True stories of old Houston and Houstonians: historical and personal sketches / by S. O. Young. Page: 156
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156 TRUE STORIES OF OLD
knows, is a habit with most gamblers. One night I was talking
to Frank La Mott about that robbery in the "Iron Clad."
"Frenchy" came up just in time to hear me say "hold-up" in connection
with the story. He concluded that we were talking
about that time the gambling saloon was dynamited and robbed
here in Houston, so he butted in.
"Hell," said he, "that is no holdup. That is a bombshell. I
am there. I am playin' bank. There's a big crowd so I can't
get to the table. 'Limpy' George is in front of me and I have
to reach over him to get my money down. Just as I get my
bet placed hell breaks loose right behind me. I don't know what
it is and I don't stay to find out. I breaks for the street and I
thinks I'm the first one to get out, but when I hits the sidewalk
I see 'Limpy' George goin' up the street, 20 yards in front of me,
and he ain't got no crutches, either. I tell you that bombshell
shore works a miracle with 'Limpy's' legs. He can't walk across
the room without crutches before it goes off, but here he is downstairs
and out in the street ahead of me with my two good legs."
If any one will read that description over carefully they will
know "Frenchy" as well as I do.
BEST FIGHTER IN THE ARMY.
THE other day I told about James Longstreet, the famous
mule that was the mascot of Hood's Texas Brigade.
Soon after the article appeared I met Captain Mat Ross,
who was a member of Company H, Fifth Texas Regiment, of that
brigade and he Jumped on me for not having mentioned another
equally famous member of the brigade, another James Longstreet,
too. That was a little red rooster, the pride and glory
of Company H, but the immediate property of Mat Ross and
Major E. G. Goree, now a resident of Huntsville.
"That rooster was the greatest little fighter in the Army of
Northern Virginia," said Mat. "That is how he got his name.
He would fight anything that had feathers on it and when he got
stirred up would tackle a man or anything that got in his way.
Why, it is a matter of regimental history that our rooster kept
Ed Goree and me in ready mdhey for a year or two. There was
no rooster anywhere that could stand up in front of him. He
whipped everything and never put on the least bit of airs over
the fact. He got one eye knocked out in one of his battles,
but that did not seem to interfere with his fighting qualities the
least bit. I really believe it helped him, for it had a kind of
demoralizing effect on the old roosters to have Jim Longstreet
come at them with his head turned sideways so he could get a
focus on them. They were not accustomed to that kind of an
advance and he generally 'got their goat' before the fight lasted
one round. We kept him in perfect condition and while we had
no gaffs, we took charcoal and rubbed down his spurs so that
they were always bright and sharp as needles.
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Young, Samuel Oliver. True stories of old Houston and Houstonians: historical and personal sketches / by S. O. Young., book, 1913; Galveston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth24646/m1/156/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .