, 1890-09-18
IN A MODEL CAMP
Border Ruffianism Unknown
to Warm Springs.

Border Ruffianism Unknown
to Warm Springs.
PEACE AND PROSPERITY THERE
Swiftness of English Justice and
Hardness of English
Mails.
II
WARM spRrNaA Kootena dis
trlct, B. G., Sept. II when 1t is re-
membercd that these mining camps
are but short distance from the
American border, and that they are
peopled to such considerable ex-
tent by men who have came from
the United States, 1t is not IL little
strange at first to find so many
points of sharp contrast between
them and the mining camps ''across
the line.n Some Of these differences
have been pointed out already in
these letters and variously COM
mented upon; but there is one that
attracts at once the notice of every
visitor. That Is the absolute quiet
and good order that prevail every
where in this district. Imagine, If
you can, a camp in the United
States with the population,
prosperity and rapid growth
of Warm Springs without
n "bad man" u faro bank, hurdy.
gurdy or a concert" saloon within
its borders. Not even IMAM for
breakfast" any morning-no, not
even an unmarked mound to be-
token the last home of some un-
fortunate victim of the bullet or the
knife! Imagine, If you can, min
ing camp where neither sheriff, nor
deputy, nor even constable Is needed !
Not even hint of that last resort of
an outraged American public--the
vigilance committee. This district,
since its formation as such, has u
record of but two cases Of assault
with deadly weapon, and one of
them was among the railroad labor
ers below Nelson. The situation
seems to be almost as unexplained
rs it is unique and gratifying, Take
Warm Springs, for instance. But
for the bearded men in their rough
garb and tho newness of the houses
and cabins, you might almost fancy
yourself in a sleepy New England
village. There are but two places
in the town where liquor is sold
one of them n hotel--and they are
as orderly and respectableas country
groceries.
The few ladies here pass through
tho streets in perfect freedom from
any species of insult or annoyance.
The "bad man." the drunkard, the
loafer and the shoestring gambler
seem to have given the place the
everlasting go-by, and though the
visitor misses those worthless, he IL
not consumed with regret at their
absence. a man may be seen with
shotgun or rifle occasionally,
and many men carry sheathed hunt
ing knives-so handy in camp and
on prospecting tours-but deadly
weapons, for use as such, are no
part of human apparel or adornment
here. Once in u great while, it is
said, a bad man. from the states
will wander into the country, but
his ferocity seems to be soon wilted
in the front of indifference with
which his badness is viewed, and he
either goes to work like an honest
man or skips for some more con-
genial cline. Americans with capital
und American prospectors and
miners, who have suffered in min
ing camps ION the other sider from
allied claim-iumpers, blackmailers
and fighters, find ineXpressible relief
in ther absence. OF late years these
dangerous gangs have made it al
most impossible for anybody but
rich and powerful corporations tc re
sist their organized expressions, so
entrcnched do they become behind
fraudulent prctenslons and lawless
force. Why these methods do not
obtain a footing on this side of the
boundary line 1t is not SO easy to
explain.
The population here is made up
largely OF Americans, especially that
major portion of 1t engaged in the
active business of mining. BY
Americans l mean men who have
come here from the United States,
where they pursued the same call
! ing that engages them here. 1t is,
of course, no wonder that these men
are law-abiding, for there are nc
moro law and order loving people
in the world than actual mining
men. But the wonder Is that the
same causes which attracted them
hither did not also attract the law
less gangs that followed every new
strike from Deadwood to Tomb
stone. 1 have propounded the
conundrum to several men of wide
camps, and the almost invariablc
answer Is to the effect that claw
breakers find the climate too un.
healthy" Perhaps this Is the cs.
sence of the real truth of the mat
ter. There is u certain cold-hlooded
rigidity in the British execution OF
law that strikes the evil-doer with
shiver of terror. 1t may be that
an appointed judiciary is more
unrelenting anu less liable to
be swerved by efforts to
avert legal retribution than
an elected one. But, what
ever may be the reason, justice in
this country is swift, sure, and pitt.
less, and the resust is felt In the ab.
sence from these mining camps of q
class that has hung like a milestone
about the neck of honest endeavor
In every American district for some