BIOS:  Andre Jorgenson Anderson, Ft. Worth, Tarrant Co. TX

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   Washington, 1994.
   
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   U.S. Work Projects Administration, Federal Writers' Project (Folklore
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   00011
   
   Interview - [?] Tales Life History [?]
   
   Gauthier, Sheldon F.
   
   Rangelore
   
   Tarrant Co. Dist. #7 [11?]
   
   Page 1
   
   FEC 240
   
   Andre Jorgensen Anderson, address 1101 Houston St., Fort Worth, Texas
   was born at Tronhyen, Norway, August 21, 1855. He immigrated to the
   United States in 1873, locating in Galveston, Texas where he stayed
   one year. He then came to Fort Worth, Texas where he has made his home
   since, with the exception of six months time during 1876. His first
   job in Fort Worth, was working for Miller's blacksmith shop, tinshop
   and lightning rod agency. Anderson established a gun store in 1877 and
   has operated the business continuously. At this time [(1938)?] his
   store is the oldest of all merchandising stores operating in Fort
   Worth. Most of his trade, during the early days of his business came
   from customers among the cowboys, ranchmen and buffalo hunters. His
   first big sale of goods and a bill of $360.00 for six-shooters and
   ammunition sold to The Sam Bass gang, noted out-laws of the '70s.
   Anderson was one of the party of prominent citizens that arranged for
   and assisted Jim Courtright, a prominent Fort Worth citizen, to escape
   from three U. S. Marshals and six Texas Rangers. During his early days
   in Fort Worth, he was shot at and defended himself with a six-gun.
   
   His story of frontier days follows:
   
   "I was born in [Tronhyen?], Norway, August 21, 1855. Translating the
   name of my home town into English, we would speak it as Townhome. At
   the age of 18, I left my native home and started for the United
   States. I entered the United States at New York, and traveled to
   Galveston, Texas by rail.
   
   "I remained in Galveston about one year and then came to Fort Worth.
   
     NOTE: C12 - 2/11/41 - Texas
     
   00022I have been a resident of Fort Worth, since my arrival in 1874.
   
   "A man named Miller conducted a blacksmith shop, tinshop and lightning
   rod agency here at the time, and I secured my first job working for
   Miller selling lightning rods. This job I took for something to do
   temporarily. I was attracted to Fort Worth, by rumors of a railroad
   being extended W. from Dallas into and beyond Fort Worth, immediately.
   There were many delays and the time when the road would enter Fort
   Worth, was indefinite.
   
   "I did not intend to remain in Fort Worth, in the event the railroad
   project was a failure, so far as the immediate time was concerned.
   While waiting for the railroad question to be settled, I sold
   lightning rodes and made a successful rode salesman. I had an
   apparatus to demonstrate lightning and could show how the rode was
   supposed to prevent a building from being struck by the element. But,
   the facts are, that a building was exposed to lightning by having the
   rods attached. There was no law being enforced against fraudulent
   representation of goods those days, otherwise I would have been placed
   in jail.
   
   "Any man who could sell lightning rods was classed as a
   super-salesman. Selling rods taught me I could sell merchandise, and
   the job was the means [of?] teaching me among the most valuable
   subject of my education. Id decided that selling goods was the
   business I ought to engage in for a livelihood. I decided on Fort
   [Worth?] as the proper place to established myself, if a railroad
   built into the town. After considering the characteristic of 00033the
   people and custom of the day, I decided to operate a gun store.
   
   "Living in Fort Worth, at the time were a great many live wires -
   gogetters. Among the most prominent gogetters was one man whom we all
   admired and who stood at the head as a Fort Worth booster. This man
   was Captain B. B. Paddock.
   
   "Captain Paddock was our printer. He printed our letter-heads,
   envelops, cards and such other printed matter as we needed. He, also,
   published a newspaper, The Fort Worth Democrat. It was a one sheet,
   not very large, folded paper presenting four pages.
   
   "Paddock's paper was a booster for Fort Worth. With the aid of his
   paper, he [inoculated?] the citizens of Fort Worth with the idea of
   Fort Worth's furture as being one with tremendous opportunities. His
   prediction, these days, was that 'Fort Worth will be a prosperous
   village of 5000 population.' His prediction proved to be somewhat
   correct, but he was a little conservative. Just a few hundred short in
   his estimation of the population.
   
