Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-08-13


to gain a cheap favor by advancing
grades, and Skipping the hard places
and had come to grief by begging :
large boy not to smoke cigarette il
school. The playful lads ducked hin
in the adjacent stream, sousing him uI
and down till he escaped, waded to tht
farther bank, and sought other pastures
But the new teacher was of ofSterner ma
! terial.
81 shall have an examination to day
tosee where you belong, and must turr
you back in your grades if you deserve
1t. he said.
a loud murmur of discomfort and al
most open rebellion followed. Nothing
abashed, the teacher made his first and
last speech. He took from the table a
book and addressed an older pupil:
''DO you know what this is?n
''Yes, sir; the school law"
''And 1t defines the grades, and you
all think you have passed the examina-
tions, and that L can't go behind the
law2"
"Yes, SIR"
VERY well ! Now you are quite
mistaken. L am the alcalde of this
school, am sheriff and register, and
judge and jury, and absolute fnality
here.n
And with this revolutionary and COM
prehensive statement he threw the
school law out of the window, and pro-
ceeded amid an awe-struck throng to
break up and consolidate class after
class, reorganizing the school ON his
own system.
Yes, an alcalde is what the district
needed" WAS what the old pioneers
said when the story was told, and a
better school for the rest of the year
northern California never knew.
The flush mining camps have often
been described, with their curious Sab
bath day minglIng of ministers, gam
blers, auctioneerS, dog fights, and street
sales, all concentrating about the gor-
geous saloons, where monte, faro, roU-
lette, poker, vingt-et-un, and other
games of chance were in full blast.
There were Indians, MeXlcans, Chilians,
Hawaiians, Asiatics, Europeans, Yam
KEGS, weSterners, southerners, men
fresh from their claims, still begrimed
with auriferous mud; men dressed in
the latest fashions of Paris, each one of
them all measured in that virile, sinewy
community for exactly his worth of
manhood. But tales of daily life in the
camps are not so frequent.
There is An old story of Main street,
in Nevada City. In 1851 some miners
began to sink a shaft in the middle of
hn 81 IN hn
business center of the town. Expostu-
latiOns, long continued, were of no
avail. "Mners' rights come first, :" the
intruders SAID, land there is no law
'gainst diggin' in the street, an we
mean to dig" The storekeeper whose
property was most in peril went into his
store and returned with loaded and
cooked revolver, which he pointed GRIM
ly at the miners, already neck-deep in
their shaft.
''Then III make a law" he cried.
"Just you boys go back and hunt up a
rich gulch. No gold here; plenty of
lead"
''That'sa good law, judge, +" respond
ed the leader, ''Better'n the average
supreme court decision. Boys, lets fill
up the hole, and start for Last Chance
or TImbuctoo. 4 later tradition re-
ports that the party struck it rich a
month later, and seLt a nugget in re-
membrance to the irate citizen who
drove them from Main street."
One of the best known lawyers of the
early California bar commenced his ca
reer, soon after college graduation, as
a waiter IN q restaurant IN mining
camp. The salary was S15G month;
but his career as wearer of the white
apron was cut short in this way: A
miner upon whom our college graduate
was waiting was telling a companion
the points of lawsuit he had lately
lost, closing with:
''If l had had a decent law yer ought
to have won."
''That is so; yesl You could have
won, if you have stated the case honest
ly," broke in the waiter, then stopped,
abashed.
"What do you know about law?"
was the natural inquiry.
"A little, and know camp juries."
Then young man, I'll give you ST.
OCO to appeal my case and win it for
me-"
They shook hands, the young fellow
1offed his apron. and within an hour
was at work on the case, carried It to a
end, completed his law stu
lies, was admitted to practice in the |
state courts, and became a leader of the |
par.