The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-06-04

LEADvILLEs
Peculiarities OF This Elevated srinIng
Town OF Colorado.

Town Of Colorado.
Leadville is known as mining
camp, and, lifted up among the
as it is, you would expect to find it al
so shut away from all the earth, rough
and rude, filled with tents, shanties
and dugouts, the resort of the Widest
characters. But Leadville is, In the
fullest sense of the word, a modern city.
1t has waterworks, gas and electric
lights and the telephone. 1t has it's
Grand Opera House" seating 1000
persons; it's ably conducted morning
and evening papers; its common coun-
ell and it's city debt. 1t has its COM
plete directory and $4,000 inhabi.
tants. The architecture of the place
is not yet classic or greatly influenced
by the style of Queen Anne. But
its streets are lined by comfort
able houses and its stores are won
der. In cities OF three times its
size one will seldom see larger or finer
establishments. / found three great
dry goods houses, for instance, each
carrying on an average 500, 600
worth of stock, one of them having
no less than $4,000 in rugs and
carpets There are hardware, grocery,
furnishing and news stores TO match.
The city commands the trade of
the mountain country through a cir
cult of thirty or forty miles, and is a
centre for all mining supplies. The
miners pay quickly and largely, and
want the best of everything while their
money lasts. Both the demand and
profits are therefore large and sure.
1t is for this reason that to find one
Of the finest assortments of diamonds
and precious stones west of the Missis-
sipni you must come to Leadville.
The miner patronizes his own wares
as none other does. Under the efficient
supervision of Professor Joab, &c
Yale graduate, the city schools are
doing a good work, though a mis-
placed streak OF economy limits their
term to six m onths in year. Eight
or ten churches have honses of wor-
ship, and are year by year lifting the
community up from depths which
have been as deep as the location is
high.
But the night side OF fLeadviiieis is still
among the most characteristic
features. The times have passed when
the unruly element ruled the town.
Society has organized itself, and gov
ernment stretches Quits strong arms.
1t has checked violence and regulated
vice. But it has not expelled or even
suppressed it. There is no spot so in
tested by parasites of society as q
mining city. Since the early days
many Of these have left, seeking fresh
fields of conquest. A few have re-
formed But, while / have walked
through some of the great gambling
places OF Europe, have never seen q
place where as large proportion OF
the population seemed to be drawn
within the clutch OF these night vices,
anS to actually participate in gam
bling, as here. Keno, poker, roulette
and other similar games are the at.
traction for the crowds that swarm
from the mines and furnaces into the
saloons, where they spend the greater
part OF the night. There IS ayirtuous
openness about it all. The represen-
tative of the law may always be seen.
But have never Witnessed in evil
places such a mingling OF all classes OF
society as here, the we'll dressed and the
ragged, the cultivated and the ignorant,
the hardened and the weak, fascinated
by the same serpent, injected by
the same poison. dragged down to the;
same fate. Some of the professional
gamblers are men Of almost supernat-
ural keenness. College graduates,
some Of noble Eastern families, are
! ee....s..ong them; young men who, averse
to toll, unfortunate, perhaps, in spec
nlations, are cast or their wits and
live on the gains of others In all min
ing communities there is such an at
mosphere OF uncertainty and there is
bred such a temperament of specula-
ton that there seems little difference
between risking what one has in pros
pecting claim and in CHANGING the
turn OF card. 1t seems no worse TO
lose money in one way than another,
equally legimitate to make money iii
either. Gambling requires less capital
than mining, and itsreturns are quick
or. / have talked with many young
men in Leadville who have put all they
could save, from time to time out Of
their wages, into mining claims, but
almost every one assured me thathe
had never made dollar. Yet each
could point out some one who had
made fortune. "My turn must come
some day. mean to keep on till T.
make the lucky HIT What moro
natural than that such life should
beget professional gamblers.