   "Paddock printed, more or less constantly, in one corner of his paper
   a picture of a wheel. The hub represented Fort Worth and radiating out
   from the hub was 15 spokes. These spokes represented railroads which
   would be radiating out from the Fort Worth of the future. This
   prediction was close to accurate. 00044"Captain B. B. Paddock was a
   high class man. He was educated, had wisdom and culture. He was a
   serious minded man and precise, but had humor. He enjoyed a joke and
   could take one as well as give one. He was splendid company sociable.
   However he allowed nothing to interfere with his civic work and he was
   constantly engaged in some move to improve the town. His slogan was,
   'let fort Worth be the gateway to the [est?].' Dallas had a railroad
   and we had none, but the spirit of Fort Worth citizens was to never
   stop fighting until a railroad entered the town.
   
   "Those days, Paddock had lots of company in his civic efforts.
   Boosting the town was the avocation of most men. Paddock had an
   excellent co-worker in a man named Peter Smith. In addition, there was
   Joe Brown, Eph. Daggett and many others.
   
   "Peter Smith was the man who raised the money with which to put
   through the projects. Smith took the lead in raising money [to?] pay
   bonus to the railroad builders, and he raised thousands of dollars.
   Eph Daggett gave the railroad 100 acres of land, which is located S.
   of what is now Lancaster [Ct?]., for the sidetracks, yards, depot and
   warehouses.
   
   "The civic leaders started to bring a railroad into the town and
   nothing was too great for them to overcome in order to accomplish
   their purpose, and the road came.
   
   "Joe Brown, A Scotchman, was our merchant prince. We called him the
   Merchant Prince. He started in business here with a capital of $1,500
   and after the railroad entered Fort Worth, 00055his grocery business
   grew until he did four and a fourth million dollar's worth of business
   a year. A monument of his interprise still stands. It is the three
   story cut stone building, located at the S. E. corner of Main and
   Lancaster streets, known as the Brown Block.
   
   "Our mayor was a great man and leader in boosting Fort Worth. He was
   G. H. Day and operated one of the best saloons in the town. Those days
   the saloon keepers were among the most prominent leaders of the town.
   The saloon and gambling houses were among the leading businesses.
   Consequently, the businesses supplied some of the leading citizens.
   They rode the best saddle horses and drove the best carriage teams.
   They dressed with the best of clothes and were men whom the citizens
   could always depend upon to make a [DEL: [?] :DEL] donation to any
   worthy cause.
   
   "It is a fact, the saloon, gambling houses and queen houses were one
   of the chief factors contributing to building Fort Worth. I shall
   recount the reason.
   
   "Fort Worth was surrounded by many cow camps. The vast country W. was
   practically one cluster of cow camps. Buffalo hunters, numbering in
   the thousands, were on the plains hunting the buffalo.
   
   "All the population, especially [?]. of Fort Worth, were more or less
   isolated. For weeks, and some times months, at a time the cowmen would
   see nothing but cattle, buffalo, horses and cowboys. There was no
   diversion for these men where they worked. 00066The natural human
   desire for diversion and entertainment, caused these men to seek it
   when they had time off from their work. The town which presented the
   best variety of entertainment that these men desired, was the town to
   which the would go.
   
   "These men lived a rough life and enjoyed rough amusement. They
   gambled with their life every day while at work. Therefore, many of
   them, also, obtained a thrill gambling for money. The human being, by
   nature, is a social being, by nature, is a social being and desires
   company. Men enjoy mixing with his fellow man and engaging in social
   activities. The cowboy was not interested is pink teas, ping-pong or
   any other entertainment of that nature. He desired he-man stuff.
   
   "Fort Worth saw to it that the cowboy was furnished the kind of
   entertainment which amused him. Therefore, here was the various
   [grades?] of saloons, gambling houses, honkytonks and other similar
   places of amusement. These places of entertainment attracted people to
   Fort Worth from hundreds of miles away, and brought millions of
   dollar's worth of business to the city. Entertainment was about the
   leading industry of the town during those early days. Without this
   entertainment, the vast majority of visitors and traders would have
   gone to [some?] other town. The amusement business not only brought
   money into Fort Worth, which went into its till, but indirectly, put
   money into the till of every other line of business.
   
