The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1875-08-26
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TIMIDSIMS.I

Hmid Sims" as ne was calleu, was
held in very inferior repute among the
boys at Texas Car, because he had backed
down before a six-shooter. A man on
Texas Bar might be lacking in many
qualities, but if he had the sand" it
covered a multitude Of sins. Sand was
the jocular translation for grit" Sand,
in locality possessing but little law and
less order, was an absolute essential to
good standing in Texas Bar.
Timid Sims, was a pale, slender, inoft
fensive, dreamy character, whose general
aspect and manner gave you the impress
sion that he didn't know what he came
into the mines, for indeed, that he didn't
exactly know what he came into exist
ence for. He had body to clothe, shell
ter and feed, and it was imperative that
he should work to shelter, clothe and
feed it. He was not strong enough to do
an able-bodied mans work. No one
would employ him, even when hands
we're needed in the river claims during
the busiest season a circumstance which
seemed to puzzle Sims exceedingly, until
at last he was plainly told by one OF the
rougher and more outspoken miners that
he couldn't keep up his lick with the
ether men anyway, and the best thing
he could do was to go into grocery store,
tend bar, or keep school"
Sims, however, would mine. He bor-
rowed a rocker, procured a very limited
supply of -four, pork, and potatoes on
credit at the store, took possession OF
deserted log cabin at the further end Of
the Bar, patched up the roof with old
boards which came floating down the
river, and tried at night to sleep comfort
ably on the floor in his scgnty blankets.
He worked here and there along the
bank, sometimes washing over "old-tail
ings," sometimes working some bit of a
bar or rifle exposed during a low stage
of the river, which since "'49" had been
dug over score of times. He made
"six-bits," sometimes dollar aud half
per day, often nothing. His We're reck-
oned "Chinaman's wages" /" Taken alto
gether, poor Sims hardly passed for a
whole man. 1t was not SO much that he
was feeble in body either for there was
others resident near him, able to lift no
more pounds or swing pick hour after
hour with no more vigor than he but
there was about Sims an atmosphere of
weakness and self-depreciation. He was
always shrinking into holes and corners
He had no "bluf," no self-assertion. If
he went into room full Of a strangers
he seemed frightened at an imaginary
something. With few he became inti-
mate, and they called him "clever
little fellow" To these he clung, and
desired no more acquaintances. Every
stranger he seemed to regard as an ene-
my. He was fond of solitude, and dur
ing the Summer, would neglect work
altogether, wandering about the sur
rounding mountains.
Sims had one merit. He was an inde-
fatigable prospector, and at last struck
gravel diggings on Bixel's Flat. Had he
been "smart he might have monopo-
,ized the entire lead. He contented
himself with modest slice at one end,
Then down came the able-bodied cutting
and shooting men of Texas Bar. Jim
Freemantle had worked bank claim
facing the fiat two years previously, with
out suspecting the diggings which existed
an eighth of mile back. No matter.
On the plea of possessing prior claim
on Bixet's, he and his compeers argued
that they had the right of running the |
first boundary lines" Sims had already |
run his own, which included, so far as he
could Judge by external indications, |
fair slice of the lead supposed to exist |
underneath. This, Freemantle & Co.,
coveted. So they ran their lines, which |
clashed with those of Sims. Sims found |
Freemantle's notices posted in the heart
of his claim. He expostulated with him.
He renewed his own notices which had
been torn down. These we're again
snatched off, and his boundary stakes
kicked over. This was accompanied by
a Ghreat from the proprietors of the,
" Conquer we Must" claim, that any
more of that sort of thing would lead to.
bullets So Sims "took water" and
was obliged to take up with fragment
of the ground he had discovered, sl,. 4
Wang Chu kept "China store " a
little above Bixel's fiat. Wang Chu