San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-04-17
A MINERS QUEER REQUEST.

His Pal Gave Up $1,000 and Secured a
Fortune by Disobeying the Will.
The other day we met on Kearney street
an old time Washoe acquaintance called
Jem Briggs. whose usually well worn
miners appearance was on this occasion re-
placed by gorgeous display of velvet vest,
check pants, red scarf and ponderous
watch chain, while his honest and simple
face shone above these evidences of pros
perity with the placid contentment of a
full harvest moon.
Hello, Jem," we said; "glad to see you
looking so prosperous. Must have struck
it rich recently"
so l have, ;" said Jem, and then as his
tanned face saddened little he continued,
''but l had a mighty tough loss, though
My partner, Ned Bimber-you remember
Ned-has gone up the shaft"
Dead, eh?"
Eyes; I'll tell you how it was. You see,
Ned and had quarrel about two years
ago. Don't matter now what it was all
about. Mebbe Ned was wrong, and mebbe
l was, but all the same neither of us
would back down-coupPer fools, you'll
say, and so we were, and the upshot was
that we parted, and agreed never to speak
20 each other again."
And didn't you?"
mo, sir; more shame for us, as we had
been pards, thick and thin, for fifteen years
together. Well, about six months after
that Ned got a'good gravel claim up on the
Feather, where they've been turning the
river bed, and he struck it rich-cleaned up
nigh on to s250,00O in ten months"
And how were you getting on?"
ooh! clean broke. Working up at Gold
Hill for 50 a day. Well l was kinder
sneakin' glad to learn of Ned's luck, for all
we were outs; but the next thing | heard
was that he'd been killed by the banks cav
ing in on him. He lived just long enough to
make his will. Well, the lawyers wrote
as how Ned was worth just about 500, 900,
and the will gave 5000 apiece to each of
three distant cousins of his'n-they had all
come out from the east when they heard of
Ned's Finland the same amount to me,
mind you, just as though we hadn't quar-
relied. But Ned alters was a centric sort
of cuss, and the will provided that none of
us should get the money if we attended the
funeral. He didn't want anybody at the
funeral but just the undertaken. The will
said he had lived lonely, and he wanted to
NC uuIIeu lOhcIy. lutLl JuSG tnt "OruS,
and felt they were intended for me, sure.
The disposition of the rest of the estate
about 5000, 000-was provided for in an
other codicil, to be opened the day after the
funeral, but we all supposed it was donated
to charitable object, for Ned hadn't any
kin 'ceptin' the cousins"
'Of course you stayed away from the
funeral?"
That's just the point. Somehow felt
so miserable and downhearted-yOu see
Ned was the onliest partner ever had
mat determined to go and see him sent
down on bis last cage anyway, money or
no money, and l did"
And the coUsins?"
"None of 'em went Fact is they were
so Disguised at the 'divvy' that they cleared
out down to Frisco to see about breaking
the will So was the only mourner at the
funeral. My friends all thought was fit
for the crazy house to throw away the
5000 like that-well, just couldn't help
it. 1t turned out, though, to be the best
lead | ever struck"
"HOw was that?"
why the next day when the main will
was opened we found it really gave the
entire balance of the clean up to whichever
of us four disobeyed the condition for the
5000 requests. So you see l came in for
the whole lump just like knife. And do
you know, as sure as guns iron shall all
ers believe that Ned put up the whole job
purpose-'cause he knOwed I'd be thar"
San Francisco Examiner.