   "The citizens of Fort Worth were compelled to choose between
   00077permitting the rough places of amusement to operate or allow the
   population in the trade territory to go some where else. We permitted
   the amusement and here came the trade, which built up the town. "The
   buffalo hunters started haul dried buffalo hides to Fort Worth, in
   1875. The hides were [corded?] and held for shipment by rail when the
   anticipated T. [?]. railroad built into Fort Worth. The N. E. corner
   of Lancaster and main streets, where the Brown Block is now located,
   was the first buffalo hide yard. After the railroad entered the town,
   the hide yard was located at the T. P. reservation, the tract of land
   located S. of the railroad tracks and depot.
   
   "When the buffalo hunters began to haul hides to Fort Worth, almost
   any time of the day one could see several wagon loads, with trailers
   attached, arriving from the W.
   
   When I established by gun store in 1877, I located it in the 100 block
   on E. Weatherford St. I started with a capital of $15. borrowed money,
   and have continued in the business since. I am, at this time, the
   oldest merchandising business in Fort Worth.
   
   I did a tremendous business with buffalo hunters. I have sold around
   500 buffalo guns to the hunters during one year's time. The name of
   these guns were 'Sharps Rifle', and weighed 14 pounds. The barrel of
   the gun was built in two lengths, 28 and 30 inches long. The price of
   the gun was $60. With each gun sold, also, was an average bill of
   goods consisting of one, 00088or more, keg of powder, about 300 pounds
   of load, 3000 primers, a ream of patch paper and loading tools. The
   total amount of each sale averaged about $100.
   
   "The younger generation of today, perhaps do not know what patch paper
   and primers are, so I shall give an explanation of these articles.
   Patch paper was used to wrap around the bullet before placing it in
   the shell. Patch paper was conducive to making the bullet follow the
   rifles of the gun, thus developed more speed. The ammunition was
   prepared by hand. The bullet molded, powder placed in the shell and
   the bullet, after wrapping, inserted in the shell. The primers were
   the igniting apparatus which were set in the end of the shell.
   
   "The buffalo gun was the farthest shooting gun of all guns built those
   days, and one that the Indian raiders respected. The gun caused the
   Indian to say, 'white man shot where no see.' Because, with the gun
   one could shot over a hill and drop a bullet in the ravine at the
   opposite side.
   
   "However, my first large bill of goods sold was bought by Sam Bass's
   gang, the notorious out-laws of the '70s, which [deprodated?] in the
   S. W. The total bill was $360. for pistols an ammunition. The amount
   was paid for with $20. gold pieces. My stock of goods was not very
   large at the time and the sale almost cleaned me out. This sale was
   made about six months before Sam Bass was killed at Round Rock, Texas,
   and a week before the gang robbed the bank at Forney, Texas. At the
   time I 00099"The best class of customers I had were the cowmen. The
   cowboys bought high class guns. In addition, I enjoyed a satisfactory
   business from other class of citizens. The following phrases were
   often repeated those days: 'When God made man he mad him unequal in
   size. Later, he saw his mistake, and to rectify his error, he had a
   man named Colts make pistols.' Therefore, in Fort Worth, those days,
   the gun equalized the size of man, and every body carried a gun. My
   business thrived.
   
   "To illustrate how the pistol equalized man, I shall relate the Jim
   Courtright episode.
   
   "Courtright was a man whom everyone admired, and the man was entitled
   to the respect of those acquainted with him, because he was square.
   
   "He had served as Marshal for the town and had, had an unusual large
   number of friends among all classes of people.
   
   "Sometime prior to the incident I am to relate, Courtright had gone to
   the Territory of New Mexico, and did [duty?] as a mine guard. There
   was some labor trouble and a clash resulted in some of the miners
   being killed. Courtright returned to Fort Worth after the affray, and
   established a detective agency.
   
   "One morning a man called at Courtright's office and discussed terms
   for Courtright's service to apprehend some alleged criminal.
   Courtright was invited to accompany the [caller?] 001010to the
   Continental Hotel for the purpose of inspecting some papers the caller
   alleged he had. [Then?] the caller and he arrived in the hotel room,
   Courtright was disarmed by his caller and two men who were [?] in the
   room. The three men were U. S. deputies from the Marshal's office in
   New Mexico. They placed Courtright under arrest on a charge of murder,
   which was supposed to have taken place during the labor trouble.
   
