Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1926-12-12
MOODY STEN0G HE IN ROBBERY
I'M OUR
VALLEY
so. THE TERRIBLE truth is out!


Senator Earle B. Mayficld did not,
after all. kill Mexican lion on the
occasion of his hunt in the vicinity
Of Raymondville a few weeks ago.
Press dispatches from there said
the senator killed lion.
Nobody took the trouble to deny
il.
They Just let the press dispatches
stand
But, when Senator Mayfield was at
n breakfast at Washington the other
day, given by President Coolidge
and attended by both republicans
and democrats, he was asked to de-
scribe the thrilling kill in all its
sordid details
On whicn the senator, seeing re-
publicans about and sensing pos
sible senatorial Investigations, de-
cided the time had arrived to deny
the lion killing story. And he denied
it, teetotally and posiluteiy.
Down here in the Valley, know
ing the newspaper correspondents
and their reliability, we are sure
that it was modesty on the part of
the senator rather than fairy tale"
correspondence that lies at the bot
tom OF the whole thing.
HOWEVER THAT may be, here Is
what the Washington correspondent
of the Dallas News has to say on
the breakfast and Senator Mayfield's
lion story.
Senator Earle r. Mayfield Of
Texas was enc Of several demo
cratic members Of the senate guests
at President Coolidge's o'clock
breakfast Wednesday. being a con-
tinuation of the presidents policy
of gathering members of congress
together for a discussion Of such
matters as he desired to lazy he
fore them. Wednesdays breakfast
differed from others at the White
House this winter in that the guests
were Of both political parties.
.'As the breakfast neared the last
offensive upon the New England
combination. someone suggested that
Senator Mayfield relate his expert
ences in killing the mountain lion
in the Rio Grande Valley recently
of which the press dispatches made
mention. II violates no secret 70 say
that Senator Mayfield did rot kill a
mountain lion in the Rio Grande
Valley or in any other part Of the
world. hut the newspaper dispatches
said he did, and he let it 60 at that.
THE PRESIDENT il somewhat
Of a. sportsman himself. with a
fishing line. and is said to have
braced himself for a good story of
the hair raising variety. The Texas
senator declined to sail under false
colors. but he did give the local YER
sion of the way Valley folk are said
to bag that ferocious game.
Without as much as betrayirg n
smile the Texas senator graphically
! told how the chase after the noun
tain lion starts. and when the hunt
er is unable 20 make kill. the beast
is chased until il takes refuge in a
tree. whereupon four or six Mexi-
cans hold a tarpaulin beneath the
foliage until the lion j. proddcd ou;
of his retreat. Once he hits tho tar
paulin. Senator Mayficld said it was
an easy matter for the holders to
close in and in that way bring the
lion in alive.
"Nr. Coolidge is said 10 have con.
fessed that he intended to tell one
of his fishing stories. but that after
listening to the Texas version Of
lion capture. he had nothing to say"
ON FIRST THOUGHT the incl
dent Of Senator Mayfield's mythical
lion is passed upon as unimportant
"a good story. and so on. But It
may have far reaching results in
the way Of serious reaction upon
stories that we are sure have been
told President Coolidge by X. b.
Cieager. and perhaps others, ou the
thrilling experiences they may have
had from time TO time in chasing
tarpon across Brazos Santiago bar,
and on in the direction Of Cuba and
other foreign parts.
Many strange things happen to
sportsmen in this section of the
country. Particularly when they do
their hunting and fishing on the
Mexican side of the river-and now
reflection has been cast upon their
past and future stories, from here
on out.
Senator Mayfield should have
stood behind the Valley newspaper
correspondent who was responsible
for that story. He should have
thought not of senatorial probes, in
veStigations. inquiries. Positively, he
should have stoutly maintained that
the lion was killed, should have de-
scribed it-and even produced the
skin. That was possible. He should
have known when he was invited to
the Coolidge breakfast that he
would be asked about the lion kill.
And any of his friends would have
been glad to send him skin. il he
had only notified them in advance.
There is one other indictment: He
shaAld have bought a. good sized
lion skin in the Valley before he
went to Washington.
HOW THE ADVANTAGE Of a ju-
A MIR rolleCe such m that in Browns