The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1875-07-29
Daisy's 3 Mission.

dwellers, it was an exceedingly fitting
one tor the locality that bore it, a si'
months residence there convinced me 81
thoroughly of this fact that | could no
conscientiouslv have changed Il single let
ter of the name, even had possessed Tho
power to do so. Not that it Savored o
sulphurous odors; not that the roaring o.
its apparent patron saint were ever hear'
echoing among the canons that encom
passed il but for sintulness, and wicked
less among all the mining camps ha'
ever visited IN California.
was sent there in the summer Of lS5;
by San Francisco firm, to close out
business that was drifting into voluntary
bankruptcy, and a long dusty ride toun(
me there early in June Of that year. a
view of the camp from the mountain haC
not impressed me iavorably with it, anc
nearer acquaintance only confirmed tina
first impression; but, like half reluctan
bridegroom, had resolved to take it fol
''better or worse" with but slight hope
however. that it would prove any better
than it looked.
.IIello, deacon! What do you want il
Hell -Roarin'? ? Preachers don't stand mucl
show in these digglngs, You amt wanted
better git y
This was my greeting. had jus
alighted from my mule, tired and out OF
humor, and felt half-inclined to resent the
brusque. uumannerly salutation, but die
not. 1t was not a consciousness of ths
truth that quoted me, for my appearance
was certainly slightly clerical True,
had u perfect right to differ in opinion
with the speaker, for of a verify this was
Just the place where preachers were want
ed, and just the place they should stay
but making no profession of godliness,
held my tongue for Il moment | looked
up; Il brawny and powerful figure con
ronted me, and prudently held my tenn
per | replied blandly that | expected tc
remain here awhile, and suggested, with
all meekncss. that appearances were some
times deceitful Soon the Bar was agoe
with curiosity, and a crowd gathered
And such Il crowd Great broad-should-
cred fellows, dirty and unshaved, deeply
marked with chronic dissipation, whose
every second word was an oath strip
linos. whose tongues were VOlubly impu
dent and early trained to blasphemy ii
imitation of their elders, gathered round
while | 'unsaddled my mule in so awk-
ward a manner us to excite derision.
These people weighed everything, like
their gold-dust, in their own scales, and
measured by their standard, | was re
garled us II worthless impostor. | had
''store clothes on, and this fact alone was
too much for the fixed conventionalisn
Of the Bar Bucksl>in and gray tlanne
assumed Il dignity in early times among
the honest miners" more unyleldlng
more pxacting than purple and fine linen
NV "boied shirt" WAS considered an in
traction, and therefore the Bar was at
lronted. . Deacon was echoed from
mouth to mouth Bets We're offered an,
freely taken that | was a psalm-singer; q
gambler, with dead thing" or "waXel
keer,ls" u lawyer; doctor; anything but
a horse Jockey or a gentleman. Although
nettled with the uncourteous reception,
could not afford to fall ont with my new
neiehbors. Beating my dusty hat against
my knee with well-assumed sWagger,
turned quietly and asked if the Bar wa,
dry. And the Bar "as dry.
With a whoop. the crowd adjourned tt
the saloon-a rickety, clap-board instltu
ton, furnished with a few stools an'
rough tables-and the Bar drank-tirs
with myself; then with Joe Miles, propri
etor; then with the bluff individual who
had first accosted me- Pressing through
the crowd, he held ont his big, rougl
hand, and, taking mine, he led me for
ward with something of II triumphant air
"Bovs,n he said. 81 take it all back
This is my old skipper; came out will
him in 40. He amt no preacher II he
spends his money like a man, and don
whine Any one that don't like him cal
on Bill Thorp. That's me. boys! Let
take suthin'n'
Finding that things had taken IN unex
pected turn, | Immediately took adyan
tagc of the new situation. Thorp stoo,
sponsor tor me, and his emphatic assur
ance of my unpreacherl like character an,
proper disregard of the value of none,
put the Bar in good humor; so explain
ed my business, and hoped to deserve wei
of the boys And ! won the friendship 0
these people-not by pandering to thei
tastes or falling into their practices, bu
by mindng my own business. Whil
abstaining from rubbing against thei
prejudices, and scrupulously avoiding al
| interference with their pleasures, | sym
pathized with them in all their little trou
| bles and they respected me. The Bar
| bv day, did not seem to be a very bad o
boisterous place; in working hours it in
| duloed in II kind Of feverish rest But
was by night that it shone in the ful
glory of its appropriate name. Then
was that the vampires that sucked tn
| n Il laho n.
card men, poker sharps, monte dealers
faro dealers, and others Of the fraternit,
sneaked out to prey on the earnings o
the day, and the Bar ran riot 1t wa
then that great strong fellows, who wer,
wearing out their lives in daily contiic
with Misunderstanding open the mountain
and wrestling with the streams, tina
others might wear the gold they won
would gather round the gambling table
to '.try their luck'-and this thing calle'
"luck''' in the early days was a strang'
thing. Existing on the superstition tina
is found in the composition of every man
in a greater or less degree, it was phan
tom that haunted all classes and entere'
into all human calculations. Luck shame,
reason and set at naught all mathematical
certaintes, and, forgetting that man
luck was much Of his own max ing, it wa
followed with a persistent fatuity that le,
the feet of too many into bad and danger
Gus places 1t was the scapegoat of al
sins and shortcomings. 1t was the roc
upon which were built the golden castle
of the hopeful future; the shifting san'
that carried away with it the untruitfu
and disastrous past; the harvest who's
sheaves Of promise often yielded only bit
terness and disappointment. In thes
tilts with fortune the Bar drank deep.
it was dry by day, it was unquenchabl
by night. If luck was with the boys
they drank, and dallied with it; if agains
them, they drank still deeper and curse
| it.
Altogether, the Bar was Il wild an
abandoned place; but attrition with thes
people taught me that there are solvent
for even crystalized wickedness, that ther
is no cloud so dark as to be without sin
gle streak of silver, no nature so rugged
as to be impenetrable or beyond the reac
of humanizing influences.
| l had been domesticated in my ney
home about month, when circumstanc