The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1883-12-26
The "0Il Feyer.n

"Reminiscences. of early vicissitudcs'
were In order tho other evening among
a group Of Detroit gentlemen who are
now ~ secure from roversos OF fortune
rs II IA possible for any ono 70 DO In this
mntable world. One Of the humber,
connected with prominent manufaet-
uring business, narrated, with due at
tention 20 dramatic detail, how in the
days OF tho "oil fever'' In Western
Pennsylvania, he was bitten by the tar
antula Of speculation, and after varying
fortune and misfortune, found himself
In OIL City pennilcss and unable 70
raise cant.
~ had dropped considerable money
,plcte stranger IN on City, Icopld not
Get free transportation 10 Pittsbnrgh
whore / had some friends, and had not
1cnsy enough 70 pay my fare; was was
tho modern tramp secures FREQ railroad
transportation. II was In the latter part
Of September, The weather was warm
and the walking elegant, and decided
q hundred-mile tramp over the moun-
talns preferable TO tho rough labor OF
the oil region. struck out one morn
ing and walked all day. In tho after
noon of tho second day was pretty
well played out, as l had eaten nothing
since leaving OH City and very
| little for some tlme before. could
not bring myself up 20 the point Of
striking q farm house, I was about
thirty miles from OIL City, and was con-
| sldering the alternative Of appealing to
some charitable farmer, when man
came up the road from the opposite d.
rection i was travelling. driving drove
| OF Cotswold sheep, thoroughbreds. and
| nerfoot beauties. Tho sheep numbered
| about forty. and he was having consid-
! crable trouble 70 keep them from stray
/ Ing into tho woods through which the
unfcnced mountain rundran. He asked
me 10 help him drive them 10 4 county
fair at Franklin, and offered me board
and one dollar per day until tho fair was
over and the sheep returned 70 his farm,
Now, was anxious 10 get TO Pittsburgh.
and Franklin was behind me, but was
likewise very hungry, and the prospect
of being boarded for q week was q
big indncement.' accepted the offer.
and together We drove the sheep "a
Franklin. The farmer had q feed teni
there. In which we lived very comfort-
ably, and everything was going lovely
until the next 10 tho last day of the fair.
Il Nv was INC ual VI tito oiA kSSo'f oAe<i
besides the local plugs, there were some
pretty good fiers from Pittsburgh. Erie,
and other places. While walking abou
the grounds that day l saw mint G.
fellows roaming around with a cloval
blossom fastened In their shoes. Il kne
from their appearance that they wer'
not the rustic SWANS of the locality, ant
could not cipher out just what the.l
were, and what the clover blossom Ii
the shoe meant i fastened one In m,
own shoe and had almost forgottei
about 1t when q chap came up TO M
and said,squietly like;
"sDo you cut or carryH
al did not know what he meant, bu
answered at random, i carry
ssThen follow me. he said.
), II followed him into an excited crow'
around the raoe-track. who were putting
up money pretty freely on their fayorit
horses, and saw him walk up to q stocl
, raiser from Kentucky. who was givin,
and taking bets pretty freely, and Gu
out of n side pocket big leather pocke
book. The fellow did IL so quickly an,
easily that I saw through the Who'll
J secret Of the clover blossom In an In
slant. II was the sign employed by Al
/ organized gang OF pickpockets TO dis
tinguish one another. and they wer
} divided into two gangs-one to cut AM
the other to carry-so as to avoid d9cc
tion In case the fellows who cut shoul
4 be canght. Nothing would be found o.
! their persons. do you soc. and the
! would not be convicted. Well, fol
! lowed the fellow. not knowing exact
what TO do In the premises, and Whe