Carson daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1873-1877, 1876-11-21
Death OF an Eccentric Character.

Every mining town and interior viii!
| age en- he Pacifc Coes. has its notab!es
and among these ia always one or t~c
! such characters "a is SO clevesly de.
, scribe, bv tie Eureka Sentinel as fol
! lows.
The Austin Reyeilie OF Wednesday last
, contains an account of the death Of old
Jack Williams a name that will be read
.iv recognized by all old Austini'es. Jack
| Williams for thirteen years has been a
noted character in Austin. He arrived
| 10 thai town in the rush of 1868. known
as the Reese River excitement, and took
up his quarters in an abandoned mining
tunnel run Into hill on the south eide
# Pony canyon. and near the western
end Of what now constitutes the town OF
Aus in In this tunnel he made his home
np till about two years ago, when Allen
:. Cults, egeot "a iho u ,uhatiau Cuu.-
pauy. gave him a lot o. lumber, ana
there a.oss the house that Jack built,
in the shape Of substantial little cabin
Jack never mad any new clothes; he
didn't own gold watch with gold
ch in Sc. with gold quartz; lis diamond
pin and ruig ne must have disposed Of
be:ore he cane to Austin, for nobody
there ever saw him wear them. He
claimed to hayJ followed the sea for u
years aud TO have beer the hero Of nu-
! uleTous hard fought contests in the is.ic
arena. The truth Of the latter assertion
was borne ont by his appearance. A
part of his nose lad disappeared and his
fnco in general bore the battered lock to
be seen on that OF retired prize fighter,
which Jack was generally credited with
being. But for all his bunged up looks.
and fer all his fighting reputation. he
was harmless as a kitten, aud was never
known to seek personal difficulty or
engage in fight. How he managed to
was always neatly and clearly kept. and
we'll supplied with provisions. and there
was always G. comfortable looking wood
pile ct its mouth. AS he never worked
and seldom begged. it WAS a mystery to
people how he procured the necessaries
Of life; and there used to be o romantic
story Of rich brother in Sacramento,
who made Jack 4 certain monthly allow
anoe on condition tina. he would immune
himself in the Businesses of the noun
tains and lot disgrace lis brother by
his presence in the sans place. This
story was all bosh, for Jack was never
seen with any money, and never en-
tered the bank or express Office during
all the time he lived in Austin. He
was seldom seen on the streets during
daylight. hut could be seen prowling
around the streets and saloons at night
as long as there vas light burning.
Being harmless ard poor, he came in
for q goodiy allowance OF free whisky,
almost any man who was feeling good
would ask Jack 10 take a drink, and
Jack would never refuse, and by this
means he managed 10 keep himself al.
most constantly in q state Of comfort
BILE drunk. during which he would
recount to any person who would listen
to him his kairbreadth adventures on
the briny deep and within the gisdi-
a,orial ropes. A short time ago. Jack
Was struck in The thigh by piece Of
wood. while engaged in chopping, the
blow fractnrin2 the bone and causine
bis death. The Reveille says be died
from sheer fright. It is probable tina.
old ago and the superabupdanc1 Of
sbiskey furnished by a reform, cam
paign had something TO do With his
death. By bis death Austin loses one
Of her notables. She has several more
TO spare. over whom, when Grim Death
comes along and snatches them bald.
headed there will be but few more tears
she'd than were shed over the grave Of
rocT. old, harmless. useless Jack
Williams. who was twen'y-seven years
mariner nnd boxer from the ground up.