The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-05-16

49, mysterious. l beckoned
@ them to retired spots. !
showed them the ores. l
told them of the find. They were wild
with excitement. They were half crazed
with delight. And in ten minutes some
of them went just as far into the do
mains of unrest and unhappiness for fear
some one might find and jump the claim
ere l got back to guard it. The Copper
head company was organized that night.
The Enthusiast" a man who lived
in the very top loft of copper insan-
ity, was sent down with me to super
intend the sinking Of the shaft. The
secret was soon out. Shares in the vein
were eagerly coveted. l sold a few feet
for $500, and deemed had conferred a
great favor on the buyer in letting it go
so cheapay. l lived up, way up, in tens
of thousands and hundreds of thousands
of dollars. The company" in Sonora
met almost every night to push things,
while the Enthusiast and myself blasted
and burrowed in the rock. By day they
exhausted their spare cash in horse hire,
riding down to the claim in hope of be-
ing on hand when the next blast should
reveal bed of ore immense in breadth
and unfathomable in depth.
My company was made up chiefly Of
lawyers, doctors, politicians and editors.
They never realized how much they
I made them feel rich, and if a man
feels rich what more should he want?
For millionaire can do no more than
feel rich.
Feeling certain that the Copperhead
was a very rich claim, and that other
rich claims would be developed from the
extensions" and that bustling town
would be the result, pre-empted Sec
ton of the land which l deemed most
valuable, on which it was intended that
"Copperhead City" should be built. This
"city" l partly laid cut. l think this
was the third city l had laid out in Cali
fornia.
There is a sepulchral and post mortem
suggestion in the term ''laid out" which
is peculiarly applicable to all the ''cities"
which attempted to found, and which
"cities" invariably foundered. Actuated
also, at that time, by those business
principles SO largely prevalent in most
Christian communities, l claimed" the
only spring of good drinking water in
the neighborhood of my city" Ny in
tent in this was In time to realize profit
from the indirect sale of this water to
such of the future "city's" population as
might want water-not to sell it by the
glass or gallon, of course; but if there
was to be ''city" it would need water
works The water works would neces-
sarily lie on my land. 1 would not be
guilty Of the inhumanity Of selling water
to parch tongued people, but l proposed
that the ''city" should buy of NE the
ground out of which came the water
But one house was ever erected in Con-
perhead City proper, and that had but
one room. But three men ever lived in it.
Yet the city was thickly populated. 1t
was located in a regular jungle. so far
as a jungle is ever attained in California,
and seemed the head center and trysting
place Of all the rattlesnakes, coons,
skunks. owls and foxes on the west side
of Table mountain. When the winter
wore off and the warm California spring
wore on and merged into the summer
heat of May, and the pools made by the
winter rains dried up, l think all the
rattlesnakes and copperhesds for miles
around went for my pre-empted spring
of pure water.
The city mean the house-was To-
Gated within few feet of the spring.
Returning thither at noon for dinner, I
the purlieus and suburbs of that spring
Snakes get dry like human beings.
Snakes love water. Snakes, poor things,
can't get anything else 10 drink, and
must fill up on water. These were So
ciable snakes. When startled at our ap-
prosch they would not run away from
our society. No. They preferred to re-
main in the city and so, in many in
stances, they ran under the house. Il is
not pleasant at night to feel that you are
sleeping over veteran RATHER four feet
long, with crown of glory on his tail in
the shape of fourteen or fifteen rattles
You won't crawl under your house to
evict such rattlesnake either. Skunks
inhabited our "city" also. Skunks know
their power-their peculiar power.
The evening cleaning seems the IA
vorite time forrhe skunk TO so abroad.
He or she loves the twilight. There
must be vein Of sentiment in these far
.Sr1a.a H1r-S L
evening travelled up the only street our
city ever laid out-a trail-apd ahead
of me on that trail have seen a skunk
was willing he should preceie me. In
the matter of rankness Twas perfectly
willing to fall long way behind him.
Now, II you have STUDIED skunks YOU
win know that it rs fzs safer to remain
In the skunks rear than TO get ahead of
him, because when he attacks with his
favorlte aromatic means of offensive de-
fence ne projects himself forward las il
Were. l have, then. IN my city. had a
skunk keep the trail about hftr feet
airesso OF me. at pace which indicated
little alarm AZ my presence, and, do nv
best, could not frighten ths animal
nor could | get ahead of MIN or her. If
/. IN he ran; il I walked he concu7ed
In rapidity OF pace. | dared not ap-
R1oaca too lsaz TIE animal. | wouid