Texas is different from most other southern states, where pride of family is very strong. In Texas, a few years ago, it was not considered good form to dig into a man’s antecedents or family record, as you were liable to come across the bar sinister in the shape of a noose at the end of a rope. Consequently, rank and family were not much considered, and a man had to stand on his own record. An English “remittance-man” in one of the small Texas towns had two titled friends come to visit him. One day in the hotel he thought he would impress the natives, so he said to the clerk, “Jim, this gentleman is a viscount in England, and this other gentleman is an earl.” But Jim had never heard of such things, and asked what it all meant. It was explained that these were marks of distinction by which you could tell a man’s social standing. “Oh,” he said, "now I see; but there are only two kinds of people here—those that call for soda in their whisky, and the others that aren’t so darned particular." On the other hand, war records are very much prized and brought forward on all occasions. More especially at elections, where, if the record is very good, it is almost sure to capture the votes. But that this is not always the case the following instance will show. An old veteran on the stump was giving his record as follows:— “Fellow-citizens, I have fought and bled for my country. I have fought the savage Indian; I have slept on the field of battle with no covering but the heavens; I have marched barefoot till every footstep was marked with blood!” At the close of his oration one of the leading citizens approached him, wiping the tears from his eyes, and in a voice broken with emotion said: "My dear man, if you have done all you claim, I’m afeered I’ll have to vote for your opponent, for I’ll be gosh darned if you ain’t done enough for your country already."