Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-11-07
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e<spsna uu Former Nssnhbsra

Ave or six years old Pete Fergus ha
been the only resident OF this town
lie was here first and he is here last
he saw the mining-camp develop, evo
Lutte, and decline. Il was he who wei
coined oil the newcomers and wh'
babe all the ,out-gocrs gccd-by. Their
are twenty OF thirty houses in the place
but only his is tenanted. The other
stand about as they were left by thsIl
last occupants. Some Of them are =
good condition, with windows ana door,
in place, but others are rickety ant
tumblc.down. -,
The Comoyille fever was violent, ahc
Il soon faded away. OF the twenty 0,
thirty mines here none ever PAID anc
during all the time they were worked
NOT enough bullion was taken out OF
them 10 paw for the tobacco consumed
h the place. Pete Fergus kept .
bcarding.house, and il was not his bust
ness 10 worry over the poor success o.
the mines. They came andwent, and as
long as there was one in town he had
An open house. When everything in
the nature Of mining ceased he still
fayried and entertained an occasional
prospector, and when even the pros
pcctors ceased to come this way ne re-
manned, though his "help" leit MIN
one by one until he was alone. lie no"
manages to make his own living IN
some way. and exists to large extent
on his faith that there are great days III
store for Comoyille yet.
Walking through the deserted camp
Yesterday with this aged man, he en-
tertained a party of tourists with a
running comment on the history OF the
Mace and on q few of the more inn
portsnt events in its career. The day
was n brilliant one. The sun shone
bright and warm, the air was delight
fully soft, and the frowning mountain
peaks in the distance made picturesque
background for the rambling and dilapi-
dated village.
"This here place, - the old man said,
pointing TO a weather-beaten shanty,
{. is where Tim Fuller lived. He came
in with s40, 600 in cool cash and blew
il all in in this very room playing faro.
Do you see that hole in the board?
Well, that's where the bullet that killed
him went. It's in there now, guess.
He didn't mean any harm, but
he ran across a hard crowd one
night, and, being desperate, he at
tempted a little shensnigan with
the cards. Just as he was raking off
the pot in poker game big Mexican
ia on him and let him have it. That
pu " times, and nobody had any
' sns ~ 70 think bout it much. A long
while after that GOT ne idea tha AIM Inn
might have had little rnVsey " - tSa
here. and the more / thought Of :! tue
more likely it seemed. Finally pulled
no the floor, and after thorough search
found under a fat stone wad OF
bills--about a thousand dollars, | be-
ieve, though I've forgotten. spent it
all long ago.
"Over here in this long building was
where Tennessee Barker run a gin-mill
md gambling-house. He was the best
nan that ever stood in this town. lie
could fight or shoot, but a gun fight Is
what pleased him best. He had many
Of them. One time the whole town
pitched on him, and he got four bullets
IN his chest. He's up here now."
" Up where?" was asked.
"Up in the cemetery" answered the
old man, without a wink. Then, con-
tinuing, he said
"Just down the street hereaways is
where a mighty queer thing happened.
One Of the first men in the town was
slim young fellow named Tomlnson.
He had q little money and could play a
good game, and | am sorry to say that
he took up with young woman who
was here at the same time. One day
lady, one Of the kind that you read
about, came in here and found Tomln-
son, and asked him to go back home
with her. She was his wife, and about
the slickest-looking girl | ever saw. She
was around here for two or three days
with tears in her eyes, and this young
woman that had been living with Tom
finally run across her, and there was as
lively time as the camp ever had.
Just then Tom came up with bewil-
dered look on him, and when his wife
appealed to him to back her up IN her
statements-he had the devil in him,
guess-he pretended that he never So"
her before. That was a great mistake
ON his part, for the lady had gun, anC
before any body could think she had sho'
him and herself, too. She fell RICH
here and he over there. That's he
blood on the board. They are both u
here.
SIN this next house is where 10
Cotton held the five biggest hands a
poker that were ever seen on the coast
lie cleaned out every man at the table
and left between two days for fear tina
the BOYS would clean him cut. He wa
n terrible sharp at cards, and old gan
blers always regarded this room wit
superstitious awe, Not one oil theI
would ever play Eere after that, b'
cause, though it was plain enough thu
Joe had fixed the cards, it was though
that there was something here that WI
very favorable to that kind of business
"Right over here in this back roo,
Is where Jones, Sam. Dalrymple, Bel
ton, Van Brunt, Dutton, Briggs, Chas'
bic, and the rest Of the boys got t
gether one night and turned cards
see who would have what money the
was in the crowd and all the mine
Things had been getting pretty ba
and there did not seem to be any pro
pect of improvement. Somebody SD
gested that if one man had all the !
sources and all the nInes he mig
perhaps make stake, and the gamblr
spirit was too strong to permit I
chance 10 90 by. II was agreed tn
All should put up what money th
had, and that then they would ca
draw a card 10 see who would de
the high card TO win. Dave Chasu'
got an ace--the only one that ca
ous--and be took the CARDS and 81
them rafting shuttle. I've seen b
dreds Of dollars on the board, bu
800, s.w any men as excited as Il