The record-union., 1896-03-29
THRILLING INCIDENTS
In THE
'WASHOE COUNTRY.
Expulsion of Superintendent Tangerman-
Stirring Scenes There in Early Days.
Special to the 'Record-Union. .

/ special TO the R6COrQ-O n1OU
| The forcible expulsion of Superintend-
ent Tangerman, recently appointed to
that capacity in the new management
of the Hale & Norcross mine at Virginia
City, by members of the Miners Union,
brings to the mind of the writer that
this is not the first occurrence of the
kind in Nevada.
In 1862 when what is now the State
OF Nevada was the recently created
Territory of Nevada, and the district
which now surrounds the "Comstock
Lode" was known as ''Washoe e"-named
after the tribe of Indians of that name
English capital had obtained controI OF
the shares of the Gould & Curry mlne'
which, as to mines and mills, was con-
Quoted on the most elaborate ana eH-
tensive scale ever known in the United
States up to that time. AS is customary
with English capital when it gets the
SAY" in any American enterprise, II
sends out an English manager, regard
less as to whether or not he knows any
thing about the business in hand.
Charley" Bonner, as he was familiar
ly called, was the man sent out to take
charge of the Gould & Curry. He was
rot a practical miner, yet he assumed
/
Englishmen sent out to take charge OF
| American mines, his first move was TO
institute a regime of economy and the
cutting down of expenses. The going
pay of miners was $4 per day on eight
hour shifts. To a man coming from
country where miners worked on
twelve-hour shifts for a shilling DAY,
this rate of wages seemed preposterous
lad n
| cut" The miners did not take kindly
to him at the start, as he was arrogant
in manner and dictatorial in speech-a
typical Englishman-when he has the
upper hand. This sort of thing didn't go
down we'll with the hardy miners of
Washoe, and Mr.. Bonner's case was
was from the first prejudiced by his
English manneriSms.
Four dollars a day at that time was
not an exorbitant wage for an under
ground miner, when the danger from
hurried excavation and crude machin-
cry. the isolation of the region and the
high cost of living were taken into con-
sideration so, when word got abroad
that Charley Bonner intended to
"scale" down the wages, trouble began
| to brew. In response to an advertise
ment in the Territorial Enterprise" the
miners of Virginia City, Gold Hill and
Silver City assembled in mass meeting
and denounced Bonner in forcible terms,
linterlarded with the emphatic but not
very polite phraseology of the times ana
/ surroundings; for Washoe was sec
tion rough of speech and action in those
days.
The Virginia and Gold Hill Miners
Union was organized, establishing the
81 a day and eight-hour shift rule for
underground work. which prevails ana
maintains to this day, and this union
became, according to its locale, the most
powerful labor organization the United
States has ever seen.
After organizing the union the men
started out in parade in their working
clothes They numbered about l,OOO
and their cry was: -Four dollars DAY,
and to hell with Charley Bonner! AT
the head of the procession was no less
a parsonage than John w. Mackay,
then working for days wages IN the
Central mine tunnel, now bonanza KING
and telegraph magnate, marchlng
straight and erect, dinner-pall IN hand,
overalls tucked in his "stogies' ana
shirt -sleeved in the regular sblue-gray
California miners woolen shirt. When
the procession broke up there was a
clamor to hang Charley Bonner to the
eal1ows-frame over the shaft in the
| Gould &, Curry hosting works. But
"Chariey'' was conspicuous by his ap-
sence from his usual haunts, and the
places that knew him once were know
ing him no more forever. His friends
had succeeded in smuggling him out OF
town and speeding him away to tide
water where he set sail for Merrie Eng
land with a curse on his lips for the
| ohlarsted Yankees" and so far as the
knowledge of the writer goes he has
never since set foot on United States
sell.
I BILL" SHARON.
The next case in point on the Com
stock was that of "Bill Sharon. Along
toward the end of the sixties the out
look on the Comstock would outrival
indigo in its cerulean hue. The Bank
| of California. through Ralston, had OBJ
tanned control of the principal mines
on the lode" and had a plaster on
every quartz mill and almost every bit
of prominent real estate. William
sharon was sent up to straighten things
out and save as much as possible from
tba wreck that seemed to be impending.
sharon was not miner, and the gaping
| mouth of a deep shaft was to him
horror. but he had a diminutive skull
in which reposed plethora of financial
wisdom, and he commenced to
"straighten things out The popula-
ton had been largely diminished by
"rushes" to new mining excitements,
| such as the stampedes to White Pine,
Utah and Montana, and it looked as II
Washoe was doomed to an oblivion
darker and more impenetrable than the
chaos to which the gold bugs of the
present day would relegate the silver
question. Sharon had good miners under
him and they struck some rich stringers
in the Belcher mine at Gold Hill that
were fine Indications and gave hope
that the Comstoek mines would con-
tinue in depth indefinitely.
JOHN r. JONES,
Now United States Senator from Ne
vada. was miner and politican-a prac-
tical and knowing miner almost from
the day of his birth in Wales, though
raised and educated as a thorough
| American in thought and feeling. He
cot into politics in one of the extreme
northern counties of California-Siski
you. Trinity, or one of that series-the
particular county having been forgotten
by the writer hereof. However, he was
elected and served a term as Sheriff Of
that county.
In the notable Haight- Gorham cam
i paign Jones was on the ticket with
George C. Gorham as the Republican
candidate for Lieutenant Governor.
The history of the rout of the Republi-
49,, ,,ar4v in that cautpcf ia fnO we'll