American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1874-01-03
DAISY'S MISSiGN.

| jewellers, it was an exceedingly fitting
one for the locality that bore it. six
months residence there convinced me SO
| thoroughly of this fact that | could not
conscientiously have changed g single let
| ter of the name, even had l possessed tie
power to do so. Not that it savored OF
| suipnu.c,'c doors; not that the roarings
of its apparent patron saint were ever
| heard echoing among the canCr" that en-:
| comprised it, but for sinfulness, ans.
| wickedness and rictous debauchcry, II
was peerless among all the mining camps
| have ever visited in California.
! vas sent there III the summer of 1885
| by s,ii. Francisco FRI, to close out a
! business that was 1r;ftirie INTO involuntary
bankruptcy, and a long dusty ride found
| me there early in June of that year. A
view Of .hH camp from the mountain had
not impressed me fasCral,iy with it, and
:. nearer acquaintance confirmed tie first
impression, but like Il half reluctant bride
groom, had resolved to take it for 'bet-
ter or worse" with slight hope, however.
hat it would prove any better that it
looked.
''Helloi Deacon. What do you want in
Hell-Roarin'? Preachers don't stand
much show in these diggins You amt
| wanted; better git!"
This was my greeting. | had just
alighted from my mule, tired and out of
numor, and felt half inclined to resent
the brusque, unmanncrly salutation, but
did not. 1t was not IA consciousness of
the truth that quoted me, for my appear
.nCc TI;:9 certainly slightly clerical.
true, | had perfect right to ditct in
opinion with the speaker, for of a verify
this was just the place where preachers
were wanted, and just the place they
should stay; but, making no profession for
Sodliness, | held my tongue ter IA moment.
| looked up; "A brawny and powerful
figure confronted me, and prudently held
my temper. replied biaItdly that J e,'
pectcd TO remain there a while, and sug-
sested, with all meekness, that appear
aEcCs were sometimes deceltful. Soon
The Bar was agog with curiosity, and a
crowd gathered. And such Il crowd!
Great, broad -shouldered fellows, dirty and
unshaven, deeply marked with chronic
dissipation, whose every second word was
an oath. strip!ings whose tongues were
volubiy i'm pudent and early trained to
blasphemy in imitation Of their elders,
gathered around, while | unsaddled my
mule in so awkward manner as to excite
dcrision. These people weighed every
thing, like their gold dust, in their own
Gales; and, measured by their standard, ]
was regarded rs y worthless impostor. l
had store clothes'' on, and this fact alone
was too much for the fixed conventional
ism of the Bar. Buckskin and gray fian-
mel assumed a dignity in early times
among the "honest miners more unyield-
ing, more eXacting than purple anC fine
linen. My "boiled shirt was considered
an intraction, and therefore the Bar was
afirontcd. Deacon was echoed from
mouth to mouth. Bets were offered and
freely taken that ! WAS psalm singer; a
gambler, with II dead thing" or ''waxed
/. Is ~ lay Ia I'M
but a horse jockey, or gentleman. AL
though ncttled with the uncourteous re-
ception, | cotild not afford to fall out
with my new neighbors. Beating MY
dusty hat against my knee, with we'll
assumed swagger, l turned quietly, and
asked i. The Bar was dry? And the Bar
was dry.
With whoop, the crowd adjourned to
the saloor-a rickety, clap-board institu-
ton, furnished with a few stools and rough
tables-and the Bar drank-first with
myself, then with Joe Miles, the proprie-
tor; then with the bluff individual who
had first accosted me. Pressing through
the crowd, he held out his big, rough hand,
and, taking mine, he led me forward with
something of Il triumphant air.
Boys" he said, Il take it all back.
This is my old skipper; came out with
nim from Boston in 40 He amt
and don't whine. ANY one that don't like
him can call on Bill Thorp. That's me,
boys. Let's take suthin'."
Finding that things had tax en- an uneX-
pected turn, Immediately took advantage
of the new situation. Thorp stood sponsor
tor me, and his emphatic assurance of my
rnpreacherlike character and proper dis
regard of the value of money put the Bar
IN good humor; so explained my bust
1 il. IL.
boys And | won the friendship of these
people; not by pandering to their tastes
of falling into their practices but by mind |
ing my own business. While abstaining
from rubbing against tier prcjudices |
and scrupulously avoiding all inter-
ference with their pleasures, | sympa-
thiZed with them in all their little troubles
and they respected me- The Bar, by |
day, did not seem to be "A very bad or
boisterous place; in working hours it
INDUCED in IA kind of fcverish rest |
But it was by night that it shone in
the full glory of its appropriate name.
Then it was that the vampires that |
sucked the blood of honest labor came |
forth. Short card men, poker sharps, |
monte dealers, faro dealers, ard others of |
the fraternity sneaked out TO prey upon
the earnings of the day, and the Bar ran
riot. 1t was then that great strong fel-
a daily conflict with Misunderstanding open
the mountains and wrestling with the |
others might wear the gold |
they won, would gather round the gamb-
ling tables to ''try their luck''-and this !
thing called 'luck" in the early days was
a strange thing. Existing on the super
stition that is found in the composition of |
every man in a greater or less degree, ii |
was phantom that haunted all classes !
and entered into all human calculations. |
Luck shamed reason and set at naught all |
certaintieS, and forgetting |
that mans luck was much of his own
making, it was followed with persistent
faulty that led the feet of too many into
bad and dangerous places. 1t was the
scapegoat for all sins and short cOmings. |
1t was the rock upon which were built |
the golden castles of the hopeful future;
the shifting sand that carried away with |
it the uniruitful and disastrous past; the |
harvest whose sheaves of promise often |
Welded only bitterness and disappoint-
ment. In these tits with fortune the Bar |
drank deep. If it was dry by day, it was |
by night. Ifluck was with !
the boys, they drank, and dallied with it;
if against them, they drank still deeper, |
and cursed it.
Altogether the bar was a wild and |
abandoned place; but attrtion with these |
people taught me that there are solvents for |
even crystalized wickedness-that there
is no cloud SO dark rs to be without |
single streak of silver, no nature SO |
rugged rs to be impenetrahle, or beyond
the reach of humanizing influences.
| had been domesticated in my new |
home about Il month when Il circumstance
took place which seemed to change en-
ir,lx n -h,,l Of Vall