| OCR Text |
Show Page 4 "Dough" a fifty-pound sack of flour at no cost to Herrick. Thus, from such a humble beginnnng as an election bet between two friends, began one of the most unusual series of circumstances ever heard of in the West. In viow of these developments, it is almost anticlimatical to note that, despite everything Reuel Gridiey did to get his people elected, the Republicans won handily every office in the county and city. The next day Gridiey fortified himself with a pint of •20 rod whiskey, (it was called 20 rod because the barkeeps in those days took regular 40 rod and mixed it half and half with water to sell as bar whiskey; it was still potent, but it could be taken neat without cremating your throat), shouldered a fifty-pound sack of flour with small copies of Old Glory stuck all over it, and to the tune of John Brown!s Body, he began the long, dusty walk to upper Austin. Six hours and two quarts of 20 rod later, Gridiey and Herrick, who had made the walk with Gridiey and had helped him carry both loads, staggered into the nearest saloon and tossed the now soiled bag of flour on the bar. "Belly up, boys," Herrick roared, "I'm buying the first |
