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PREFACE
PREFACE
In the early ’eighties lads who preferred exercise to examinations looked abroad for work, and parents who feared their failure in competitions agreed with them. Ditties like— had long moved our agricultural class America-wards; perhaps the next line— did not so much appeal to middle-class youth, but there were always visions of “broncho-busting” and rope-swinging. Moreover, no one in England, of whatever class, knew what “toil” meant, as understood in Canada and the States. Land was easy to get
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CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I
"Thousand-pounders"—Ontario Agricultural College—Political Meetings—Volunteer Artillery—Value of the Agricultural College. The Western States and Provinces of North America thrive on our “thousand-pounders” and “remittance-men.” Some years ago in one small prairie town of Iowa there were 105 young Britons on the books of the local club. One of these (dubbed Sitting-bull after a famous brave) was doing fairly well in a milk-walk; a few others earned livings as farm hands; the rest were, said the
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CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II
Calgary—A Cow-puncher—"Roping"—Life on a Ranch—A Calgary Hail-storm—“Gun-plays” and "Bad-men"—Sarci Indians. Leaving the Agricultural College at Guelph on the start of the summer holidays of 1891, I took advantage of settlers’ cheap rates and went to Calgary, at the foot of the Rockies, to try and get some practical experience. After drifting round for a week, I found that green Englishmen were at a discount, but finally managed to get work with a Mr. Berney, who owned two ranches, one within th
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CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III
Road-agents—“Roping” contests—Broncho-busting—Strathclair—A blizzard—Lumber camps. Montana, just across the line from Fort McLeod, was for years an example of what the North-West Territories might have been if it had not been for the mounted police and prohibition. There, in its earlier days, gun-men and even road-agents flourished, and killings were of everyday occurrence. In fact, at one time in Virginia City the sheriff, Plummer, was at the head of a band of organised road-agents which terror
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CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV
An injured knee—The "Laird"—Kit destroyed by fire—Hunting round Strathclair—Trapping—“Batching.” I may here record a little experience I had in Calgary, which, while it turned out all right in the end, caused me considerable excitement at the time. I and George Berney were batching at the out-ranch on Pine Creek, getting out black poplar posts for a fence we were building at the home ranch. We used to take it in turns every couple of weeks to go into town with the wagon for the mail and provisio
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CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V
Chicago—American Business Methods—Work as a Carbonator—Chicago Fair—“Hard-luck” Stories—Remittance-men. Chicago, which lays claim to having the largest in everything, whether it be drainage canals, skyscrapers, slaughter-houses, or the amount of railroad traffic, is certainly a wonderful city. The first thing that strikes any one on arrival is the hurry and rush. Everybody seems to be going somewhere in a terrible hurry, but after you have been there a few months you find yourself getting into t
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CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VI
Looking for Work—An Englishman’s Disadvantages—Addressing Envelopes—Running a Lift—Bogus Advertisements—Various Jobs. During the winter of 1892-93 and the spring of 1893, thousands of men had flocked to Chicago from all parts of the United States, owing to the reports of work and good wages, and the expectation of a boom in the city in consequence of the Fair. Building operations in the fair-grounds, men necessary to instal the machinery and the exhibits, Columbian Guards, and the employees of t
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CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VII
Life under Difficulties—drawbacks of a Public-school Training—Hints on Emigration—Pneumonia—Unemployment in Chicago, 1893. Do not imagine from what I have just written that I stepped from one of these positions into another. Far from it; there are successive gaps between filled with fruitless searching after work. In one thing I was very lucky: two of my wife’s brothers came to Chicago at the same time she and I did, and we all helped one another. When in need, one could always get meals from th
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CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER VIII
Hard Times—Health restored—Rabbit-catching—Hunting in Iowa—A Gentleman Tramp—The Hobo Business—Free Travelling. It was certainly a hard struggle which ended in my breakdown in Chicago and going to Iowa, but I have never regretted going through it. I got small helps—first and last $150—and to be sure they came at opportune times. For instance, one of the remittances came just after the incident I mentioned about the penny saving-bank. We never starved, but I have eaten free lunches once in a whil
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CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER IX
