The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1894-09-15

HRS r 038U46
Yss. I have had delightful chat with
Bret Harts, chat full Of descriptive and
intssntias aattsr, The gist Of which /
~ h1o@on3ty % you in ~ o1a 'il-
lu1tfS2 - wetd6. 80 5. !
l wanted to know something concern.
ing the individuality Of some Of Bret
Hrteb favorite hssees, - on the occasion
Of our meeting I inquired into the arriere
vie of such man, for instance, a. Jack
Hamlin or JOIN Oakhurst. 81
.1nst;H~tsrselied lhus. '~srhs GAMBLER
ts5nty ysars 20 in oHAforiia vs. really
the most honest Of al operators. When
he acted otherwise he was looked down
upon by the fraternity Of his profession
and knowp - the "short-card sharp"
His perfect equanimity, GOODNESS and ca
pacity for winning and losing without
edbotioial murmurs, and his uniform cor.
rectpess Of demeanor, gave him the dis
tinct appearance Of we'll bred gentle
man: a. matter Of fact, BY very aingu-
lar coincidence. the only men who wore
tall hats in those days were clergymen
and gamblers"
"Jack Hamlin's was distinctive typea"
inquired.
-0ertainly; of course there were varis-
tioss, but you might have found jack
waking about under dozen aliases. He,
however, was more continental than the
rest of his fraternity, through bis weak
meas for music. At one time, after one OF
the. great fres at Marysvilie, he officiated
1t the organ that had been rebuilt by con-
tributions gratuitously subscribed by
gamblers. Churches drew substantial
people and substantial people gambled
consequently the presence of a church in
q superior town Vas surety in favor Of
custom among the gambling element.
Do you know how the first Sanitary Com
mission was organizedi Well, it was
started in q drinking saloon by two or
three gamblers. Just after the news Of
one of the Northern reverses the synpa-
thy of the crowd was greatly moved by
the intelligence that several of its &C
ousintances were suffering among the
wounded. 4 am mighty sorry for this
said one of the profession. How much
are you sorryf' promptly asked his friend.
Well, I'm sorry 5000 And I'm sorry
$780, said another. And I'm sorry
$780, said fourth. And so the rise was
continued until, in about ten minutes.
$4,000 was subscribed by the gamblers
and their friends. Nobody thought of
Withdrawing from . self elected rivalry,
and the entire amount was transmitted
by wire to the organization afterward
known as the Sanitary Commission"
'.Tell me more about California" l
urged. "Were the women scarce during
the first period of emlgrationa"
Eyes, indeed, and what struck me
forcibly was that the men were all re
markedly young. A casual old man once
appeared with flowing white locks and
caused quite sensation; he was, in fact,
regarded as . curiosity. The absence of
women closened friendship between men,
and the DEVOTION which existed between
miners and their partners was quite touch
ing. The advent of women in the colony
was, of course, hailed with enthusiasm,
and once q girls crinoline, being trans
ported by express post, went astray BY
accident, whereupon 1t was seized and
the .didgers made . circle and danced
around 1t in high glee."
"Don't the foreigners find it hard to
render your slang9"
IL should fancy they did; but ! am
rather surprised to find that even in Eng
lish they sometimes mistake my mean
ing. An ingenious footnote was once ap
pended to one of my character sketches,
in which gambler was stated to have
handed in his checks The lucid ex-
plasstion to this was that be had handed
ID his check shirts and had returned to
the white shirt of civilization"
"When may we expect your next
worki" I asked presently.
''Soon, trust, for l am writing one
volume novel at present, but have orders
for stories, etc., for two years ahead"
"What do you find the easiest writ
ings9"
A three.volume novel is not nearly
such hard work a. short story-in fact,
/ have always found the shortest work
decidedly the hardest. London Sketch
They Finally Net.
Two officers in General Buffers army
had a quarrel during the war on account