   "The deputies would not allow Courtright to communicate with anyone,
   and were [prearing?] to leave with him on the [T?]. P., 6:30 P. M.
   west bound train.
   
   "Suspicion arose in the minds of Courtright's office help, after he
   failed to return or send word an hour after he stated he would return.
   The office help reported the incident to several of Courtright's
   friends, and a search started immediately. The location and
   Courtright's situation was soon ascertained. When his friends learned
   of his [predicament?], they organized a ways and means committee and
   did a good job of rescuing the man.
   
   "Those days there were no paved streets. The streets were muddy when
   it rained and dusty when it was dry. The center of population was
   around the Court House, with the depot about a mile away. It happened
   to be wet at the time. When time for the train's departure arrived,
   the depot was crowded with many people outside. Every [hack?] and
   vehicle available in town was in use transporting people to the depot
   and many were [compelled?] to walk through the mud to be present.
   001111"Judge Head, our District Judge at the time, was among them
   present at the depot. When the three deputies appeared with
   Courtright, and application for a write of habeas corpus was presented
   to Judge Head. He heard the application at the depot, and signed an
   order directing the prisoner to be delivered to the custody of the
   Sheriff of Tarrant Co., pending adjudication of the writ.
   
   "During the interval, between issuing the writ and the hearing on its
   merits, there was arrangements made to save Courtright. Also, the
   authorities of New Mexico. demanded from the Governor of Texas,
   protection for the U. S. Marshals. The Governor assigned six Texas
   Rangers to protect the men.
   
   "Judge Head held that the officials were within their rights to have
   custody of the prisoner, after our Governor had issued extradition
   papers. The evening arrived for the departure of the Marshals and
   their prisoner on the 6:00 P. M. T. [P?]. train.
   
   "Those days the largest restaurant in town was Lawson's. It had a 25
   foot front and extended back to the alley. In the restaurant were two
   tables 60 foot long. This restaurant was where officials always took
   prisoners for meals before entraining. The deputies, accompanied by
   six rangers, stopped at Lawson's for supper. Lawson seated Courtright
   at the end of a table with the deputies and rangers on each side.
   001212"The restaurant was crowded, all watching nonchalantly, the
   officers and their prisoner. Some were [eating?] and some were
   standing around.
   
   "The clock struck six and at this instant, Courtright reached beneath
   the table and arose to his feet holding a six-gun, Colts .45s, in each
   hand, which he leveled on the officers. The officers jumped quickly to
   their feet and reached for their guns, but at the back of each officer
   were two men. These men each grabbed one arm of an officer, locking
   the arm behind their back. The officers were held tightly, although
   some tried to break loose, but found that their captors knew how to
   put the pressure on the arm. The men whispered in the officers' ears
   saying, 'don't shoot, don't shoot, because you might hit some innocent
   person. Of course, there was no need to admonish the officers about
   shooting, because they were helpless.
   
   "Courtright walked out through he back door. One of [the?] fastest
   saddle horses in town was hitched in the alley. Courtright mounted the
   horse and rode away.
   
   "My part in the arrangements was placing the guns at the end of the
   tables. I hung the guns from screw-eyes, by a light cord which would
   hold the gun's weight, by break easily. The table cloth hid the guns.
   The two men which were standing at the back of each officer and locked
   their arms, were selected for the strength and knowledge of locking
   arms.
   
   "The following day Courtright was placed in a dry goods box 001313and
   shipped express to Galveston. From there he went to New York on the
   Mallery steamship line.
   
   "The charges against Courtright were investigated and found to be, as
   he had stated, unfounded. The indictment was dismissed and he returned
   to Fort Worth, six months after his departure.
   
   "He who lived in Fort Worth those days had to meet many obstacles, but
   never backed away from meeting and over-coming them. For instance,
   sickness was rampant before the wells were dug, and people took their
   supply of water from the Trinity River.
   
   "Typhoid fever was prevailing to some extent at all times, until the
   wells were sunk.
   
   Water was hauled to the Public School in barrels from the river. The
   school was a two story building located at [Weatherford?] and Elm
   streets. This water kept the children sick and the citizens decided
   that they must sink a well. Finally an [artesian?] well was dug,
   followed by others, and the citizens secured their water from these
   wells then typhoid ceased to take its toll of lives.
   