Toronto—An Interest in a Mine—The Railway Strike of 1894—Stranded at La Junta, Colorado—Strike Incidents—Troops called out. This young hobo friend of mine was about the smoothest card-sharp I ever came across. He never played for money, as a man does not live long cheating at cards in the west or south. He could deal from any part of the pack of cards, and could shuffle the cards into any position he wished. My wife’s uncle considered himself a champion player, and one night this young fellow pr
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CHAPTER X
CHAPTER X
Golden—Pack-horse Difficulties—Camping out—Prospecting in British Columbia—On an Asphaltum Mine in Texas. At that time (1894) Golden consisted of three frame hotels, a smelter, post-office, a sawmill, the usual quota of saloons and dance-halls, and probably fifteen houses. Still, all the land was staked out into town lots and streets, and lots were valued at $250 up. I met a friend a short time ago who had just come from there, and he told me it was now a city of about 3000 people. It had three
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CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XI
Cline—Bunk-houses—Work on a Rock-crusher—Mexican Dancing and Music. Immediately on arrival I reported to the superintendent in charge of the mines at Cline. He told me to go to the men’s boarding-house and take any cot I found vacant, and also one for my friend. The men’s boarding-house was a two-storey frame building, of which the upper part was divided into three dormitories, and the lower into dining-room and kitchen. It was built so shakily that any one walking upstairs shook the whole build
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CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XII
Trouble at the Dance—A New Superintendent—Shots in the dark—Arrest of Bud—With a Surveying Party. I was absorbed in the beauty and strangeness of the scene when suddenly the peacefulness was broken by the “bang-bang” of a pistol, almost in our ears. Everybody jumped, but it was only a young Mexican, who had been “turned down” by his girl, and, having loaded up on mescal, was amusing himself by trying to stampede the crowd. Unfortunately, however, there were other young fellows in the crowd, back
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CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIII
Swimming-holes—Hunting in West Texas—Fishing in Nueces River—Jim Conners—Foreman Betner—A runaway car. About a mile above the Cline mines there used to be a splendid swimming-hole, some 12 or 14 feet deep, with a sandy bottom, and a large flat rock on the bank to dress on. Many an exciting game of catch and water polo we had there during my first year at the mines. But I shall never forget my first swim in this hole. A week or so after I arrived, I asked where a man could get a swim, as the cree
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CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XIV
A Sunday fishing party—"Bad-men"—Ben Thompson and other desperadoes—The story of a hot spring. A few weeks after I arrived at the mines, some of the men wanted to get up a fishing party one Sunday to go over to the Nueces River, and I was asked to make one of the number. It was arranged that we should leave the mines on Saturday night, camp out, and come home on Sunday afternoon. We started at 6.30 P.M. , got over to the river by eight o’clock, and by eleven o’clock I and a young electrician nam
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CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XV
Coyotes—Wild turkeys—Lynching and Jury Trial in Texas—Pistol-shooting—Negro vitality. I was telling a coyote story for which I cannot vouch, but I myself had an experience with a coyote one night when I was on a fishing trip on the Nueces River. I and Ed Anderson, my pit boss, hired a wagon, and taking along a Mexican and his twelve-year-old boy (to cook and look after the horses), we drove down to the ranch, about forty miles below the mines, for a couple of weeks’ fishing. One night we were al
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CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVI
A "Periodical"—Italian treachery—Bitumen extractors—The Mexican disregard for orders—In charge of the stills—A vote canvasser. Henry Burns had once to arrest a man who was a “periodical.” He would not touch a drink for weeks, even months, at a time, then he would go on an awful spree, paint the town red, and end by shooting up the saloon. After one of these strenuous sprees, Henry told him that he had reached the limit, and that he would be arrested the next time he caused any trouble. A month l
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CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVII
Elections in Texas—Feuds and shooting affrays—Family pride—Local Prohibition. Elections used to be exciting events in Uvalde, Texas, during the first few years I was there, as the Mexican vote controlled the county, and the rival candidates used to give dances for them, where there was plenty of liquor and cigars. But for the past few years this has all been stopped, as the Mexican vote has fallen to practically nothing, owing to a law that was passed by which every voter had to show his poll ta
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CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XVIII
A "Grandstander"—The Sheriff takes possession—Night Watchman—Monte Jim—Further trouble. Besides Henry Burns, the sheriff, there was also another man whose re-election I opposed. He was the city marshal of Uvalde, and a regular “grandstander,” as they call a man who is always striking poses. The young man before mentioned as having caused so much trouble on my first fishing trip, got drunk and disorderly once in Uvalde, and some one told the city marshal. Instead of quietly arresting the young fe
