San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-01-26

do know, God bless you! lou are th'
Whitest man in the mines!
Several citizens assisted him in erect
ing the LOT. Jumpers tent for Mrs. Ray
and then the undertaken was summon
ed to remove the dead body. The
wounded man was conveyed TO hi
lbin OH Lower Chestnut street. ant
he was advised to leave the camp IA
soon rs he could travel. Hencefortf
Jim Moore Was universally spoken OF
as "the whitest man in the Mines" and
Mrs. Ray was never tired of singing
his praise. The washerwoman is now
quite wealthy. A few weeks following
the destruction of her tent she sold one
of the lots for $4,000, and with this
sum erected commodious buildings on
the remaining two, which yield hand
some rental.
My second night in the Carbonate
camp friend asked if knew Jim
Moore. Wy answer was in the mega
tive. He remarked that 1 must make
the acquaintance of the whitest man in
the mines before l could hope to enter
Leadville's best society. We strolled
down from the Clarendon Hotel to the
house where Jim presided over a faro
lay out, and 1 was introduced as "the
new editor of the Chronicle" Moore
scrutinized me ali instant with his hard,
steel-gray eyes, and then gave me
hand clasp which brought the tears to
my eyes from its severity. He smiled
ut my vince of pain, and, as he drew
in stack of blues from the queen-ten,
said, addressing me-.
"Where from?"
"St. Louis" / answered as tersely as
the question had been put. f'
"Good enough" was his response,
and he went on between cards asking
question after question as to the people
whom he had known in that city.
DESTROYS of gaining his goodwill, l
placed a ten-dollar note on the ace,
playing it open. "Please don't do it,"
said he. at breaks me all up to have
friends play at my table. If you want
$50 or 500, take it out of the drawer,
but for Gods sake don't play faro"
When the Vigilantes were organized
against the leeches of the mines, who
reioiced in the title of "The Law and
Order Abiders," Jim took no part. ut
amt my funeral" he exclaimed; IL
can't shake the boys, nor I can't go
back on the good people here. So 1
guess I'll take reserved seat on the
fence and pass myself off for states
man."
The rough element concluded in
1879, that Leadville had no
need for newspapers, and in accord
ance the proprietors, publishers, editors
and reporters of the three daily papers
were ordered out of town. The outlook
was decidedly unpleasant, for while
men felt 10th to desert their property
they knew that their lives were imper-
lied by remaining. I paid visit to
Jim Moore and briefly explained the
situation.
81 catch on" said he, "and shall
slide down from the fence. I propose
to deal faro in this camp until l get
ready to leave, and if any one dares to
interfere with me there will be cir
Gus and menagerie turned loose in fif-
teen seconds; and they have actually
the newspaper men out of
town." he half questioned, "and still
they call themselves sports.
He practiced a new shuttle for few
minutes, then tossing his cards into the
drawer, said:
$50 back to the boys and tell them
to scribble their lies in peace. I shall
pay visit to the Law and Order Abid-
ers, and convince them in very few
minutes that newspapers are the saliva
ton of this mining camp"
That night the roughs held meet
ing, and when the whitest man in the
mines strobe into their midst and took
a seat on the platform he was 'cheered
heartily. He announced the object of
his call briefly and emphatically, and
swore by all the hoop poles in Posey
county that he would shoot the first
man who went fooling around news
paper office or cunning for newspaper
mean. He was respected and feared
by all the knaves, and nothing more
was said about destroying the newspa-
per offices until the Vigilantes cap
tured Stewart and Frodham and hanged
them to the rafter of building in
course of erection.
"The newspapers did not hang them, "
: i'd Jim Moore; lit was the Vigi-
Iantes."
"But did not the papers counsel
lynching us?" demanded the leader of
the Law and Order band.
"What if they did?" was Jim's reply.
Amt this a free country; and don't
the Constitution provide free press?
OF course it does; and just feel like
shooting somebody who wants to insult
the Constitution and the American
flag"
When one of Wall & Writer'S stages
few miles below Leadville,
and Rev. Mr.. Pickett, who was riding in