in a manner that was a test which few persons have an opportunity to apply. I have always felt grateful towards him for his act of kindness and will never cease to entertain the warmest friendship for him while I live, because I know he is an honest and worthy man.
I was under other obligations to him afterwards, and at one time especially when he assisted in recovering my stage mules that were driven off by the Indians, with John Kennedy's horses from the ranch. He went with John and Ross Kennedy and their men in pursuit until
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they overtook them on the Rio Frio, eight miles east of Uvalde, near General Knox's ranch.
Henry Shane is now about seventy-three years of age and he resides on his ranch five miles below Sabinal Station, on Sabinal Creek, with pleasant surroundings and in good circumstances. He is highly esteemed by all who are acquainted with his generous nature and have knowledge of his general character. He is well known throughout west Texas, where his life has been spent, and also in San Antonio, where he has many friends, and among them Colonel C. C. Gibbs is one of long standing.
His early life was spent on the frontier of Texas, where he had many experiences, and the stories he could relate about his encounters with wild Indians would be interesting; but he rarely speaks of them, and he had one that he never talks about. It occurred in a fight when in pursuit of Indian raiders, on Sabinal Creek, after his ammunition was exhausted. When the fact was discovered he was close to an Indian who was also without ammunition, but both were equally brave, and they rushed at each other with clubbed guns. Those who witnessed the fight say that Mr. Shane was worsted in the fight by a lick on one side of his head which brought him to the ground, and he rolled down the creek bank. Other particulars are forgotten, but Mr. Shane confesses that it was the hardest fight he ever had in his life. In later years he served during the Civil War as a soldier in the Confederate Army, and in that connection he sustained his reputation for courage and fidelity to duty that distinguished his previous career as a worthy citizen on the borders of civilization, but not more honorably than he has since done in private life.
CHAPTER VII
CAPTAIN ADOLPH MUENZENBERGER and myself estab- lished the first stage line between the United States and Mexico, in August, 1867, under the firm name of A. Santleben & Company. The corporation was organized on August 1, as a private enterprise, for the purpose of transporting passengers, and, incidentally, to convey letters, money, and other packages suitable for the capacity of the stage. The institution was licensed under the gen- eral laws of the State of Texas and those of Mexico, but no subsidies were granted, and the business was conducted at the risk and expense of the company. The facts to be given will show that, throughout its continuance, the line was liberally patronized and was highly appreciated by the public because of its great convenience.
The success of the enterprise was assured beforehand through special privileges granted by the Mexican government, which would not, or could not, be allowed under existing laws. The most important of these concessions was an exemption from tariff charges on everything except money, on which a municipal duty of two per cent, was collected in Monterey and an export duty of ten per cent, was exacted by the customs officials at Piedras Negras. During the two years that the line was operated the contents of the coach was never investigated nor was it ever delayed on any occasion by government officials on either side of the Rio Grande. Thomas B. McManus, who was in charge of the United States customs-house in Eagle Pass, and the Mexican customs officials in Piedras Negras, Nicholas Gresanta, and his assistant, Pedro Morales, were all my intimate friends whose personal influ-
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ence and official powers were exercised in the interest of the line whenever an opportunity offered.
Our stage as a mail carrier was guaranteed the same privileges and protection as those granted the general mail lines in Mexico; but otherwise it had no connection with the postal department, as the right to levy our own postage and collect it in advance, for the company's benefit, was conceded to us. Our company used a metal stamp that was furnished by the Mexican government, on which were the numerals " &5," with the words " Republica Mexicana " in a circle around them, which the postal department used until stamps were introduced in 1870; but no account of our mail transactions was required. The only agreement we had with the government stipulated that all letters handled by us might be weighed, and after a payment of twenty-five cents an ounce was exacted, the stamp should be applied once for each ounce. No other government stamp was placed on letters brought by us from Mexico, but it was necessary for all letters sent to the United States to carry stamps of that government, at the rate of five cents for each ounce after crossing the border. Frequently two dollars for postage was paid on one letter, and these carried eight impressions of our stamp, in addition to the United States postage. Messrs. Weber and Ulrich were one of several firms in Monterey, who paid as much or more on letters sent through us to the United States. On many of our trips as much as fifty dollars was realized on mail matter alone, that was collected at points along the route.
Besides passengers and their baggage, we carried all kinds of paying freight, but mostly money, and occa- sionally we transported live-stock, such as game chickens and blooded sheep. The games were known as Guieo de Seguin, and they had a great reputation on account of their fighting qualities, in which respect they resembled the people in that region. They were raised mostly in
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Seguin, and some of them were billed over our route to the City of Mexico, where they were highly prized by chicken fighters. Two were placed in a coop divided into two apartments, and our freight charge was twenty-five dollars. One pair of Merino lambs was conveyed on the stage to Monterey, that Charles Griesenbeck consigned to Governor Maduro, ex-governor of Coahuila. They were crated, and the charges amounted to fifty dollars.
When not too heavily loaded, we imported as many as two thousand choice oranges, which brought us one hundred dollars per thousand in San Antonio at wholesale; also, chili pepper, that we sold at one dollar per pound wholesale, and other things of equal value. Our return freight to Mexico consisted mostly of eatables, which we also sold at wholesale prices. We often took as much as two hundred and fifty pounds of hams, and sold them at one dollar a pound; and twice a month we bought from Joe Ney, at D'Hanis, two hundred pounds of butter, in four cans, that was placed under the driver's seat, for which our customers paid us one dollar a pound; they retailed it at one dollar and fifty cents. One of our customers was Mrs. Russel, now Mrs. Cloudon, the mother-in-law of Mr. Socia, the cotton-buyer, who conducted a bakery and confectionery store in Monterey. Our stage fare from San Antonio to Monterey was $75.00.
We often carried large sums of Mexican- money out of the country, and charged three per cent, for freighting it to San Antonio, which, when added to the twelve per cent, export duties, increased the expense to fifteen per cent. Our charge was less than those formerly prevailing and they were reduced by the premium allowed on Mexican silver on account of its purity. New York drafts then commanded a premium, ranging as high as twenty per cent., and there was always a demand for them in Monterey. The Texas firms that transacted the largest business with merchants in Mexico, at that period, were Messrs. Halff & Bro., Goldfrank, Frank & Co., and F.
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Groos & Co., all of San Antonio, and our stage often brought for them as much as twenty thousand dollars from that country. Not one cent was ever lost that was entrusted to our care, and we established a confidence that was upheld by our company throughout its career.
After the close of the French war, we contracted with Philipe Naranjo, a brother of General Naranjo of the Mexican army, to deliver two thousand Minea rifles to the national government. We found a lot of secondhand guns in New Orleans that had been used in the Civil War, and
