El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-10-24

APT" JAMES BEGGS came by
his title in the civil war be-
~ tween the north and south He
went in as a private in a PENNSYLVANIA
REGIMENT (the Bucktails), and was
bonorablv discharged at the end OF the
war with the title that ne was entitled
n hear until the day Of his death NOT
like the majority Of theutled olsna-
taries of the southwest, cOloAels' CoC-
80 iudges. etc Capt Beggs had
- I5is 1aurels- and spurs, and
e+-ines- on the field Of battle ana no
70erl wearing them was more proud
over Il than Capt BegEs- "a.
first met him IN Mexico ABOUT 20
he was running a passenger tram on
+ba Mexican Central. and many ana many
we're the happy hours we spent at tns
end Of our runs, in taking. over OIu
times and telling frontier tales Given
a ogod appetizer, a sooG me- L--,- . 80
cigar an easy chair in the evening anu
Can't BeCgs was in his glory
Almost everybody in the western
country at some time or announcer ineSts
one Of those genuine old lllneIs' VINO
Tave been through the mill, from rust
ling cattle, up TO managing railroad.
and who has the gift OF telIng Eoou
story Of the cattle trail the roundup
fights with indians and tram ropoeTs.
experiences Of mirth and mystery; OF
love anu inc Ae-se---'
of the Texas frontier
Loved His Joke
Like most all Of these old IlIIeIs l1S
caDtain dearly loved his joke he lolu
me of a trick he played once on d 5 Mllole
community Of people, laWye Es. DOCTORS
Judges. scientists included AFTER tle
Zra- ne came TO Texas, and was mace
land AGENT on the Texas PaclIlcr unuer
rom Scott His business was 10 60
ahead with the locating engineers ana
-7irl- ont toyynsites, and good bodleS OF
Government land Tor the oIIlclaIs %
The company, who were DONG d Al-e
specializing on the side
He finally located in one OF the new
towns west Of Fort Worth, intending 70
speculate a little himself There was a
rival townsite company, owned by Ie1as
caDftaL which was locating IN op-
Dosition. This made times nFeIy, anu
filled the towns with seJtIers anu I-lllu
boomers cowmen, tinhorn gamblers.
and everything else that generally goes
70 make up the ideal frontier town
Decided to Dig Well.
The lack Of water was the one SIeat
drawback through that country ana
can't Jim decided TO dig well Tor the
benefit Of his town Men were put 10
work and when down about 40 rect
struck an underground flow OF water
that drove the men out IN hurry All
was excitement and everyone was
eIated. People flOcked around TO see
the wonderful sight Of fine wen OF
water. out in that arid, prairie country
Some few days before this capt
Beggs had been on a fishing trip to dis
tant stream. and had brought home
about two dozen minnows IN BUCKET
of water and had kept them alive IN
fountain Of water at his home ME
everybody was away at dinner
thought struck him TO have Joke on
his fellow townsmen- He caught his
minnOws and quitely slipped over 70 the
well and lowered the bucket down into
the water. The fish all went into the
well
After dinner the crowd began to
conEreEare, with a great many curl
osity seekers added TO It, TO see the
new we'll; and one OF the WorkIneh
veutured down on rope and bucket
to recover some Of the tools that had
been abandoned in the hurry Of getting
ont of the way Of the water
Very quickly he discovered the 1lsh
swimming around. He gave a shout
that there were 1lsh IN the Wei men
the fun commenced Some were rude
enough to shout down and ask what
had he been drinking others sug-
rested he look a little closer and ne
might see snakes as well as Ilsh- Dul
other unbelievers lowered down a
bucI5er and he caught and sent up
rninnov to prove that IL was a fact
that fish were in the well
Discovery Causes Sensation.
The news spread; people Hocked IN
from all sides TO see the wonderful
fish found alive in q well Of water 40
feet deep, several miles from any
known stream Newspaper men wrote
articles describing the seven days won
der Some claimed the fish were blind
and others that they must be unknown
TO the scientific world A spectacled
scientist came in, wisely examined one
Of the fish. and pronounced them new
and probably a rare specie and most
wonderful discovery, under very re-
narlzabIe conditions He wrote a very
profound description, full OF technical
terms. describing the fish for the bene-
fit Of the scientific societies
Can't BeEgs plodded on his daily
rounds looking wise as an old owl,
and when told about the discovery Of