South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-04-01
Building

.As s-..zzss@9
durate and uncompromising would
I tunnel the Atlantic. once he began
7 the enterprise. or die at his post.
stone could be a man Of business.
as well as not
The fourth William 5 Carter.
chief of the fremen. has. through
his adventures. the best personal
story OF any in the group. He was
the stratesist who helped 20 arrange
the ropes. IL was Carter. small.
specialized, in motion constantly,
whether sitting down or standing
up, who negotiated the treaty be-
tween the brotherhOods three years
ago last summer in the city OF
{ Washington.
The bargain was not put in writ
ing but the four organizations were
interlocked by an alliance i'm respect
20 wages and hours of labor. Eight
hundred hremen, meeting IN secret.
halted their proceedings on two oc-
casions and listened TO addresses
from Stone and Gerretson Mr.
Stone had Travelled from Ohio and
Mr. Garretson from Iowa, under an
arrangement with Carter, purposely
/ TO say that the men who run the
trains" and move the products Of
the country should, in seIf-interest.
stand together.
Coming from Texas and Massa-
Chusetts, from Cheyenne and Phila-
delphia. the fremen, on departins
for their homes, knew that a battle
was brewing. The four leaders of
the four brotherhoods. they under
stood, would decide the day when
the cannonading should open.
Carter is middle-ased. like the
rest. His father. a confedsrte sol
der died at Vicksburg His mother
married a rancher in Texas at the
close of the Civil war. Carter $50
Pop" Leach, who organized the
/ iiremen in 1873. has said) can talk
all day and hold his audience in
tact. And yet he left school and
went to live with the cattle when
he was nine years old.
I Our house" so runs his story. as
related TO the author of this article,
was made Of hewn logs We had
four rooms downstairs and two in
the story above Comanches were
numerous They stole horses and
murdered settlers, as a side line 10
their regular business.
There were loopholes under the
roof Of the house, through which 10
/ fire our rifles, and anger holes in the
/ logs near the ground. TO which. at
night, we chained our horses. Aus
.
| then, was , miles away.
Il became cowboy long before /
I could climb on the back of a pony
unassisted and spent weeks on the
plains. driving cattle northward 10
/ the railway in southern Kansas. The
cowboys of fiction always wears
goatskin leggings Real cowboys
! wore leggings of smooth leather,
jeans trousers. blue flannel shirts.
red cotton handkerchiefs around
( their necks and fancy boots made
to order often their hats cost S12.
There were hOmicides l admit,
| but the victims and their murderers
were the riffraff of the ranges. They
were the ruffians who shot up the
! towns when drunk and were eventu-
ally shot up themselves by the Texas
rangers. l associated with cattle
and cowboys until l was is. living
| out of doors winter and summer and
carrying books along so that l could
read in the saddle or on the ground
when we camped at night.
"A man, Baker by name. owned a
ranch and 500 cattle 20 miles from
our headquarters. He wanted
manager TO tidy up the place so that
/ he could sell out and quit the bust
ness. / was recommended 10 him
/ by my step-father.
When the ranch changed hands,
! Baker telegraphed-the message be
! ing brought many miles over the
prairies-that he would like 10 hire
me as the superintendent of his
tramrOad. / wired my acceptance,
though tramroad was a word that I
| had never heard of before.
Part of my journey was done in
/ a day coach 1t was a strange ex-
perience Up TO that time | had al
ways travelled on horseback. I had
a gun on my hip and was ready for
all corners. Red morocco was inlaid
on the tops of my black boots y
new handkerchief was around my
neck. I asked no questions and gave
no information.
THE tramroad. l found led from
the railway TO Bakers sawmills,
seven miles back in the forest. The
ties were slabs and the rails were
wood. Each train consisted of one
car. IL was pulled by three mules
hitched in single file. The engineer
was a cOlored man with a loud voice
and "A black-snake whip.
! lived we'll and bossed 90 Negroes
and harmful of draft animals but
| civilization grew monotOnouS.