Middletown transcript., 1884-03-07
Wanted Fruit.

The sensations of suddenly becoming
rich, although we have never exper-
fenced them, act upon different tenn
peraments in strangely various ways
During a conversation in regard to
sudden wealth, a man who has had
much experience in mining camps,
said:
I'm 1876, while in Rosita, Colorado,
had ample opportunities for studying
the capricious freaks of men who be-
came suddenly wealthy. One man who
struck it rich, yielded to a passion
which he had for pointer dogs, and
bought every slim looking dog in the
neighborhood. Another man wanted
horses, another clothes, and another
stage coaches, although he had no
actual use for them. The most enthu-
siastic man, however was fellow
named Edwin Bassic. He came to
Rosita poor but determined. He
pitched the tents of his fortunes on a
spot that no other man would have, and
began work with a will and fixedness
of purpose that created laughter. He
was very poor and it was all that
he could do to provide bread for his
wife and children. Many time he
went home hungry, but still with a
miners undaunted courage and mans
strong arm, he worked on. One day
he struck rich lead. Intense excite
ment prevailed in the town, and from
a visionary laborer, he became the man
of the hour. Still he realized no
money, and his household condition
was anything but prosperous, but a
change awaited him. The second day
after his strike, he sold an interest in
his mine for large sum of money.
With a flush of triumph, signalling
that his hopes had been realized, he
gathered up his suddenly acquired for
tune and rushed to the nearest store.
There he bought all of the canned fruit
which was for sale, and had it sent
down to his house. Then he ran to
another store and bought all the canned
fruit. He did not stop at this, but he
went on from one store to another
buying canned fruit. He was not salts
fed until he had bought all the canned
| fruit in town, and even then he seemed
to lament because there was no more
canned fruit worlds to conquer. De-
livery wagons were constantly driving
up to his house, and cans, in showers
of glittering tin, were flying from his
back windows. Every child had can
in his hand, and the fruit famine, thus
caused in the town, created great ex-
citement. Wagons were dispatched
to the nearest railway station and tele-
grams, ordering canned fruit, were
sent to distant cities. It seemed that
there was demand for nothing but
canned fruit, and even the drug-stores
ordered this highly necessary article of
diet. When the excitement subsided,
the rich miners house was stocked
with canned goods The juice of the
strawberry and the pulp of the peaches
stained the door facing. Naturally,
they got enough after awhile, but cans
were so thick in the neighborhood that
a citizens committee ordered them to
be carried away. Bassic now lives in
Bridgeport, Conn.,, and the last heard
of him, he had settled down into
permanent enjoyment of good clothes
and canned fruit. ''-ArkanSaW IFaU-
eler.
What struck an old soldier" isthe
heading of an article in an esteemed
contemporary. A press of business
compels US to skip the article, but the
thing most likely to strike an old SOL
der these times is a pension agent, and
he generally strikes in the region of the