Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-08-25
INVASION OF TEXAS
BY GREASERS IN 1915
Rancher m in Texasl

Lyford, Tex, Aug. Is. 1915.-If you
left the peaceful persuits OF agriculture
and came spinning into town at the
pleasant gait Of about twenty miles an
hour and were met at the postoffice by
an excited citizen who advised that
you grab your gun and informed you
that the Mexicans had shot up the
town Of Sebastian and killed a lot Of
people and were coming on up to- Ly-
ford to repeat the proposition and your
gun was back at the ranch five miles
away along with your wife and family,
how scared would you be?
But for the serious phases OF it, It
would be Job more for Mark Twain
with his white dress suit than for any
high-browed. kahki pantalooned war
correspondent to describe the condi-
tons In south Texas for the last few
days. Everybody carried bunderbuss
of some kind with his pockets rammed
full OF buckshot shells. Ranchmen and
everybody assembled at Lyford to with
stand the. seige.
A Greaser is q cross between the
aboriginese Indian and the Moors who
came from Spain with Cortez and the
other high booted gentlemen. When a
Greaser is going to do anything to yctf
he first sends you word how he Is go
ing to cut and carve and shoot you up.
Then he makes his plans to do it sew
eral days later. So after shooting up
Sebastian which they had threatened
to do some time ago, they sent word to
Lyford that It was next and We have
been waiting for our fate ever since.
The trouble with citizens posses Is
that every man is general and there
are no privates so II the Mexicans had
carried out their threat instead OF
leaving It till mannana, they would
have found the citizens with their
blunderbusses pretty easy prey. Very
few had rifles. Some Of the people had
shotguns and most of these had shells
for duck and quail and few had any
buckshot.
Somebody heard they were coming
by the east road and while everybody
was looking that direction and prepar-
ing to defend the place from there they
left the west road unguarded and then
came the report that they were coming
by the west road. Then somebody
thought what a safe place 1t would be
to get up on the bank building which
IS OF brick and has q sort Of breast
works around the roof. Then every
body wanted to get up there because
it was the safest place for their own
hides. And what would the world OF
commerce do II one of us should be re-
moved from this vail of tears.
The first night after they killed the
two men at Sebastian dozen OF us
slept on the printing office roof which
to- ~
hard time getting into comfortable po-
sitions till 1880 when German boy left
to guard the upper cotton gin got shot
and ran four blocks with a bullet hole
clear thru him within an inch Of his
heart. and firing his rifle every few
steps to attract our attention. No
body every saw a bed as soft as that
gravel roof was right then.
But by morning we had begun to get
little Of the taste of war in our nos
trils When several bad Greasers
showed up on the streets, they were
poked in the ribs rather rudely with
rifles and shot guns and a dozen or
SO corralled for safe keeping.
About the time we all got brave
enough to stand OF the whole Of Mex
leo there was report that several
ana linen che excitement started all
over again.
I believe we could have handled the
situation all right If it hadn't been
right at that time that train came
in from the north with q troop Of cav
airy and the way they took the glory
away from US was q caution. Some
body ran over and told the captain and
in about three minutes and twenty
seconds his entire troop was covering
every avenue OF approach to the city
and all the men hid in .le grass like
quail and you wouldn't have known
there was soldier In town. Then the
citizens all ran for safety to the tops
OF the brick buildings where the
Greasers didn't come. The next day
when there came q scare of tina; kind
che captain locked all the loose citizens
couldn't be seen but even then the
Mexicans didn't come so we missed all
the fun.
A Mexican Is something like coyote.
He sneaks around in the brush and If
no one is In sight or II everybody is
unarmed he Is very brave and dashes
out in q gallant manner and robs your
hen roost or shoots you full Of holes.
BY scurrying thru the brush the rang
ers and soldiers have had several
brushes with them and up to date have
killed forty or SO Of them with a loss
Of two pr three soldiers. I have seen
coyotes stand by the roadside as one
rode by and would hardly move when
Won threw sticks at them bu. no COYOTE