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Benge-lore
.aizaboth ,oryle
nee lo, Tex s.
RANGE -LOBE
E. LI. Halbert of :Anoxia
Texas, is one of the oldest
and most interesting characters
of that section which is known
as the "Penehmen's Paradise."
Pege one
"I've been here a long time," said 1„.r. Halbert,
."but I've never learned to like cows yet, maybe be-
cause my father made me milk them when I was a boy.
Talk about a goat a-stinkin', why I'd rather smell a
dozen goats than one old wet cow. You know they al-
ways small worse when they're wet and then is when
I had to milk.
"I'm a great sheep and goat man but never liked
cows and to this good day when I see one of the critters
Page two
I always want to join the five W's, an organization
which the old bays used to have in before. The five
W's stood for: We Won't Work Will We, which was a
joke of course, but one which ran high and afforded
lots of fun for the cowboys. All sorts or variations
were given to the title and each one seemed more ridi-
culous than the other.
"The new fellows were always in for it when they
hit Sonora whether as cowboys, sheep herders, or dudes.
One especially that t recall right now was a young
fellow from Galveston who oeme here to live. He wore
toothpick shoes and was the object of much scorn be-
cause of them. He worked in Usjor Deberry's store by
day and stepped high and handsome by night. He was
in his most imposing outfit one night, when ready for
a dance, three cowboys made it up to get him. One
attempt after another was made at the bar to start a
fight with him. After several drinks, one cowboy
proceeded to spit upon the highly polished toe of one
of the "toothpioke. Wham, went the toe of the "tooth-
pick" right under the cowboy's chin and before the
other two could realize what was happening a fist had
punched each of their chins and they were of no further
use. The fight was over to every one's surprise and
the wearer of the "toothpicks" was never molested a-
gain.
"Speaking of Deberry recalls a joke on him. He
Paree three
came out of his store one morning with his shot gun
loaded for birds and upon seeing a mass of blackbirds
right in the middle of the street became so excited
with the thought of blackbird pie that he fired rieht
into that bunch of birds. No boner done than re-
gretted, for he realized his mistake an soon as the
crowd becan to gather in mush szeitsment, thinking
that a brawl was on and a murder had been committed.
6ilently the major picked up his birds, put away his
gun and went to the courthouse to pay his fine. By
the time he had done that and set 'em up to every
body, his pie had cost him $25.00.
"Pranks and jokes have always been my hobby
but I nearly lost the friendship of one of my best
friends, Dave 'coodard over at Coleman, Texaa, with
my two..faced nickel. I won ;;;18.00 off of him with
this nickel which a Coleman jeweler fixed for me
exactly alike on both sides. Two years after we
had ironed out our differences the nickel cot away
from me but later showed up in a thousand dollars
worth of change from a Zien Angelo bank. I used it
and showed it to many after I got it back but final-
ly it got away again and I an still lookinp, in all
my change for my twos.fased
Range-loro
laisabeth Doyle
San Angelo, Texas.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
B. 1144 Halbert, Sonora, Texas, taterViewod,
November 15, 1957.