The record-union., 1896-03-29

little UNDERSTOOD and appliances now, in
use Were then uninvented Whether
ne stumbled on 1t, or whether he s'nosed''
1t out, as the Cornish miner says, does
| not matter, but he struck a wonderfuI-
~ rich kidney Of comparatively free
gold and silver. ore in combination He
had no capital of his own, so he kept
his secret, went to San Francisco and
dug up hither and yon and presto.
change! John P. Jones had control of
| the Crown Point and was a sudden
millionaire
This master-stroke sent Sharon to the
verge of the insane asylum He raved,
tore and threatened, but it was too
late The Belcher mine, adjoining, gave
promise of the continuance of the bo-
nanza, of which Jones and Hayward
might obtain control, and next to the
northward lay the Yellow Jacket, one
! OF the great Gold Hill surface group
over the title Of which many man had
| peen sent unwarned to his grave. The
mine was well equipped with a sub
stahually timbered shaft and steam
holstlng works, but one bright dag
smoke was seen issuing from the mouth
| OF the shaft. Hundreds of good men
were at work in the lower levels Their
| comrades took all kinds Of risks to
rescue them; the shaft-mouth was
crowded with weeping and waiIing
chlIdren and wives and mothers were
frantic, as one charred and mutilated
oody after another was brought to the
| surface. Sharon was charged with in
| stlgating the confagration, though the
| accusation was never proven or made
| tenable, Notwithstanding that Jones in
heated contest between himself and
Sharon for the United States Senator
ship, openly made the accusation in a
| stump speech.
| This was some time SUBSEQUENT to the
| fire; but, to go back: The excited naon1e
believed the story that Sharon was re-
sponsible for the fire, and the air was
hlled with threats not only to lynch him.
| but to burn him alive. Sharon's friends
concealed him until the opportune mo-
ment, and then smuggled him out of tbe
| country, and it was many a long day
| before he again set foot on the sage
brush, and then to appear as a candi-
| date for United States Senator. TO
which position he was elected-the Bank
OF California and the Hayward Jones
element having buried the hatchet in
| AN'NN compact against the d22rGS-
sions of Sutro and his 'dunneP' Ctun-
! ned and for mutual cinch of the
stock gambling element of Nevada and
California. The story was current that
the method of Sharon's escape was by
lowering him down one of the shafts
tapped by the tunnel-some L 800 feet
taking him to the mouth of the tunnel.
where a fast team was in waiting to
convey him over the State line
RIDDEN ON. A RAIL.
In the year 1875 the new mining dis
trict of Belmont in Southeastern Ne
vada, was discovered and organized.
and shortly thereafter an English com
pany purchased control of the leading
mine of the camp, named the High
bridge" AS in all new mining camps of
| those days, with no railroads, no teIe-
| graphs, scarce fuel and high rates of
| transportation by team and stage over
| long distances, the cost of living was
high and the rate of wages corre-
| sponded. A man named Childs. a first
class mining and millman for that time
was engaged as Superintendent, and an
| English youth named CanfieId whose
father was competent engineer above
and below ground, was installed as
Manager
Young Garfield was as genial, gen
tlemanly and pleasant a fellow as one
would wish to meet, and did his best to
accommodate himself to his rough sur
roundings to adapt himself to Ameri-
can ways and customs and to make
himself popular with all classes in the
camp. The mine, as was subsequently,
proved, wasn't worth a tinker's dam. as
many a man in San Francisco who was
scorched on Belmont mines knows to his
sorrow; that is, as many Of them as
are alive at this time. But Childs COW
eted it and planned and plotted to chisel
the Britishers out of the property. The
rate of miners wages was So per day.
and it was easy and soldering min
ing, for Childs made a quarry out of it
and simply stripped the groupings.
As soon as Garfield got to Belmont.
ChiIds commenced poisoning the minds
of the miners with the hint that Can
field intended to reduce wages This
infiamed the miners a once, but the ma
jority of them consisted of peaceable
laW-abiding men, who never dreamed
OF resorting to extreme or harsh meas
ures, and who recognized that 81 per
day, which was the standard for all
other mining localities in the State
would be fair and equitable for the work
required of the men,
Childs, however Matched a ccnspir-
acy to either frighten Garfield out of
the section or to have him killed Work
ing in the mine was one bob" Rus
sell, cold, calculating man, utterly
destitute of feeling or conscience. Then
there was Pat" Dignan, an Irish
man. Dignan was a giant, standing
over six feet tall and weighing about
250 pounds but 1.-THE and active
Though an overawing bully, he did not
know the meaning of fear, and would
take any kind of a chance for his life
'Cockeye" McCarty and Jim" Eaton
completed the list of ringleaders for the
mob that Superintendent Childs had
fixed up.
Childs and his wife lived in the only
house in the town worthy the name of
residence. 1t was a small two-storv
frame building and Garfield roomed
and boarded with the Childs people.
One dark night. at about IL o'clock.
the men whose names are mentioned
above, headed by Dignan and followed
by two or three poor fools who hardly
realized the mission on which they
were bent, stole stealthily to the Childs
residence. Mrs. Childs was a pretty
and seemingly amiable and unassuming
woman, but respectable women were
scarce in Belmont. there being not to
exceed four in the town. As a girl Mrs.
Childs belonged to a family that had
an exceedingly hard name as to the
males, but the girls were considered
good and decent. Be that as it may.
the popular opinion after ali was over