The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1914-01-15

In town was started, every automo-
bile and fire cracker let loose. The
guns at Fort Houston belched forth
their welcome to the new born year
and cannon crackers and sky rock.
cts roared and whistled In all direc.
tons. People who at other times are
considered perfectly sane,yelled like
Comanche Indians. turned their coats
wrong side out. wore Ounce caps and
cut up more antics than Queen Dido
ever dreamed of. The streets were
packed with humanity and the hotels
and restaurants, clubs and ball rooms
were gay with brave men and women,
: The flower and chivalry of the, city
for one memorable hour mingled with
the street arab and the peon and
screamed till vocal chords refused to
further obey. IL was mad, but
glorious night, and il Is we'll that q
holiday followed, as very few were
left who were ready for the duties
OF business so soon.
In an aggravated form, the southern
people, and especially those in the
winter resorts, welcome the coming
of a new year with a superstitios
expectation as giving promise of
change for something better. Hid
den away in the days to come they
| feel that fame and good fortune
await them. There is sense of fate
in their lives, causing them to wish
to commemorate the end of one per-
iod. and the start of another mile
stone in their careers. That spells
the delirium into which the enitial
hour of every succeeding year is
plunged. That hour means at least
a temporary farewell to gloom and a
reign of cheer, common alike to the
lpalatal home and the peasants cot.
1t Is the one great occasion of the
lyear,-and somehow a tenderfoot is
glad that the year does not have
birthdays oftener, especially if he is
tired and sleepy. 49,.
We had bad luck in trying to find
the people in San Antonio that we
knew and wished to see. Our time
was limited and the New Year festiv-
tiles upset all business arrangements.
Peter Hammes, brother of our John,
makes his headquarters at the Mer-
ger Hotel, but he was out of town
when We called. Chas Schaff, who
for so many years sold paper on the
road in Iowa for the Carpenter Paper
Company, is located in san Antonio,
but he has not been there long
enough to get his name in the city
, directory, or telephone red book.
, We enquired at the hotels and news
paper offices, but they could not
place him. And the afternoon we set
aside to visit DR.. and Mrs. J. S. Hen
derson Mr.. and Mrs. Frank Lofland,
and Fred Green's sister, Mrs. Kenney,
they were all out automobile riding,
, with Walter Johnson as chauffeur.
f We talked with Mrs. Henderson later
over the telephone, and it seemed
awfully good to hear one familiar
: voice so far from home.
Down at the depot we bumped in,
to Houston Barns, the captain of the
) red caps. The red caps are not a
7 hostile force, but the very opposite
a bunch of courteous colored por-
tiers who look after the needs and de.
sires of the patrons of the Southern
Pacific Railway. Barns is another
one of those fellows with whom you
get acquainted one minute and the
next feel that you have known him
; always. Our train was due out at
$50, but as usual. it was two hours
late. Captain Barns, however made
the time pass rapidly. His actions
were as free hearted and amusing as
!, are the sights in the Pathe Weekly.
For life to Captain Barns is one grand
round of pleasure and good deeds
OF course he does not object to tips
to help the railroad afford him a liv,
ing, but pay is a second consideration
: to Barns.
! - - =.
Growing confidential Captain
, Barns said he was entitled to no It'll.
, es and honors were few and far be-
tween. He had just two badges, one
inscribed. with the number he held
among the porters, the lucky mum.
Der seven" or this he was proud
but it meant little to him other than
a means of Identification. The other
badge was a master Mason emblem
pin. In referring to it, Captain Barns
raised his cap and in all seriousness
said: Boss, dere am de one thing
that | hold sacred. | would lay down
my life for a brother in dat order,
and it's teachings are dearer to me
than anything else except the love
of my family" Tears came to his
eyes as he spoke, and the Roustabout
got his first real lesson in the beauty
of the brotherhood that meets on the
level and parts on the square. There
are $500 colored Masons in Texas,
and the lodge to which Barns belongs
is No. of San Antonio. 1t alone has
about five hundred members.
| - :: -
Ell Paso is in the same state as
San Antonio, and yet FL Paso is $40
miles west from San Antonio,-not
exactly, perhaps, as the crow flies,
but as the Southern Pacific railway
runs. Six hundred and twenty miles
is some distance. 1t is almost as far
as from Oskaloosa to Pittsburg, or
would carry an Oskaloosa resident to
Chicago and back and give him side
trip to Rose Hill and return. And
what a stretch of sage brush and
cacti. We did not see enough other
vegetation on the trip to fill a silo
4