in clover when we
got there I fell for 1t and we
started.
I'VE were a week getting to Cairo.
Ill, riding passenger trains, freight
trains and anything we could eaten
When we got to Cairo, we got on the
back end of a Pullman sleeper, ana nad
Just settled down to a smoke, when the
conductor came out with the porter
and the conductor said in gruII
voice, Where you guys going L an
sWered that we were going Just as Iar
as his generosity would permit 'Inat
will be about a mile, down a the
water tank I pleaded with him and
told him we were not common hODOeS,
but newspaper men, temporarily
stranded. After showing letters OF rec
ommendatiOn, he softened and told US
when we got to the water tank to get
off and go up front and ride IN the
smoking car. He furnished US each
with a punched slip and we rode until
morning, when the conductor got OH
the train that being the end OF his run.
He slipped US a quarter for cotIee ana
sinkers and wished US good luck
I'VE were still 300 miles from our
destination, and the weather changS1
from snow to cold rain After riding
until midnight on a freight train be
tween the engine and front box car,
we reached a division point. both soak
ing wet We went into a little house,
where sand was being kept not lot Ine
engines, for the purpose OF drying out.
but on entering we found about 40
naked hobOes. with their clothes
steaming on the hot sand drum. me
smell was worse than a Chicago pack
ing house and-We beat it for the local
hotel A big, husky negro was acJng
as night clerk and Informed US that
lodging was two pits LOT rallro1a ts
We told him we were couple OF
freight brakemen, which was true. as
we were both broke and riding trelShts-
Writes Up n Ball.
About noon the following day we
went out foraging and visited the edi-
tor of the local weekly, who told US he
could do nothing for US As we were
going up the street the editor called US
back and wanted to know if we could
write up a ball that we had never
seed We replied in the affirmative
and with a copy Of the program, with
the names of the different committees
tor, Miller got busy and commenced
grinding out real Chicago society
dope, while I wrote half column lead.
We described the beautiful, rich and
gorgeous costumes of the women at
the ball and we described the wonder
full decorations of the ball room We
wrote about four columns of stuff that
would have covered the inaugural ball
of the early days of Washington The
editor read it over with great Satisfac-
ton and after putting the copy away
in a drawer, he handed US the munifi
cent sum of 80 cents, which was just
a little over the price of a meal We
took the 80 and yelled for more, and
he finally dug up 20 cents more OF