The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1875-08-05
TIMID. SIMS.

g Timid SIMS as he was called, was
held IN very inferior repute among the
boys at Texas Bar, because he had backed
down before a six-shooter. A man on
Texas Bar might be lacking in many
qualities, but if he had ssthe sand' it
covered multitude of sins. "Sand"
was the jocular translation for grit. "
Sand, In a locality possessing but little
law and less order, was an absolute es-
sential 10 a good standing in Texas Bar.
Tinid Sims was pale, slender, in
offensive, dreamy character, whose gen
eral aspect and manner gave you the i'm
preston that he didn't know exactly
what he had come into the mines for
indeed, that he didn't exactly know
what he came into existence for. He
had body to clothe, shelter and feed,
and it IVES 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 en-
pIoy him, even when hands were 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
60 couldn't keep his lick with other 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 very limited
supply of -four, pork and potatoes on
s credit at the store, took possession of
s 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 CON-
Z foftal0ly on the floor in his scanty
> blankets. He worked here and there
along the bank, sometimes washing over
- old Tta1l1ngs, sometimes working some
s bit of bar or rifle exposed during
low stage of the river, which since
S''49" had been dug over a score of
times. He made &C six bits sometimes
dollar and half day, often nothing.
His erereckoned I" Chinaman's wages. .
Taken altogether, poor Sims hardly
passed for whole man. It was not so
much that he was feele In body either.
Tor there were others resident near him.
able to lift no more pounds or swing a
pick hour after hour with no more yigor
than he but there was about Sims an
atmosphere of weakness and self-depre-
.e1at1on. He was always shrinking into
Ss62ssss md corners. He had no bluff
no self-assertion. If he went into
room full OF strangers, he seemed fright
eaed at an imaginary something. With
3 few he became intimate, and they
called him "cleVer little fellow" To
these he chung, and desired no more &C
tquainSances. Every stranger he seemed
to regard as an enemy. He was fond of
solitude, and, during tbs summer, would
neglect work altogether, wandering about
Che surrounding mountains.
Sims had one merit He was an inde-
fG2gable prospector, and at last struck
gravel diggings on Bixel's Flat. Had he
beex 8 smart he might have monopo-
hzea the entire lead. He contented him
selEvEth modest slice at one end. Then
down. came the able-bodied cutting and
shooting men of Texas Bar. Jim Free
mantleflnd worked bank claim facing
the fat two years previously. without
supporting the diggings which existed an
eighth OF "a mile back. No matter. On
the plea OF possessing prior claim on
BIxel:s3 saes and his compeers argued that
1dA6y uats tale rASnG OF " running the first |
boundary lines. Sims had already run
his own, which included, so far as he
could judge by external indications. a
fair shce.of the lead supposed to exist
underneath. This Freemantle & Co. |
coveted. $50 they ran their lines, which
clashed with those of Sims. Sims found |
F.eemantle' S notices posted in the heart |
of his claim. He expostulated with
him. Hereaewed his own notices which
had been torn down. These were again
snatched of, and his boundary stakes
kicked over. This was accompanied by
8 threat from the proprietors of the /
6 Conquer we Must" claim, that " any
more of that sort of thing would lead to
bullets. Sims stock water, and was
obliged to takeup witha fragment of the
groundhe had discovered.
Wang Chu kept -ssChina store !" a