Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1895-03-15
THE FATAL QUARTZ CRAZE.

A man may recover from a crazy
desire for gambling or give up whiskey
after he has beeu its slave" said
Robert Searls Of Denver at La Nor.
mandie to a Washington Star reporter,
+" but when he goes quartz crazy there
is no further hope for him unless he
strikes a bonanza. Then his insanity
will become none the less intense but
it will not be so pronounced, because
ho will have the means to pursue his
passion without undergoing discom-
fort OF creating remark What do
mean by quartz crazy? Well it's evil
dent that you have never been In the
western country. Out there where
the mountains are piled on topof each
other these lunatics abound. A man
who Is quartz crazy is an individual
who catches the mining fever and be.
comes convinced that his mission on
earthsis to nnd the greatest vein Of
pay ore ever discovered. In pursuit
Of his quest he suffers more hardships
aud overcOmes more obstacles than
did all the knights of yore who ever
searched for the Holy Grail He VIII
leave home, family, friends and com
forts and all alone, with a meager sup
ply of provisions and few tools he
will unhesitatingly plunge into un-
known wildernesses and when he finds
a place that holds out mineral pros
pect he will burrow in the treacherous
mountain side like Il rabbit and dig
frcm daylight to dark, expecting with
every stroke Of his pick to uncover his
expected fortune. Nearly every pros
pector in the west, or the rest of the
world for that matter, is afflicted with
the malady l have described. Some
of them keep up their ceaseless search
with every recurring season and some
times strike a good thing. In such
cases somebody else, the party who
has the money to develop the find,
reaps the profits.
"There are exceptions, however,
and old Tom Cruise of Helena is one.
Tom was and is a character. He
reached Montana when Last Chance
Gulch, where Helena is now located,
was yielding up GfSe riches ofits gravel
to the desperate prospectors who had
struck the place when starvation
seemed the NEXT thing to contemplate.
When the guich gave out he began to
travel through the mountains looking
for his bonanza. lie could neither
read nor write but his mineral knowl-
edge was something wonderful. Every
spring for years he started out with a
grub-stake and every fall he returned
empty handed, yet full Of hope. Every
body laughed at him and made him
the butt for their jokes, but old Tom
took it gnod naturedly, and invariably
found somebody during the winter to
fit him out for his journey in the
spring. AT last one August day sever
al years ago, Tom came into Helena
with a bag Of specimens that opened
peoples eyes, they were from the lead
which resulted in the wOrld-famous
Drum Lummon mine at Marysville,
Montana. Toms common sense helped
him to beat the moneyed people, who
tried to beat him. lie owns the big
gest part Of the Drum Lummun yet
and has a banking house in Helena as
a side issue. His life has bad its ten
der romance and its pathetic tragedy,
too. The winter previous to hisstrike
a waiting maid in one of the hotels
had been quite kind to the old man.
When his fortune came he asked her
TO share it with him, and she consent
ed. They were a devoted couple and
old Toms cup of happiness was brim-
ming full, wnen his wife died after
being his bride for Il year. Has he got
over being quartz crazy? Not bit Of
il. This summer he disappeared from
Helena and it was given oat that he
had gone East, but he hadn't. He
was 10 the mountains with u prospect
or's outfit, revelng in the search for
another Drum Lummon. All, no;
man never RECEIVERS from quartz crazl.
ness, aud the malady has killed moro
brave, strong, enthusiastic men than
a dozen epidemics Of smallpox or yell
low fever"
In Holland thew nave hit on a plan