Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-11-29
The Ancient Miner.

"Give me some whisky straight and
be quicF about IT," said the speaker, an
old, griZZled, tall, gaunt man, dressed in
the traditional blue shirt, 20 K" boots
and cOpper-riveted Overalls of the "hOn-
est miner" threw his blankets in a cor
ner of Johnny ShryOck's saloon in the
little town of Organ in Donna Ana
county, and braced himself against the
bar.
"Had any luck, George?" queried the
barkeeper.
Luck. Why, I tell ye, the sooner a
man gives up looking for anything in
this country now, the better for his
health and his pocket. Prospecting is
played out. A fellow can't get a grub
stake, and if he does find anything he
can't sell it."
Allows that2" asked the scribe, who,
thirsting for information, had joined the
group, and wisely "set them up" as pre-
Lminary to the insertion of the inquisi-
tOrial auger.
"Well, ye see, no man will buy pros
pect nowadays, no matter how rich as
says We get out of it, and experts won't
look at nuthin that hasn't got hundred
foot shaft on it. 1t costs money to sink
a hundred-fOOt shaft, and prOspectOrs
amt got no money, or what little they've
got they blow in for whisky. 1t wasn't
always 81 4 AGLAACLtDC4 WA1CA 4 A4A6b
came into New Mexico ye could sell any
thing as showed mineral; aye, and
claims as never had q bit Of mineral on
them, either. Shakespeare was about as
lively a camp then as there was in the
Territory-several hundred men living
away up, work for all, whisky two bits a
drink. 'rustlers' WhOOpin' FER up every
now and then, and man for breakfast
at least once a week. There were thirty
III cd iu,f knr Nd naw
one Of them, bar one, died with his
boots on"
"And what of the one who died with
them Off" inquired the barkeeper.
"Was a baby as didn't live three hours
after twas born. There were two min
ing companies there. One was the
Shakespeare Gold and Silver Mining Com
pany, an 1 don't reCOllect what was the
name of the other concern, only Gratz
Brown, of Missouri, was at the head of
it. He had young chap named Gibson
lOokin' after his interests at Shakespeare,
an he was sinkin' shaft when the wa
ter came in so fast he allowed as the
men couldn't work unless it was pumped
out. Soup Gibson goes and writes to old
Brown for leave to get a donkey pump.
Brown writes back by all means, get the
pump, and as to the dOnkeys, use your
own discretion as to whether you will
hire them or buy them outright Never
saw 8 man madden nor Gibson was when
he got that letter"
Shakespeare, that was a queer name to
call a mining camp" remarked the
scribe.
at came around this way, Shakespeare
was q very old camp an had never
amounted to nothing. Ralston, the
California banker, started a CalifOrnis
outfit there about 1872, and the camp
was called Ralstch after him. 1t cost q
sight of money, was a dead failure, an
was abandoned in a couple of years. So
the st. Louis people thought it just as
well to change the old name.
THE DIAMOND sWINDLB.
cit was in Shakespeare, or Ralston
as it was then called, that Arnold and
one or two pards put up the Arizona dia-
mOnd job. Arnold was from Kentucky
wasn't q man Of much education, but as
sharp as theY make them. He went over
to London and made 8 sale of the mines
there wasn't tWenty-fOOt hole on one
of them, for 81 100000 to some English
capitalists. There was a chap employed
as assayer of the outfit who thought be
ought to have a dizzy in the business; but
Arnold didn't see it. The young fellow
then goes up to San Francisco to get out
of the way of the boys, and writes q let
ter 20 the London Times, which bust W
the whole sale. The Englishmen had
put up e forfeit, though, and Arnold
went over to Amsterdam and some o.
them other foreign cities where dia
monds are cut, and bought a lot Of them
with flaws in them, and 8 few real good
ones. He got q man named HaFpendinl
as partner, and some ground in Graham
county, Arizona, was sailed with the dia'
monds: Prospecting parties were organ