   "After the wells were sank, we improved our Fire Department. A man
   named Peters was the well digger. He put down one well adjacent to
   Main St., near the Court House, and another on Houston Street, used
   exclusively for fire purpose. The town bought a fire engine and a
   hook-and-ladder truck. The department was made up of volunteers, with
   the exception of a paid man who attended to the horses. 001414"I must
   relate one part of the fire alarm system. As has been stated, everyone
   carried a gun, and when the bell at the fire hall rang, everyone began
   to shoot. Therefore, when one heard shots coming from every direction
   and sounded as though a major battle was being fought, then one knew
   that fire was existing somewhere. Simultaneously, with the shooting,
   one would see people running from all directions towards the fire
   hall. The first fire hall was a two story building, 25 feet front and
   90 foot deep. The building was combination fire hall, City Hall and
   Municipal Court.
   
   "Those day cowboys could be seen every where in pairs and groups.
   There had been a wooden sidewalk laid for about a block each way
   running pass my store. I could hear the jingling a block away as the
   boys slept on the side walk. I could tell if there was one man or
   crowd. Many passed my place of business. I have seen as many as 50 in
   one crowd passing my place on their way the Waco Tap honkytonk, which
   was located near my store.
   
   "The Waco Tap was a notorious place. It was a two story building with
   20 rooms on the second floor. There was a stove pipe extending through
   the roof from each room. From a distance it appeared as a factory. The
   stove pipes and the second story could be seen from the depot. Many
   strangers, upon alighting from a train have asked about the nature of
   the factory. 001515"The Waco Tap had a long bar extending almost the
   entire length of the saloon. There was dance floor in the center of
   the main floor and the four corners each contained some gambling game.
   One corner contained roulettes, one stud [poker?], one a money game
   and the other a game called bird cage.
   
   "The place employed a regular dance caller. Dancing was almost all
   square dances. Each dance was cut short and the last call to the
   dancers by the caller was [promenade?] your [partner?] to the bar for
   a drink. The queans received a percentage on all drinks they boosted
   to the bar, and the girls generally called for the most expensive
   drink.
   
   "Usually, the last act for the night was a farewell gesture done by
   shooting off guns, and many times the lights were the targets for the
   shots.
   
   "After leaving the places of amusement, many of the cowboys would
   mount their horses and ride towards camp, going through the street
   yelling 'yip-pee,' and shooting their guns.
   
   'There was an average of about one person a week killed in the dance
   hall of the town. Things were dull if a week passed without at least
   one shooting affray.
   
   "I lived through those days without any trouble with one of a
   committee to arbitrate a matter. A certain party called at my store
   and offered me a bribe to influence me in behalf of parties involved
   in the issue. The fellow's acting angered me and I gave him a sound
   threshing. The party believed in the [?] equalizer. He sent me word we
   would settle the affair with guns. 001616I returned an answer to the
   effect, that if it was necessary I was ready.
   
   "A couple of weeks after this I was shot at by a man in hiding. I made
   a run for the location from where the shot came, with a drawn gun. I
   failed to see anyone. This ended the shooting of my dispute. However,
   for a year I kept my eyes open for a man that might be hiding as I
   went to and fro. 00171Gauthier, Sheldon F.
   
   Rangelore
   
   Tarrant Co., Dist. #7
   
   Page #1
   
   FEC 240
   
   ANDRE J. ANDERSON'S
   
   Supplementary Story
   
   "The theater called the Centennial was run by a man named Low. It was
   located at about Eleventh and [Rusk?] (New Commerce) streets, and was
   one of the major attractions of the town during the period from the
   middle '70s to the early '80s.
   
   "Low was a man about six feet tall, weighing about 180 pounds, with an
   excellent physique. I can best describe the man by saying he was an
   Adonis type man. Low always dressed immaculately, and wore expensive
   jewelry with diamonds being [DEL: conspicous :DEL] conspicuous. He was
   affable and knew how to handle people so he might secure his way.
   
   "Low was generous and enjoyed treating his friends. He made frequent
   trips visiting other saloons and treated the crowd. Also, he was
   liberal with [donations?] to charity and to public subscriptions for
   various purposes.
   
