Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-10-22
slick Franks Luck.
New York Sun

the bsr.room OF the Miners AIMS in Front
street yesterday and stpp,d their drinks With
| the air Of men who could afford to pay tor
| them, were talk ng Of the uus and downs OF
miners % gold and SILVER ,1cl'emeuts among
the Rocky Mountains.
| at beats all, said old Sam Whitaker, a.
| be filled his pipe, "how some men aIIc's
striks it rich and others has 10 hustle around
| to get grub stake. WGa,s bad LUX 'or
some sllers turns out good for them as Is ia
| for IT."
Tant luck said the bartender, wping
bis hands on his parDly-whjte apron. Its
| the srly bird what catches the worm, and
them that humps themselves gi's thar some
| time
Without no'icirg the interruption the old
miner scratched match on the bowl OF his
| pipe and, having thoroughly lighted the to
| baccO continued
There weren't none OF you tellers up at
the big bend in the Columbia just after the
war, cause if YOU had have been there Id
seen you. There WAS chap there named
| Frank Labouie Slick Frank they called
| him, cause he never turned hair
and bad stacks OF dust about all the time
| He came into camp one night in n canoe that
he d swlped from the lnjuns aud found lodg-
| little brook ran out of the gulch Bein' that
every body got there ahead OF him, there
| weren't no show tor him TO stake a claim.
| Most folks would have called that hard luck,
| but after three or four days couple Of char
what had prOspcCted over bit of bottom halt
mile away give It up as worthless. Slick
Frank lowed that it would hold shsuty, and
| be build one and wal for something to turn
| up. Brin' As winter was coming on, Slick
| aid out to make shanty what he wOuldn
| neeZe in, nosOw, and so tegan to cut away
the side OF the mountain where it run down
| TO hls claim, keepin bis eye peeled tor traces
| Of dust, but seeln nOtnn. After about tour
days work he'd got perpendicular wal,
about ten feet high, TO build his shanty
against, and had begun TO cut bis timber for
| the fut, when smart chunk OF sappling
that he was chopping at tell the wrong
way and started a big boulder down The
mountain. That fetched couple OF
| bigger ones along, and they pumped right
down on the ground where he'd laid out to
build his shauty. That was his first streak
OF good luck. Most folks would have called
it bard luck but if the sapling hadn't started
the rock II snow slide would and the rocks
would have wiped out Slick Frank.
| 80 he went TO work scooping out another
| place TOR shanty, taking care this time that
no loose rock weren't hung up above him
He was right under a very solid sort of n
| preciplCe this time that he hadn't noticed
before on account OF the bush Thee was II
small stream OF water poured over or one
side, which he lowed would make things
very comfortable when he wanted to mix
his grog and for cooking purposes. 50 he
got a good log hut up after weeks work,
.t..tf a
and banked it up and built good stone
hearth and chimney at one end. 1t was n
genuine home comfort, and Slick began 10
lay out for good time, wnen ealy one
morning he walked up to hnd n stream OF
water trickIing over the precipice and square
down his chimney.
Most men would have been e14spera,ed,
but Slick didu't have no such word in his
sweet lexicon. He just dug little trench TO
carry tha water out Of his parlor door, as he
called II. The stream was about as big as
your arm, and mighty regular 10 its flow
after II once got its work in. SOmeth ng had
damned the brook way up the mountain
and turned part OF the current intO n new
| channel. Slick watched II run Tor a
| while, Cogltsting how he should spout The
water away from the shinty, when he
| noticed that the sand that came down with
the water was forming little ring around
abe outer edge Of the hearth. Without think
ing much about it, he scoOped up some Of the
sand and put it under a bit Of msgnifer
/ that he carried. He told me afterward that
that was the first time In his lite that he ever
hustled. He'd found the dust in uncommon
quar- titles in that sand, for the new channel
Was right over vein Of pay dirt, and he
wanted to get trough and cradle rugged
without any delay.
The miner here turned toward the bar
tender, who hastily set a bottle holding a
yellow liquid on the table beside four clean
glasses, and the miner continued impref-
svely
"Some men humps themselves until their
fingers wears out and never raises az ounce,
and others builds houses, and while they
sleeps the dust gets spouted down the chin
ney or in through the keyhole, or it gits to
EN- some way, and al they has to DO is TO rig
| up trough TO catch it; That's what call
luCk