The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1877-03-22
A WealthY Miner.

en-, me San Francisco Mail tells thi,
10y Oh one of the wealthy miners of thai
1oo1 1on Mr. Fair was born in Ireland il
1871, and came to the United States il
oo.. 80 he acquired his business edu
f"oion f IN Chicago, and came to Cali
S, sSUrnia during the gold excitement in 1849
since that time he has devoted himselt
prlncipally to mining, and from thai
source is now enjoying an income OF
about 5000, 200 per month. Mr.. Fail
resides in Virginia City, and PERSONAL,
superintends the work on the Consoli.
dated Virginia and California mines. His
nouse on b street is one of the sights Of
ene town, being pure white, and as
fpleC.ily ornamented as q toy. In the
'front.' yard there is bird house elevated
On pole, and it is finished in the high.
ese style OF art. No bird was ever known
to enter it.
There is very little of the snob about
-ar, Fair. 1t is true that he has furnish
ed for his family a barouche, drawn by
iolir horses, with gold-nobbed harness,
put a pair of geldings drag his own
buggy, and there is no gilt upon the
straps.
Notwithstanding his immense wealth,
MI Fair is not happy man. Certain
persons scattered through Nevada are
convinced that the bonanza king has
W'ronged them in sundry financial opera
uons, and would be pleased to blow the
top of his head off Until within eight
or nine months Mr.. Fair drove a single
horse through the streets of Virginia.
and, it is said, carried loaded revolver
IN his boot. Latterly he has ridden be-
hind span, and beside him in the
buggy is a horseman named Mooney.
who has the reputation of being an ex-
ceedingly hard hitter and a handy man
IN row. Mooney does all the driving
Tor the Fair family. At the house on B
street the greatest precautions are taken
against any attack. A watchman prowls
about the yard all night, and another is
statiolfd in the hall within doors.
TheTopular name for Mr.. Fair among
the Virginians is "Slippery JIM" He
IS exceedingly polite to everybody, and
"my son " is one of his favorite forms of
address, Bores have no terrors for him.
10 young and disagreeably inquisitive
tourist, Mr.. Fair is the essence of suavity.
Placing his hand upon the shoulder OF
the stranger, he will say, with an engag-
ing smile My son, would it be too
much to ask OF you to come around to-
morrow These mines are any amount
of trouble to me, and business, you
know, makes imperative demands upon
ones time" Then he goes to clerk,
and says: {" If that idiot comes again.
tell him Pm not in. )"
There arc a good many stories current
IN Virginia illustrative of Mr.. Fairs pe-
culiar style of doing things. One is that
Mt time when a certa Il cross-cut in the
Consolidated Virginia, showing very rich
ore, and it was polite to keep the fact
secret, Fair went down the shaft about
midnight, and found two miners in the
main drift cooling off.
My son, said Mr.. Fair, picking ND
a piece of rock that had fallen from car
from the cross-cut, and addressing one
OF the men "my sou, what do you think
that rock is worth ?"
1t won't pay for crushing" answered
the judicious miner.
What do you think, my son ?" asked
Fair, turning to the other. The man,
anxious to display his knowledge, blurt-
ed out
cts worth two thousand a ton if it's
worth a cent"
" You re MINER" said Mr.. Fair, ap-
provlngly; and five minutes later he or
dered the foreman to discharge the sec
ond speaker, on the ground that che
knew too much -