   "A story was often told about Low which I shall repeat. It gives some
   light on the man's nature. When he made his visits to other saloons,
   he frequently gave complimentary tickets to his theater, but he always
   bestowed this gift on men, as a rule cowmen, with plenty of money. Low
   had bouncers to support the ticket takers in the event some one tried
   to put one over on the doorman. A certain mark on the complimentary
   ticket would cause the ticket taker to refused to honor the ticket.
   This act always resulted in angry words and some small scraps, but at
   the proper moment 00182Low always appeared to settle the matter. The
   ticket takers would always received a severe reprimand from Low, for
   not recognizing a gentleman. He would deliver a talk on the esteemed
   position the gentlemen held in the community, and would demand that
   such incident not happen again. This act always satisfied the pride
   and touched the vanity of the holder of the complimentary ticket.
   Always, there was reciprocation by the gentlemen by way of spending
   money freely to prove to the crowd that Low was correct in his
   estimation.
   
   "Now, to describe the kind of a place he operated.
   
   "Low operated a girl show theater, dance hall and gambling games. On
   the ground floor was the bar and dance hall. The dancing floor was in
   the center of the room. The theater was at the rear of the bar and
   dance hall. Gambling was operated on the second floor. Also, the rooms
   occupied by the [actresses?] were located on the second floor. Above
   the first floor was a gallery, extending around the major part of the
   room. The actresses would sit in the gallery when not engaged in their
   acts on the stage. The acts were of the [scurrileus?] type and very
   suggestive, and for men only. No ladies would attend the theater
   unless disguised, which many did and enjoyed the show.
   
   "The customers, mostly cowboys, would visit the actresses in the
   gallery. These women had a system of selling their visitors a key to
   their room. If one bought a key, he would have the privilege of
   treating the actress in her room, paying $1.00 a bottle 00193for beer
   and other drinks at the same [ratio?] in price, and be undisturbed
   during the visit.
   
   "During this period, I operated a gun store, also I did gun-smithing
   and particular mechanical work. I was called on for repairing gambling
   devices. For instance, the roulette wheels for Low and other gambling
   proprietors.
   
   "The roulette table contains a number of numbered compartments into
   which a small ball drops after spinning around the wheel. These
   compartments are just large enough to receive the ball. The bottom of
   a major part of these compartments were fixed so as to be movable and
   could be raised slightly. The operation of the compartment floors was
   done by means of a small lever and wire cables which were concealed.
   These wires ran to the floor. The device was manipulated with feet of
   the gaming operator. It was these devices, and others, which I
   repaired.
   
   "Suppose a heavy bet was made on the double 0, if the ball started to
   drop into the double 0 compartment, manipulation of the section's
   floor would cause the ball to roll to the adjacent compartment. The
   only way a player could win was for the operator to become paralyzed
   in his feet, and I never knew of such to happen.
   
   "Once in a while one would hear of some fellow winning a large stake,
   but generally it was some party connected with the gambling business,
   and the winning act was put on for advertising purposes. Frequently, a
   player would be allowed to win a small amount, and this was done to
   encourage the players. 00204"Those days certain people of the town
   would take a [spasm?] of righteousness and demand that gambling be
   stopped on the Sabbath day. Occasionally, the officials would concede
   a point and send forth an order to stop gambling on the Sabbath day
   and to close all places where gambling was operated. Such orders would
   hold forth until the spasm cooled, which generally took three or four
   weeks.
   
   "Low had his gambling apparatus arranged so he could move it easily.
   Therefore, when an order would be received to close all gambling
   places on the Sabbath day, Mr. Low moved his gambling paraphernalia
   out of his establishment, and continued to operate the rest of his
   business on the Sabbath. This act of Low caused [vehement?] protest,
   but the officials were of the opinion that when the gambling
   paraphernalia was moved out of the establishment, it ceased to be a
   gambling house. Monday morning gambling resumed.
   
   "The White Elephant was the most magnificent place in Fort Worth those
   days. It was located between Third and Fourth Streets on Main. It was
   a saloon, gambling house, and restaurant. There were no queens
   connected with the White Elephant. Before its opening, the place was
   advertised to be one of the finest combination saloons, gambling
   houses and restaurants, without any exceptions.
   
