St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-05-22
ROMANCE IN MINING.
The Bright Side of the Gold
Seekers Hard and Ad-
venturouS Life.
Side GlimpseS Of Creole and
the FeveriSh Exist
enee There.
An Entertaining Peep Behind
the Scenes of a Mining
Camp Theater.
Recollections Of Pat Casey,
Who Made a Fortune in
the Black Hills.

this wonderful camp.
But here my muse her wing maun coUr.
Sic flights are far beyond her power
A new world and new revelations
were opened before me. a world where
man is seen in his naked individuality,
stripped of every longing except greed
and of every care except Self-protec-
ton; where conventionalities are all
left behind in the home whence he came;
when greed pushes him forward IN
fierce struggle for gain by day and wild
revelry and debauch is his rule by night,
writes Carter Harrison i'll the Chicago
Times. There is no grOvelling scottish
ness and no cowardly living in wait for
murder. Men meet and crowd together
in pursuit of quick gain or frOlic; for
gambling. drinking and dancing are
handed down by tradition of the past as
the pastimeS of the miner and gold
seeker. These things are sought, not
from any innate depravity or particular
love of the amusement. but because
they have come down with the unwrit-
ten legends from all hot mining camps
since 40.
Money is expended to assist an unfort-
tells that cheating has been detected
and a Touchdown or an impr0mptu
duel, l'outrance, avenges chip falsely
raked in. All phases of life extend
from the sublime to the ridiculous. The
DhilanthrOpiSt and the beggar are on
plane of equality; the millionaire and
the fakir, the minister OF the Gospel
and the gambler; the keen merchant.
deeply imbued with a knowledge of
profit, and the freebooter, who demands
your money or your life, and is appar-
entity Indifferent as to which he gets.
These all meet day and night.
At the public eating-table you elbow
a understanding man vino has to his
credit thirteen killed and yet never
actually sought quarrel, but who,
when in one. knows but one way out.
By his side sits man with wild, greedy
eye, hectic cheek, and a cough from
his inner cayerns. The one and the
other is after rich gulch or grave. A
few days before our arrival a couple of
preachers came into camp, and seeing
the fearful depravity of the encourage,
begged for a chance to preach. The
tent house of worship had not been
built. The use of large gambling hall
was accorded them for fifteen
minutes, verse was read, few
earnest remarks were given, and q
PRAYER offered up, followed by the
amenl The hush of fifteen minutes
was Immediately over: the shrill call of
81 orty-sevenn blended with the unc-
tuous "Ameh," and then the cry of
''Keno!" and the clatter of 'Give me
back those chips" and the retort,
you've got 'ein, - you" made part
of the hustle and confusion of typical
mining camp gambling den.
A night spent without the noise of
gun play and the rush to see who has
died with his boots on occasions re-
mark. but the hiss of the speeding bul-
let is forgotten before morning.
Soapy Smith saw me passing and
asked me into his fine saloon. He said
he had voted for me once.
What year was it | let you out?"
asked. The joke did not hurt his feel
ingS. He gave me an account of the
funeral of his friend, Joe Simmons,
few days prior TO our coming. Joe had
often been his pal, and was lately his
chief dealer OF the green table. Joe
was dying" said Soapy, and there was
a suspicion of dew in his eye.
II said, oh, no, Joe! You'll rake in
many red yet before you go over the
range
":Don't lie to me, jeff says he. Il
know Pm dyin'; my last chip is bout
to be cashed, and want to say good
by. Don't let none of 'em preach over
ers? No? That's right and guod of We.
Just lay me out and drink to my
health over the range, if there's an
other side to it. Good-by, old part,
Pm off, And sure enough he jess sot
his eyes like he was watching the
kerdS as they dropped out'en the case;
and when he knOwed he'd coppered the
ace he jess shot over the hill. We TUX
him up the trail and dug hole where
he can look at the last chance when
Gabriel will give his last loot. We
dropt the box inter the hole. TUX off
my headgear and soys. says l: My
friends-there was just twelve of US,
and me; | made the bakers doZen-'you
all know'd Joe. He was rs true as
eight-ounce nugget with only tech of
quartz to bring out the shine. He
never used brace-bOX with real sport.
Them he kept under his seat for ten
derfeet. An he was right. WHAT'S ten
derfoot made for 'cept to fill the paDwhen
the color runs low? That's what they
come into the gulch fur. But if any of
We says he didn't deal square among
friends its a - lie. Friends, | ant
much of a speaker. but Joe didn't want
no splutter at his funeral. He said to
me: jeff. don't make no fuss with your
Jaw, but just tip the neckS Otf'n dozen
and drink to me on my last tramp over
the range Now, let's fulfil as honest
men and good Christians his last wish!
and thirteen curks shot out and thirteen
cracks rang a yOlley. an said, here's
TO the health of Joe Simmons, as honest
a dealer as ever took IN a sucker We
put the Iecks to our lips and poured
down the asst alop an planted the bot
ties on the grave. Wasn't that real
send-off for true spirit IN gulch?"
SOapy asked me to drink, but | had
not been at the still when the stuff ran
out, so declined. but took cigar from
box with two government stamps.
have a suspicion the cigars were put in
since the stamps were broken.
Soapy said he would be in Chicago
next year to help make me worlds fair
mayor. | warned him not to let Hemp
know il or he'd he run in. ''Oh, ShuckS
Chicago is right now. Hemp knows it.
Besides, no mayor can catch me but
you, and you won't do it until you've
been In the chair whole MONTH"
When we first ran into the station my
ewes were amazed at seeing mighty
lumber yard turned by magic into city
of fresil-cut boards. Not house was
painted except those of the Cyprians.
That is their sign. A band of music
welcomed us on the platform-the only
one in town-the orchestra of the the
alter lust opened. A committee of'forty
filed into our car. we we've to be driven
through the city in the. only hack it
owned, and would we make the people
silver speeches at S?''
What town. New board houses
everywhere, stuck in erevices Of crags,
perched on mountain sides, and propped
up to keep them from sliding down;
houses built oil posts over the river. Its
stream was hidden, but its ripple was
everywhere heard under the floors;
houses sticking corners and stoopS out
into the narrow streets; houses part
boards and part canvas; 0ne-st0ry houses
and two-story houses; some so frail that
drunken man could not lean against
them, and houses with bay windows To
second stories and looking pretty and
oil iS n