During this interval of imprisonment a local newspaper man who learned
of my being in the bull-pen, came at once to the dungeon and called me.
I sprang to the steel barred door of this Houston hell, into which the
"Star of Hope," aided by the Houston police force, had thrown us, and
said, "Here. What will you?"
The rays of a dim light revealed my face to the reporter, who asked
me, "Are you Edwin A. Brown?" At the same time he pulled out of his
pocket a New Orleans newspaper which had published a short time before
a counterfeit presentment. While glancing at the likeness, he remarked,
"You are the man all right." "When did you get into town? We have been
looking for you for a week." I replied, "I got into town this morning
and into jail this evening." (The New Orleans paper stated that I was
going to Houston.)
"Don't worry. We'll have you out of here in a few minutes."
True to his word I was soon a free man and on my way with the
journalist to the office of the Houston _Post_. After the interview,
I left for my hotel, where, after the luxury of a refreshing bath, on
a soft, snowy bed, I lay down to rest but not to sleep for while my
body rested, my thoughts were back in that wicked cell with those of
my countrymen who saw no future and to whom life held no meaning. Not
until the dawn of another glorious Texas day, a symbol of the light
glowing in the great hearts of the good people of Houston and of Texas,
did I fall asleep.
The next morning the Houston _Post_ carried a startling story on the
arrest of the victims of the "Star of Hope Mission," supplemented by
the interview I had given, portraying Houston's care for its homeless
unemployed. The startling exposures made by the Houston press on
existing conditions were followed by my talk before the Conference of
State Charities then in session, and brought forth a volume of articles
in the various local papers, teeming with apologies for the inexcusable
conduct of the "Star of Hope Mission" and the police system of that
city.
CHAPTER XXIX
SAN ANTONIO--WHOSE VERY NAME IS MUSIC
"_If mankind showed half as much love to each other as when one dies
or goes away, what a different world this would be._"--AUERBACH.
I carried away in memory from San Antonio two pictures,--one of a
beautiful, quaint old city, rich in historical lore; a city of winter
sunshine, palms and flowers which make it truly "a stranger's haven";
a picture of welcome and a spirit of kindness even to the homeless
unemployed of which I caught glimpses during my brief sojourn in that
city, though covered by thoughtlessness for their care of them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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