   "Those days ladies did not frequent saloons, but the good ladies of
   Fort Worth could not resist taking a look at the White Elephant during
   its opening night, and a large number came to look at the place.
   00215"On the opening night there was a ceremony arranged and everybody
   was invited to be the guest of the proprietors. The proprietors were
   two men who came here from South Texas.
   
   "The people who accepted the invitation, and almost all our good
   citizens did, were served with champagne to drink, and any other drink
   they desired. The restaurant served the most delicious of dishes to
   the guests, and everybody had a joyful night.
   
   "The opening started off with a ceremonial, consisting of a speech of
   welcome by one of the proprietors. In concluding his talk, he threw
   the key of the place away into the street. This act was symbolical of
   [perpetual?] service to be rendered to the citizens of Fort Worth.
   There were speeches made by officials of the town, to the effect that
   we were proud to have such a magnificent establishment to serve our
   citizens, and that it showed that Fort Worth was on its way to be a
   bigger and better place in which to live.
   
   "After the ceremony the festivities started. The program was eat,
   drink and be merry. It was all on the house, so why worry. Those who
   desired to try their luck at the various games were accommodated.
   However, it required money to play, but the games ran steadily and
   there was a waiting list.
   
   "Upon entering the White Elephant, the people saw a filigree mahogany
   wood bar and back-bar. All the glassware was cut-glass of the highest
   grade, and stacked high on the back-bar. There was a large display of
   imported and domestic wines, liquors and cordials. The bartenders were
   dressed immaculately and in white 00226jackets, shirts, collars and
   bow-ties.
   
   "Leading from the barroom was wide stairway running to the second
   floor where the gambling room was located. On this stairway was laid
   the very best of carpet. At the entrance to the gambling room was
   medium size table on which was stacked gold and silver coins, standing
   about six inches high. A uniformed man stood guard at this table.
   
   "The men selected to run the various gambling games were chosen for
   their good looks as well as ability to operate a game. The excellent
   appearance of these men was the general talk among the ladies. Every
   game operator was dressed in a suit custom-made from the highest grade
   of cloth. They were white stiff-front shirts with a conspicuous
   diamond stud in the bosom, a conspicuous diamond ring on their finger,
   and the charm which hung from their watch chain also contained a
   diamond. Those men were groomed in the latest of the day. Therefore,
   they presented an attractive appearance, and so much so that many of
   the ladies of the town [vied?] with each other to receive the
   attention of these same operators, and to the envy of the cowboys.
   
   "There was no charge for drinks to the patrons of the gambling room,
   and there were no restrictions to the kind of drinks served. The rule
   was to let the patrons drink and be merry, because the devices
   controlling the gaming tables took care of the proprietors. In
   addition, the more the patrons drank the more reckless they became
   with their money. Therefore, the free drinks were a good investment.
   00237"The restaurant was manned with colored waiters, also, dressed
   immaculately. In the restaurant one again saw high grade cut-glass.
   Everything was spotless about the tables and set with excellent
   silverware.
   
   "At the other end of the saloon grade was the First and Last Chance
   saloon. It was located on Front Street (new Lancaster) across from the
   old depot. This was the place the 'cinches' patronized. It was the
   kind of a place patronized by the fellow who felt at home where he
   could [expectorate?] on the floor at will, where he could sit down on
   the floor or lie down in a corner, and if one became too drunk for
   [locomotion?] there was a room where one was placed until sobered.
   This saloon had one large room used for placing the drunks. The room
   contained no furniture and men just lay on the floor.
   
   "I have seen this drunker's room packed like sardines in a can. In
   fact, I have seen men lying one on top of another.
   
   "All these men knew they would be robbed of their money, if they kept
   it on their person and became drunk. Therefore, many of them would
   give their money to the proprietor for safe keeping. The proprietor
   would keep a memorandum of the drinks served to the owner of the
   money. At least this was the understanding. When one of these men
   finished his drunk and called for his money he would be handed a
   memorandum instead of money, except enough to get back home, if he
   lived out of town. 00248"It seemed to me, the proprietor [reasoned?]
   that these men would remain drunk so long as their money lasted. Being
   that it was best for the man to cut his drunk short, the proprietors
   used their pencil to good advantage for themselves and for the general
   health of the drunk.

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