There was lots of fun in those days. No one had much to do but to enjoy life and boost Fort Worth. They did both to the extreme limit. A man could and did wear the same suit of clothes year after year and no one commented on his frugality or poverty. Women wore the same dresses to church, Sunday after Sunday, and no one was found to criticise. The girls, and there were pretty girls then as now, not so plentiful, only because there were not so many girls, wore the same dresses (that was before they commenced wearing “gowns” in the daytime) to all society gatherings without apology or explanation. They did not find it necessary to cut their dresses for high water or low in the neck in order to display their physical charms. There were dances in the court room, in a hall over a livery stable and at private residences, occasionally. They danced the cotillion, lancers, Virginia reel. The tango, bunny hug, turkey trot and other fancy stunts were unknown. There were picnics on the Clear Fork in the daytime and by moonlight, when the moon was in commission. Everybody was happy and tried to make his neighbor happy. Good old days. The practical joker had plenty of time in which to indulge in his fun. One of the best of these was on General Peers, who kept the Commercial Hotel, at the corner of Fifth and Commerce streets. As usual, every one was on the qui vive for railroad news. One day John S. Hirshfield had a spurious telegram delivered to the General, purporting to be from the private secretary of Jay Gould, the then president of the Texas & Pacific, announcing that Mr. Gould and a party of capitalists would arrive on the stage that afternoon and asking that provision be made for their entertainment. It was signed by “Tom Collins,” at that day the cognomen for all imaginary and fictitious persons. But the General did not know this and proceeded to buy up all the turkeys in the market and all the other delicacies to be had. He was instigated to invite about fifty of the more prominent citizens to dine with Mr. Gould. The plan was for each of the invited guests to pay for his dinner so that the hotel would suffer no loss. Along in the afternoon, Charles Fallbush, who traveled for the wholesale liquor house of Day & Co. came in from a western trip, dusty and travel stained and was introduced to General Peers, as Tom Collins, the Secretary of Mr. Gould. Fallbush explained that he had driven over from Dallas ahead of the party to see that all arrangements were made for the entertainment of his chief. The scheme was working beautifully until “Tuck” Boaz, not being advised that the invited guests were to pay for the dinner and not wishing the General to suffer such a loss gave the game away.