Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1892-12-03

tives, TO kidnap them or TO Introduce the I
vices of drink and gaming | was king of |
that glorious little spot for nearly six
months. and IL my sense had heen equal to
my luck I'd be king there STILL"
So spoke a tall. gaunt man who is known
TO nearly every resident of upper New
York city as Jack O'Brien. He is old now
and not rich, but he has enough Of this
earth's dross to keep the wolf from the
door. and he Is wealthy in a fund Of expe-
rience and adventure such as falls to the
lot of few men. His father was North /
of Ireland" Protestant. He and his six |
brothers were born in New York city. All |
father aud sons-belonged to the volun- |
teer fire department.
Along in the late flfties Jack became
sailorman aud rover. After an absence
of ten years he returned and found that
his father and brothers had gone 10 the
war as Union soldiers, and that five OF the
latter had died, face TO the front, on the
field Of battle. Comparatively speaking
Jack was wealthy in those days OF his
early return. and he made things pleasant
for his surviving relatives. He bought a
small schooner--for the love Of the sea was
strong in his vens-and took them sailing
up and down the Atlantic coast.
Then, as time passed on, the weather
beaten old adventurer from the south
Pacific struck his colors to the little god
Cupid. In other words, he met and mar
ried handsome, sensible woman, who 10
still his wife. After that, naturally, e
desired home on shore-not far from the
ocean, but still rock anchored and stable.
So no settled down in New York, sold his
ship and, like the honest mariner he is,
fell prey To land sharks.
A few thousands he had given 30 his
bride, and that they now have, but the re-
mainder Of his modest fortune he ''let out, I"
AS he terms 1t, othe still well Remembered
firm of Grant a. Ward. q. course he
never got penny's return, but when the
crash came he faced the inevitable as
bravely as he had faced many typhoon-
borrowed from my girl. as he phrases il
made a few judicious investments, and
now, as the autumn OF life comes on, ID
able to calmly view the world from the
porch of his little suburban cottage and
recall the events Of his stormy and world
wide career.
Because he has leisure after labor
CHANGED to hear the strange story Of how
Jack O'Brien became king and how he
lost his job.
1T was just after my little shindy with
the Alabama when ! got ont legal papers
and held that big Confederate cruiser TO
three days in an Australian port until al
the Yankee vessels got away" remarke,
the old gentleman. that | cleared from
Sydney for "A copra cruise down among tn
islands Samoa way.
Il owned and commanded as taut lii
tie craft as ever plowed south Paeiti
waters, and had splendid crew u si
men. The second day out it came on I
blow. Then fog shut everything tron
sight. the steering apparatus got out q
order and it seemed as though all the ele
ments and deities were against us. "
couldn't keep our course We could onl
guess where we were. and all Of Us, mysel
included, got panic stricken,
But we fought on as best we could unit
late one dark night we heard the roar Q
breakers. The current was carrying tn
ship inshorc like helpless log, and tn
only thing to do was for every man |
make his own struggle for life. The ve'
sci struck, and from the way she rippe
apart knew we were on n coral reef
second later all of MS were in the water.
How got ashore can't say, but whe
the sun came mp found myself lying q
the beach, half naked, sore, bruised an
dazed. | staggered 10 my feet and got m
first conscious thought ON seeing two {
my men lying not far away and apparent