Mohave County miner., 1893-03-11
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/ see by the California papers that
the state has gone Wild about county d.
vision, and that my old county Butte 10
In the thickest oi the fight. Il 10 pro
posed 10 form new county 70 be called
Bidwell out Of the northern part. The
name 10 deserved compliment 70 one OF
the best men in the state; he 10 one Of
tho salt Of the earth. Ii addition to his
many great and good qualities there was
one that In an early dsv attracted more
attention than all the others from iis
rsrety-his roliteness. At the time We
had sheriff, Mr.. +. X. Dodge, who
was remarkably polite gentleman, and
for years It WAS much disputed ques-
tion which Of these gentlemen we're the
politest men ia Butte county. ! have
heard IL argued In mining campo. In log
ging camps, In bar rooms, and In fact
wherever there WAS gathering VI any
kind, but for years il Temained unde-
cided. and would probably until yet had
Il not been for = philosopher named
Squire Wright. He was from Wisconsin.
His principal studies were In law and
theology, but At times by way Of recrea-
iion he took up subjects that we're Of
public interest. He had large ranch
and kept = hotel At the crossing Of Little
Butte. . place Of great resort 10 those
days. One nieh' l stopped at his place.
There was qnite large company there
that night aud .ftcr supper we adjourned
~ the bar room aud lighted our pipes.
Some chance rem ,rk started the old
snhject and for An hour or two never
heard more animated debate. Il was
most amusing to rec some "bull whack-
er" get up and 70 through the motions
OF his tavori,e--hi graceful waving Of
hands and polite bows. While this was
going on leaned up against the bar.
The squire was ut desk apparently
writing but evidently studying, a. he
would stop and rub his chin; finally he
came TO where was and leaning over
the bar he asked me what l thought Of
the question. told him l conld not
give an opinion Each OF the gentlemen
though their style was different. yet they
each seemed perfect in his way and that
it Was mere matter OF opinion which
was best, as It Was Impossible to apply a
test. The squire said nothing more at
the time, but was evidently thinking
over the matter. Some weeks after this
At debating society at Chico at which
both gentlemen we're present, after the
debate wh-n the time c,me to propose
subjects for the next meeting, the squire
rose and in his calm and deliberate man
ner said there was = subject that had
been much discussed, and thought it
would be good subject for the society
to try and settle. lie merely threw this
out ~ suggestion but II they thought
we'll Of 1t he would put it in proper form
lor debate, rs to whether Major Bidwell
or Mr.. Dodge was the politest man in
Butte county. The question that had so
long divided the cfun,y was settled or
rather settled itself in a moment. The
Major sprsng 10 his feet and objected to
the question. Said he, "Genslemen I
object on the ground that this would be
too one sided to be interesting. In order
to be q good subject for debate there
must be some real or supposed equality
between the subjects, but IL this case
there Is none. as Mr.. Dodge is 90 far my
superior, and none feel it worse than l
do, that / think debate would be super
fuous." lhe Major sat down and Mr..
Dodge rose and talked In the same strain
but It was evident that he was beaten At
his own game. He felt cowed by the
superior politeness OF the Major. DIS
cussion ceased and he has been without
. rival from that day to this ~ the po-
litest man in Butte county.
A. c. LoNaMoRE