Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-12-31

| six years old. To me this man ap'
! peared to be in the last stages o.
consumption. j told the old fellow
! to cut out his argument and leave
the other fellow alone. Upon hear.
| ing this he squirted a we'll directed
stream of tobacco juice through his
| front teeth, which landed on my
shoe / instantly admired and re-
+ spected his accuracy. saw m!
authority waning and knew that
would have to answer this insui \
| quickly. ] took two or three quicf
steps forward and swung on his Jaw
with my fist. His head went III
against the iron bunk with a SICK.
| ening sound and he crumpled up ant
! fell on the deck, the blood pourins
| from the cut in his head. | felt SICK
and faint, thinking that he had beer
! killed, but it would not do to show
| these signs of weakness on my part
so without moving toward him Or
dered one of the men to look hin
over and see if he was all right. He
soon came around. From that time
on he was the most faithful man ir
the section and greatly respected ms
The rest of the men growled ant
mumbled and 1 thought | was in toI
a terrible beating. Lying close a.
| hand was an iron spike about Il
! inches long. Grasping this, L turned
to the rest, trying to be as tough
as 1 possibly could:
"If any of the rest of you buns
think they are boss around here
start something, and l will sink this
into their head" Although l was
quailing underneath, still 1 got away
with it, and from that time on l was
boss of my section.
Now every man was smoking OF
chewing tobacco. Pretty soon the
hold became thick with smoke, and
/ was gaSping for breath, when the
voice of the foreman came down
the companionway:
Turn out on deck and give hand
loading the horses. Look alive or I'll
come down there and rouse you out
pretty - quick"
We needed no second invitation
and lined up on the deck. 1 looked
over the rail. On the dock Were
hundreds of the sorriest looking
specimens of horseflesh | have ever
laid eyes on. These horses were in
groups of ten or twelve, being held
by horsemen from the New Jersey
stockyards. A lot of the men who
had shipped as horsemen had never
led horse in their HE, and it was
pitiful to see their fear.
The foreman let out a Volley OF
oaths for them to move quickly, and
they decided to accept the lesser evil
and take chance with the horses.
Then the work of loading COM
menced.
j have been in n Cavalry regiment
when hurry orders were received
to entrain for the Mexican border
and helped to load eleven hundred
horses on trains. The confusion on
that dock was indescribable. The
horses were loaded by three run
ways. My gang and [ were detailed
on the after runway. The foreman
was leaning over the rail, glaring
down upon us and now and then
giving instructions mixed with hor-
rible oaths. He had huge marlin
spike in his hand. On the dock was
the second foreman, in his large
sombrero, n red neckerchief around
his neck, wearing a blue shirt with
the sleeves rolled up to the elbows
and in his right hand a coiled lariat.
1t did ones heart good to see him
rope the horses which broke loose
Upon watching his first performance
l knew l was correct when l figured
him as having Mexican blood in his
veins.
A bleary-eyed drunk was trying to
lead a horse by the halter up ouI
run. He was looking back at the
horse, at the same time tugging and
jerking on the halter. You could see
the white in the horses eyes, and
knew right away, from my expert.
ence with horses, that this was q
bad one, or, as we would term him
in the Cavalry, an OUTLAW" This
drunk was cursiAg and swearing an6
kicking up at the horses head. The
foreman saw this and directed hi:
barrage at the offender.
How in HI do you expect tC
lead q horse while looking at him
Turn your back to him, you lousy
bum. You are blocking the whole
run. Turn your back to him, / say
You can't lead him that way. II
come down there to you, I'll soon
show you how to get him aboard
The bleary-eyed one became be-
wildered and in his excitement los
his footing on the slippery runway
and fell underneath the horse. u
the same time loosening his hold or
the halter chain. The horse jerkeC
his head loose, reared up, turned
around and made a break for the
dock. The man on the gangwa1
tried to scramble Gdt of the way. The
horse, in wheeling, let fly with botf
heels and caught him below the
right ear with his near hind foot
With a piercing shrek the drunl
clasped both hands to his head, fel
over backward and rolled down L
the foot of the gangplank, and lay
there in a crumpled heap, the blood
pouring from his nose, mouth ant
the wound below his ear.
Upon hearing this shrek severa
of the men leading their horses il
| their fright turned them loose, anC
there was a mad stampede on th'
! dock.
The pasty-faced horseman, whom
| / had helped out a little while befor,
in the argument about his bunk wa'
standing near the runway, holding
on to q horse. He turned his hors'
| loose and rushed to the bloody mas
which was twitching with convulsivt
! shudders. The foreman, on seeing
| this accident, snapped out a Ions
string of curses, which almost froz'
my heart:
"What did I tell you? Didn't tel
you not to look at him? 1 knew
| you would get it, and damned goot