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CHAPTER XIX
CHAPTER XIX
Promoted to Foreman—Overwork and Eyestrain—Mexican Traits—Amateur Doctor—A rival Asphalt Company—Its Failure. I had plenty to attend to when I was promoted to be foreman, but was so pleased that I tried to do the whole job by myself; I succeeded for some three or four months, nearly breaking myself down in the attempt, and later found out that I got no thanks from the company either. I used to be at the office at 6.30 each morning to lay out the day’s work and to issue time checks to the men who
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CHAPTER XX
CHAPTER XX
More American Business Methods—Trip to Corpus Christi—Trouble at the Mine—West Texas as a Health Resort—Expenses of the Simple Life. I mentioned some of the lawless and extraordinary things done in American business. When I was in California an oil company was building a pipe line to carry their product to market. Whenever they could they bought the right of way over private lands that they had to cross, but whenever they could not buy at a price satisfactory to them, they simply surprised the o
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CHAPTER XXI
CHAPTER XXI
"Northers"—Almost frozen—The Mexican Indian—Cold-blooded Ingratitude—Mexican untrustworthiness. The chief drawback to the fine Texas climate is the “Norther” or cold north wind, that is really sometimes pretty bad. You can hear the wind roar for minutes before it reaches you, and when it strikes the temperature goes down and down. I heard a norther coming once about four o’clock in the afternoon, and ran out to the porch to look at the thermometer. It stood at 106° F., and within fifteen minutes
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CHAPTER XXII
CHAPTER XXII
Employed by a Paving Company—The Growth of Los Angeles—Its Land Values—A Centre for Tourists. The Uvalde Asphalt Company started a paving company to use up their products, and, as I was getting very tired of the mines, and also seemed to have reached the maximum salary that the Company would pay for my position, I applied for a job on the paving end, where I should have a pleasanter life and possibly a chance of promotion, besides learning another side of the work. The head office, however, told
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CHAPTER XXIII
CHAPTER XXIII
"Graft"—Seeking Contracts in Los Angeles—In Charge of Street Work—Crooked Business. Winston Churchill’s Coniston and Mr. Crewe’s Career explain the methods of bosses and railway presidents, and their conflicts or combinations for the robbing of the public in America. For the railways it may perhaps be said that they have to protect themselves against the “Bosses,” and for the “Bosses” that they are what the people make them: at any rate, I need not discuss the forms of that business immorality a
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CHAPTER XXIV
CHAPTER XXIV
Bribery and corruption—The Good Government League—Servant problem in California—The climate and its effect on wages—Off to Guadalajara. My resignation being refused, I decided to stay and finish up the streets we were on. Of course after this the inspector had it all his own way, and he certainly led us a dance. I continued to look out for other work, and one day the chief sewer inspector told me that he could give us all the repaving work in connection with the sewers if there was anything in i
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CHAPTER XXV
CHAPTER XXV
The Barber Company—Guadalajara—Mexican mendacity—Don Miguel Ahumada—His humanity and justice. I think I can safely say that twenty per cent. of the opposition the Barber Company gets in the States is from men who were formerly in its employ. This is right enough in most cases, but in some that I have known it was done in a most underhand way. A manager of one of the branches gets well acquainted with all the politicians in his town or district by the judicious use of the company’s entertainment
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CHAPTER XXVI
CHAPTER XXVI
The Mexican workman—His remembrance of a grudge—The Commissaria —Private feuds—American versus English. As a workman the Mexican is surprisingly good, considering the poor food they are able to buy with the small wages they get. They have not much initiative, but can be taught to do almost anything and do it well. A few years ago American mechanics could command almost any salary in Mexico, but now Mexicans can do for themselves, and Americans would starve on the salary. When I arrived I had not
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CHAPTER XXVII
CHAPTER XXVII
Bull-fighting—Mexican etiquette—The police department and its difficulties—Treatment of habitual criminals—The army. There is one kind of bull-fighting that I have often attended and thoroughly enjoyed. In the first act they bring out a young bull, or steer, which is then roped and thrown, and a thick rope is put around its body just behind its forelegs. A man mounts it while it is on the ground (barebacked) and holds on to this rope. The bull is then allowed to get up, and the idea is to see ho
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CHAPTER XXVIII
CHAPTER XXVIII
