Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1871-02-02

miners with liquor and cards al a hand
some advance on original cost
| The first days business was success
and he entertained high hopes Of chang
OF fortune for the better. Vain hope
On the second day man came into hi
shanty for drink, and fell down dea,
from heart disease before reaching th,
counter. The rumor went around sud
denly that the respected and lamentet
doceaseu-who had emigrated from
Northern California or Southern Crcgo,
on account of u prospective lawsuit iu
volvug the title to Il horse--had died JUS
after, instead OF just before, swallowin!
glass of Coucatenation Bil'5 bes
whi3key 1t was warm weather, ant
the gold and copper seekers of that dis
trict were at that time an eXcitable set
with no wholesome restraint on their
conduct ia the shape of courts and lega
enactments. Ia an hour fifty men were
examining his stock, and testing it as a
committee on the whole, by way Of test
ing whether it would kill or not. 1t did
not directly kill those who drank it then
and there, without paying for it; but it
I'D to a fight, in which two honest min
er3 We're "Iaid out" with bullet holes
through them; and the indignant citi
zens, with the crude ideas of justice then
prevailing, held Bill responsible for the
result, and when the row was over,
organized u Vigilance Committee, with
the determination Of going for him" as
soon as daylight came to enable them
TO beat up his hiding place in the chap
parel. Luckily for him, he learned of
their amiablc intentions in season, and
before morning broke over the Weaver
Mountains, he broke in that direction
himself. They heard from him next by
a Mexican, who met him at Granite
Wash, forty miles eastward Of the river,
and, having cooled down a little mean
time, concluded not to pursue him,
Next he turned up at Wickcuburg, on
the llassiyampi Wickenbnrg was Il
lively place at that time. Jack Smelling
was a capital fellow, but iucined to be
too playful at times and indulge in little
practical jokes, which usually resulted
in somebody being sent out of town per
forated like Il colander. Jack was fes-
lively inclined on the day on which our
friend arrived, and had been around
town aud compelled all the traccrs to
close all their shops and gohome on pain
of instant death. AS Confederation
Bill rod4 down the single long street
which formed the city, Jack sighted him,
and mstaking him for man who had
once insulted him by refusing to drink
with him, went for him" the moment
he dismounted, and thrashed him with
an inch Of his life before he discovered
his mistake Concentration Bill ac.
cepted Jacks apology and a drink, but
thought business too lively to be perma-
nent in Wickenburg, washed the blood
from his face, bound piece of raw
beef on one OF his eyes, and started on
next morning before sunrise.
In the course of his travels he was
seen at Hooper Il Co.'s store, on the
Gla, and for some lime he was at home
at Tuscon.
Two or three years after the adven-
turc at La Paz, Concatenation Bill came
down Bill Williams Fork from Dale
Creek and Prescott, and for some weeks
was one of the fixtures Of the copper
mining camp at the Great Central aud
Planet Mines, twelve miles above the
mouth of the Fork, near Aubrey City
Nobody asked him to stop, and nobody
seemed to care to ask him to leave, so
he partook of the hospitaliies of the
camp, never missing meal, nor paying
Il cent, day after day, and night after
night, until it was whispered around
among the miners that he was a heavy
stakeholder in the company, and it
would be we'll to keep on the good side
D. him.
1t was in midsummer, and the heat
was terrible. All day long the naked
red mountains absorbed the fierce of the
burning sun, and all night they gave it
off, as the bricks of the bakers oven
give back to the atmosphere within it
the heat received from the blazing wood
fire just raked out. Sleep, until far into
The morning hours, was an impossiblity,
in doors or out, and the miners were
wont to stretch themselves on their
blankets beneath the long veranda at the
hacienda and while away the early part
1t the night, fighting mosquitoes and
swapping lies, which were about equally
abundant in that camp.
Not long before this time the Mojavcs
IF the Colorado went to war with the
Pmas and Maricopas Of the Gila. The
first skirmish resulted in the rapid re.
treat of the Pimas, with the loss of four
bucks aud one squaw. But the second
tight was disastrous to the Mojaves, who
were compelled to retreat with great
Oss.
Now, it so happened that Concatena-
lion Bill had been in the ella at or