El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-09-09
BROUGHT FIRST
ALLIGATOR HERE
Lew Gasser's Fatherinlaw
Here After IL Years;
Read Herald 80 Years.

The man who gave FL Paso its first
idea of a cabaret. who brought the
, first alligators to town for the city's
the FL Paso Herald for 50 years. came
! back Friday after an absence of IS
years and marveled at the changes
(, wrought since he was a youth. starting
life in what was. in those days. a raw
| frontier camp
The man is Joseph P. Wagner and 1t
was a sorrowful mission which brought
him to FL Paso. for he is the fatherin-
law of Lew Gasser. who gave his life
( Monday in a vain effort to save a
Mexican from a gas-filled excavation.
! Mr.. Wagner viii be here for several
days at least and stated Friday that
he probably would return here now to
make his home
Was wild and Woody.
'El Paso was truly wild and woody
when I reached here in 1882" Mr. Wag-
ner said. The Santa Fe railroad had
just been built into the CITY and the
town was filled with the toughest
characters Of a rough and raw country
OF course, there were solid citizens
here then, men who have made their
fortunes and have become FL Paso's
leading business men. but the rough
element was far in the majority.
TT was an all-night town, with
gambling going wide open and the
variety theaters crowded with women
and men with money to spend or TO
throw away
Could Not Speak English.
Il was just q young fellow when
arrived and had been out of the Ger
man army only a short time I did not
speak English. but knew that my
brother Frank Wagner was hospital
steward out at Fort Bliss and. with
the aid of the war department. the
mayor and the city council of Ell Paso
and the railroad officials. I finally
located the then frontier fort where
he was stationed and reached him
safely.
q soon saw that there was money
TO be made here in a decent. quiet |
place. where people could get a glass
OF beer and I started a beer garden /,
which I called the Mesa garden near
Boulevard. with features that have |
since developed into the modern cab |
aret- Ny chief attractions in those |
days were five tyrolean singers who 1
could yodel better than Bryan's team
mates on the Chautauqua circuit. and /
a herd or flock Of alligators. brought |
the first alligators for the city plaza
Book Beer Runaway
Back in 1884 on May 1. in order 70 |
advertise some book beer. I got big
float, drawn by four mules. loaded |
barrels of beer. band and four goats
on it and started a parade The train !
coming in frightened the mules. and in |
the runaway that followed a Chinese |
laundry was wrecked, the goats were !
killed and the band was badly bruised
but no one lost his life
Saw Marshal Killed.
Clerks in those days got $500 TO $500
a month Other wages were in pro-
portion. but so was the cost of living.
saw the killing of city marshal |
Dallas Stoudenmire soon after I arrived |
here. One night back in 1884 there |
was a shooting ARRAY in the Gem
heater -Four men were killed and
me was wounded
I have been making my home IN
iorenci, Ariz. for some time. The
mining business up there is booming
nd so are the blind tigers Prohibit
ion is becoming a farce in Arizona !
he men are making big money and
he boot leggers' are getting rich.
hey are charging IS and SIS a quart
u whiskey and 81 bottle for beer"