Federal Rurales—Robbery by servants—Wholesale thieving—Lack of police discipline—A story of Roosevelt. What I have said about the Mexican troops does not apply to the regiments of Federal Rurales (Irregular Horse), who are an entirely different class of men. Originally they were recruited from captured bandits, for the purpose of hunting down others. Now they are mostly recruited from the cowboy or vaquero class. They have good uniforms, fine horses and arms, are splendid riders, and have almost
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CHAPTER XXIX
CHAPTER XXIX
Tequila—Mexican respect for the white man—Personal vengeance preferred to Law—Mexican stoicism—Victims of red tape. Tequila, which is the common drink in Guadalajara, is fermented and distilled pulque. Pulque is the fresh sap of the maguey or “century” plant (one of the big-leafed cacti), tasting something like sweet cider. Like “tari” in India, it is practically non-intoxicating when fresh, but when fermented is very much so, and when distilled into tequila it is something like Indian “arrak,”
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CHAPTER XXX
CHAPTER XXX
Accidents at the mines—Mexico City—Peculiar laws—"Evidence"—A theft of straw. Mexicans, like the natives of India, have a great dread of hospitals. During our first year’s work one of the men got his finger caught in the roller and had the end joint cut off. As I was writing a note to the doctor the police came up and insisted on taking the man to the police station, whence he was taken to the hospital. Three months later I saw him when he had just come out, and he had lost the use of the entire
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CHAPTER XXXI
CHAPTER XXXI
Solitary confinement—Mexican rogues—The humorous side—A member of the smart set—The milkmen. Incomunicado (solitary confinement) is one of the bad features of Mexican law. The accused is placed thus for the first forty-eight hours (in some cases up to seventy-two hours), and during this time the investigating judge is trying his best to wring a confession out of him, or to confound him by constant interrogations. Another bad feature is the length of time the officials can hold a man without tria
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CHAPTER XXXII
CHAPTER XXXII
Carrying firearms—The business of Mexico—Its management by foreigners—Real-estate and mining booms—Foreign capital—Imports and exports. I spoke of carrying pistols; I am not in favour of it, but when working a large body of men, as we do here, and of the class of these people, I think it wise, as the very fact that you are known to have one will often keep you out of trouble. For the people are treacherous, and you can never tell at what moment some man with whom you have had trouble will decide
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CHAPTER XXXIII
CHAPTER XXXIII
Climate of Guadalajara—American tramps—Courtship under difficulties—Influence of the priesthood—The Metayer system. During June and July the average mean temperature in Guadalajara is 68.85° F. in the sun; the average maximum for these months is 88.52°, the average minimum is 56.48°, and the highest recorded temperature was 95° on 1st July 1908. All these records are officially taken on the top of the Degollado Theatre. In August the mean for the month is 69.26°. During November it ranges from 6
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CHAPTER XXXIV
CHAPTER XXXIV
Curious customs—The abuse of concessions—Flagrant examples—Prospects for foreigners in Mexico—President Diaz—Mr. Denny’s Life-story. One of the curious customs in Mexico is the blessing of animals on the 17th of January, the feast of Saint Anthony. On this day at the Merced (Mercy) Church of this city, from four o’clock in the afternoon till dark, the people bring all their animals to be sprinkled with holy water and blessed by the priest. All the animals are highly decorated (I have seen dogs p
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CHAPTER XXXV
CHAPTER XXXV
Mr. Denny and a mining claim—A wholesale killing averted—Stories of shooting escapades. Any one seeing Mr. Denny (the vice-president and biggest stockholder of our company) now would think him only a quiet man of affairs, yet some years ago he was known as one of the finest fighting men of New Mexico or Colorado. While working a prospect he had near Silver City, New Mexico, he decided to study law, did so successfully, and was called to the bar; but his ideas of practice were peculiar. He was em
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CHAPTER XXXVI
CHAPTER XXXVI
Macdonald Institute at Guelph—Agricultural College—Their value to students—Back to work through Texas. In March 1908 the doctor advised me to send my wife north for a change, as she had lived too many years in a southern climate, so I sent her back to Guelph, Canada, where she was born. In October of the same year I got leave from the company, and went to bring the family back, my first holiday in four years. On my way up I stopped some hours in St. Louis, where I saw Taft, the president-elect,
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CHAPTER XXXVII
CHAPTER XXXVII
Puebla, the misgoverned—Justice under Colonel Cabrera—Royal Family of Chihuahua—Tampico—Presidents Diaz and Madero. In 1909 I went to Puebla, to take charge of a large contract there, and came in contact with another kind of governor from our old friend Don Miguel Ahumada. He also was an old-time soldier (friend and supporter of Diaz), General Mucio Martinez, but as different from Colonel Don Miguel Ahumada as night is from day. Puebla was the most misgoverned state in the country, and the baref
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