The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1881-09-20

EF NE El
serted. E
his ears an unusual sound, 1t was a wo-
shrek for help. He had arrived at tie
corner of Main street, and, turning, beheld a
tiny tongue of lame a block below. A shanty
fire was his first thought, but by the time
he gained the Chronicle Office he saw it was !
Mrs. Rays tent. The tarred canvas burned
fiercely, and by the light he saw four men
and recognized them as lot jumpers. One
had choked the old woman nigh to death,
and his companions stood by with pistols in
hand, to prevent any attempt on the part of
a couple of pedestrians who had halted across
the street, at extinguishing the flames. On
the ground wasa tent which they had brought
with them, and it was their intention to eject
the washerwoman by all incendiary act, and
then take possession of the vacated lots.
The man from Indiana understood the sit
ua,ion at a glance, and with a few quick
bounds was within the glare Of the burning
tent. Two 81, lots were fired at him by the
lot jumpers and then he retur' ed their fire.
AT the first report Of his pistol one went to
the ground with a bullet hole in the center OF
his forehead, and the next instant his COLL
PAM II was lying in the sno with a shatter-
ed thigh. BY this time a dozen men were on
the scene and the remaining two backed off
in the direction of the rude Theatre Comigue
with pistols standing at full cock.
When Mrs. Ray realized that she had been
saved, she went down upon her knees to the
courageous gambler who had come to her
rescue.
81 don't know your name," she cried, in
tones of emotion, The tears all the while
c~oursing down her wrlnkled and weather.
stained face, "but one thing | do know, God
bless YOU, You are the whitcst man in the
mines "
Several citizens ass sted Jim in erecting the
lot jumpers tent for Mrs. Ray, and then the
undertaken was summoned to 1emovo the
dead body. The wounded man was convey
ell to his cabin on lower Chestnut street, and
lie was advised to leave the camp as soon as
he could travel. Hencetorth jim Moore was
universally spoken Of as 'the whitest man in
liz iiiit'tS, Anu tIs Nay 90 ilSfCt tutu VI
singing his praise. Tie washerwoman is
nov quite wealthy. A few weeks following
the destruction of her tent she sold one Of
her lois for $l4, 900, and with this sum she
erected commodious buildings on the remain
ing lwu, which yield a handsome rental.
Nay second night in the Carbonate camp
friend asked if | knew Jim Moore. Ny all
swer was in the negative. He remarked that
] must make the acquaintance OF the whilest
man il the mines before | could hope to en-
ter Leadyille's best society. We strolleL dow
from the Clarendon hotel to the house where
Jim presided over a faro lay out, and | was
Introduced as .Ihe new editor Of The ChrOni-
cle.' Moore s~cIutinized me an instant W tn
his hard, steel-grey eyes, and then gave me a
hard clasp which brought tea" to my eyes
from lis severity. He smiled at my vince OF
PAIN, and, as he drew in ID stack of blues from
the qleen-telt, SAID. addressing me:
"AVhcre from ~
'.St. Louis" answered, as tersely as the
question had been put.
"Good enough" was his response, aud he
Went out between cards asking question at.
ter question as to people whom he had known
in The city.
Desilous of gaining his goodwill [ placed
a ten-dollar note on the ace, playing it open
.Please dent do it," said he. at breaks me
all up to have friends play at my table. Ii
You want $50 or 500 take it out of the
,t,o -. b,,t +,, fN,l,, .,l, I,,., .l,r go, ~,
When the Vigilantes were organized
against the leeches of the mines, who ~reioiceC
in the title of "The Law and Order Abiders,'
Jim took no part. at ain't my funeral" he
exclsimed, Il can't shake the boys, nor
can't so back on the good people here. So
guess I'll take a reserved seat on the fenc,
and pass my self of for a statesman"
The rough element concluded in Nove,u'
Der 1870, that LeadviiIe had no need for news
papers, and in accordance the proprietors
publishers, editors and reporters Of the three
daily papers were ordered out Of town. Tie
outlook was decidedly unpleasant, for while
men felt 10th to desert their property. they
knew that theiI lives were imperilet by re
manning. | paid d visit to Jim Moole an,
briefly explained the situation.
81 catch on said he, sand shall slide
down IRON the fence. | propose to deal fare
in this camp until | get ready to leave, and j
any one dared to intel fere with me Their,
would be a circus aud meuagerie turnet
loose in fifteen seconds and they have actu-
ally ordered the newspaper men out of town.
he half questioned, land still call themselva
sports"
He pracliced a new shuttle for a few min
utes, then, tossing his cards into the drawer
said:
Es(1p hack ia Tho hnvs and toli +bo,, 4,