The Bozeman weekly chronicle. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1883-1889, 1886-12-15
CUSTOMERS nOSe

I'll take a can. anyway said the miner,
who did not seem = all affected by Mr.
Rankin. peculiar recommendation - his
wares l-3w much are theyT
Two dollars ,E
The miner produced MS oilrkskiB aud
poured little dust into the gold scales Mr.
Rankin looked critically at il and put Il in .
fiat brass pan, narrowing toward one end.
! with sides half All inch ir height-s blow
pan.
Mr. s P willets" said Rankin Il dont
sell my oysters for sand Your dust isn't
clean-never is Maybe some other store
keeper will buy black " gray sand Of YOU,
but can't"
Black sand, in reality an oxide OF iron, 10
the invariable accompaniment Of gold a.
washed from the soil and very difficult to be
separated from the dust .....
Have you any good butterF asked an
other
I've an article here which for axle grease
will beat the oldest man in the mines. Eng
lish butter. Made to grease the wheels Of
her majesty's carriage. Dollar . pound.
Want some9'
YES. Gimme half pound"
He plays that well on the boys" whis-
pered Broener to me "Did you ever notice,
them of anything you want 70 sell that its
bad they'll believe the contraryl Maybe it's
because we've all dropped unconsciously into
the habit of thinking each other liars"
There was noisy game Of cards, and at
every second the well-worn paSteboards vera
thumped on the table with resounding
whacks Mr. Rankin, while not selling
goods, was setting rows OF tumblers on the
Anr Sv,sr
sponse to the frequent call Of the players
stuck for the drinks" .-...
Broener seemed well acquainted with the
place and its habitues. Ny presence with
him attracted some curiosity. .s
'Brotherfn heard some one inquire Of him
in low voice, referring to myself.
No, nephew" was his reply. Just out
from the states. Been down to the bay to
bring him Up.
How does your claim pan outr asked
another a...:s .-
Good for five dollars day vet said
Broener. Il don't want to work II an out
Afraid | shan't get another like it. AL
you seem to take life pretty easy" 70
marked the iaSs inquirer
Why should / take life hardr replied
Broener, But why do you think take
things easy"
because you don't work hard like the rest
of the boys was the answer.
Il don't believe in hard work replied
Broener, filling his pipe. Il think the best
work is the work that's easiest done. knock
off early IN tine afternoon so that may have
some time to cook my grub decently, wash my
fannels and make my cabin comfortable
without using up every bit of strength in my
BODY You see expect to he dodging around
when most of you fellows that take life so
hard are cold in your graves-if you're lucky
enough to get grave. You're using up now
more strength than you've got to spare and
patching up the rents in It with whisky It's
all very nice working in the river tall you
shiver and then coming out and warming up
with whisky every fifteen minutes But
you'll pay Or it inside of ten years. How
much rum per day did the Willow Bar boys
use when they were building that wing damn
Used to send a two gallon demiiohn
twice day to be filed said slow. heavy
voice, and the manner of saying it seemed to
imply that it was something to boast Of.
'And amongst ten of you. All right Min
inG by steam power. speaking Of whisky,
let's all take drink, said Broener. ''Comel
All hands! Fall in Forward with your
banners"
The company present gathered before the
bar. The bottle and glasses were Egain set
out All waited with a rigid decOrum until
each glass was filed and ready, and then
with ''heres luck" and solemn, stimuli
taneous gllp, the ffuid was poured down,
with an occasional rasper, Hem, or an
eager grasping for the water pitcher, tssti-
fed to the vigorous rawness Of corn
whisky. s
"a sad and solemn performance said
Broener "Another screw in our respective
collins. Boys, who bosses this bar, we or
John BarleycornP
"Barleycorn, guess, said piping voice
Reeds got em. Snakes Alone in his
cabin for two weeks with a fve-galIon
demiiohn Of whisky. Saw him as was
comm up sweepin' his doorstep like fury,
Asked him what was the matter Lord,
how he yelled: Matter Matter enough
Can't you seel The house is full Of bugs
and beetles, snakes and centipedeS, horned
toads and humble bees, and can't keep
iem outp vamooseds
ale was up here yesterday atternocn,=
said another "Come walking into he store
quiet enough until be saw Rankin behind the
counter; took him for mule team, guess
Anyway, be made for him with black snake
whip, singing out: Whoa Whoa. Haw-
Git up thar How Rankin did git from be-
hind that counter and old Reed after him,
up the hill The boys got after, 'en and
started Reed home Nice man TO be laying
round loose Somebody ought to look after
him.
sHe came here . fortnight ago to lay in
his winters provisions said Rankin Il
asked him to make oct his order Well, he
said he guessed he'd have sack Of -four. tan
pounds of pork, four. pounds of sugar, three
of coffee, and 50 on, as be went along lessening
the number Of pounds until be got TO the
whisky. He said Of that bed have barrel
cut him down to five gallons s'poGs be
commenced ON that before 1ackling the
grub"
II wish said one. II had his claim. any
way, ON that point OF rocks They say he's
got pickle jars full Of dust bpried under his
tent saw him take ten ounces one day outa
of pot hole myself.
YES hes ona q yeaz incAy OnsA RgA