Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1891-04-24
A STRANGE REQUEST.
How Miners Regard for n Dead Partner
Secured Him q Fortune.

The other day we met on Kearney
street, says writer, an old-time
Washoe acquaintance called Jem Briggs,
whose usually well-worn miners ap.
pearance was on this occasion replaced
by gorgeous display of velvet vest,
check pants, red scarf and ponderous
watch-chain, while his honest and sim
pie face shone above these evidences of
prosperity with the placid contentment
Of full harvest moon.
'Hello, Jem~ we said, "glad to see
you looking so prosperous Must have
have struck it rich recently"
$50 l have" said Jem, and then, as
his tanned face saddened little, he con-
tinued, "but had mighty rough 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 I was, but all the same
neither of us would back down
coupler fools, you'll say, and so we
Were, and the upshot was that we
pal ted, and agreed never to speak to
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 good gravel
claim upon the Feather, where they've
been turning the river bed and he
struck it rich-cleaned up nigh onto
$3.50, 900 in ten months"
Sand how were you getting on?"
80, clean broke. Working up at Gold
hill for SO day. Well, / was kinder
snealin' glad to learn of Ned's luck, for
all we were outs; but the next thing l
heard was that he'd been killed by the
banks caving in on him. He lived just
long enough to make his will. Well,
the lawyers wrote as how Ned was
worth about 1920, 900, and the will gave
$1,000 apiece to each of three distant
cousins of his'n-they had all come out
Finland the same amount to me, mind
you, just as though we hadn't quarreled.
But Ned alters was 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 be buried lonely Them's
Just the words, and felt they were in
tended for me, sure. The disposition OF
the rest of the estate-about 5000, 600
was provided for in another codicil, to
be opened the day after the funeral,
but we all supposed it was donated to a
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 l ever
habitat / determined to go and see
him sent down on his last cage anyway
money or no money, and did"
"And the cousins?"
None of 'em went, Fact is, they were
90 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 al
thought was fit for the crazy house tc
Throw away the 5000 like that-well,
juAt 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 cleanup
to whichever of us four obeyed the con
dition for the $4,000 requests. So YOU
see came in for the whole lump just
likt knife. And do you know, as sure
as guns iron shall alters believe tina
Ned put up the whole job purpose
'canse he knowed I'd be tharp-Sar
| Francisco Examiner