Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-10-17
Leadville Society.

saloons are the variety theaters oil Lead
Vile; and they are patronized by the
same class of men. A considerable
portion of the theaier building in each
case is occupied by gaming tables, and
through this room Is the entrance to the
theater itself. The interior of the audi
forum is destitute of ornamentation
and the performance, which begins al
eight clock in the evening and ends al
two or three o'clock IN the morning,
dreary to the last degree. The chief at
traction seems to be the society of the
dancing girls, who have access to the
boxes, of which there are a great num-
Der, and spend most OF the evening in
them. Sunday is the great holiday of
the week. when the miners from distant
camps flock into town to make their
weekly purchases. No kind OF business
is suspended except that Of mining.
Stores Of every kind are open all day,
and trade is very brisk. The theaters
have day performances, and some extra
amusement is provided for the enter
tainment of the people. Last week it
was fight between a cinnamon bear
aud Arkansas dogs, and the amphi-
theater where it took place was crowd
ed to overlooking. In contrast with the
general disregard Of the Sabbath were
the services Of the three or four
churches that have been already estab-
lished, and whose influence will GER
tainly grow until marked change has
taken place in the customs of the city.
While the pioneers of the mining camp
have left their impress upon the char
acter of Leadville, the refined, educat-
ed, law-abidiDg people who have come
here from the East have kept control of
things, and made the city remarkable
for the good order that is maintained,
and the general safety of life and prop
erty. OF those whose first experience
IN mining camp has heen obtained in
Leadville, larger proportion are men
of education or former wealth than ever
assembled at any other mining center
in the early days of its history. OF the
young and most enterprising men who
are in business, holding positions about
the mines or prospecting on the neigh
boring hills, not few are fresh from
college or from professional studies,
and lawyers, physicians and teachers
may be found here engaged in almost
every branch of business. The infu-
ence of men of this class is seen in the
organization of such institutions as the
police force-a splendid body of uni.
formed men who would not disgrace the
Broadway Squad of New York; in the
establishment Of fire companies, the in
PRODUCTION of the Holly system of water
works, the organization of a gas COM
pany and the establishment of schools.
Men pass here for what they are, and
not for what they have, how they are
dressed or where they were born. No
body cares who mans grandfather
was or of what State he is native. No
one can afford to treat another with con-
tempt because he is unfortunate; the
wheel may turn over and the poor man
of to- day may become the millionaire
of tomorrow. Such things have been
common in Leadville. Lieutenant
Governor Tabor was, before the discov-
cry of the carbonate ores, the owner of
a modest little store on California
Gulch; now his daily income amounts
to thousands of dollars, and he is one
of the foremost citizens of the State.
But the change in his fortune has not
changed the man. He treats his old
friends Just as cordially as when they
lounged about his store two or three
years ago. Nobody is jealous of Govern
or Tabor's prosperity.
The same may be said of Judge Wes-
ton, the most successful lawyer of the
camp, whose history is worthy of brief
notice here. He came to California
Gulch in 1860 and went to work Ms
miner washing out gold. There was at
that time no organized government
Here, and there were no courts before
which miners could take their disputes.
A rude tribunal was therefore estab-
lished by the miners themselves, and
as many were unable to state their
cases intelligently, they employed
Judge Weston, who was a good talker,
to do it for them. After the gold ex-
element passed away and courts were
organized here, he continued to prac-
tise, looking up each new point of law
as it arose until he had gained wide
reputation. He was admitted to the
bar in 1872, and when the Leadville ex-
citement began was living short dis
lance down the Arkansas river on
ranch that he had purchased or taken
up. Having been in this region nearly
twenty years, and not only being famil-
lar with the mining laws and the Gus
toms of the neighborhood which have
the force of law, but knowing every
foot of territory on which silver ore has
been discovered, his services were at
once in great demand. Every miner
knew that Judge Weston would under
stand what he was talking about when
he took a case to him, and that was not
as certain if a stranger were employed.
Judge Weston has therefore been re-
tanned on one side or the other of every
case that has arisen, and as
there is controversy Lver almost every
mine that is discovered. his fees during
the last year have been enormous. But
the Judge has not, on account of his
prosperity, changed his mode of life in
the least. He wears the same coarse
clothes and lives in the same modest
style as before. You cannot always
the man who has "struck
it rich" from the unlucky prospector by
the clothes that he wears or the house
that he lives in.-Z. l.. w., in N. Y.