The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-12-03


 ner's wife, and that she wanted to see the man who won that seven hundred dollars. She had been crying, as might have been expected, for she had been counting on that money to make life a little cheerier in the little cabin home on the hillside for herself and the ba- | bies. Nolan didn't stir hair and played out his hand. Then he looked up and took in the situation at a glance Pulling out his eheckboo1. without a moments hesitation he wrote: Pay to the bearer or order seven hundred dollars" and signed "John Nolan"
 "Tell her to come here" he said, The woman came forward shrinking ly, now frightened by the boldness of her exploit, and the gambler thrust the check into her hand.
 Now go home," he said; and then. turning to the players at the table, Its your deal, sir"
 It is in a place like this that one sees the world cut down to the quick, Not long ago they had desperado for pub lie magistrate named Bob Mullen, @ brutal wicked fellow, who came in with the first rush of adventurers from all the older mining camps of the west. Obtaining political power through the gang that followed him, Mullen was elected magistrate, notwithstanding that he was no more qualified for such a position than a horse thief. The Null len reign logically proved corrupt and terrorizing. Elections were unfairly manipulated, and the justice that Mag istrate Bob dispensed became a mock cry For some time the ''better ele- ment," whose business interests de- pended upon law and order, had been working up an opposition to the gang" when one day early in August Mullen threw long-haired cowboy" evangelist and his wife into jail for ob- struCting the streets or some such charge. The local correspondents of the Denver papers severely criticised this act, with the result that the terri ble Bob set out to overawe the press by a murderous assault upon Will Kerr. the representative of the Denver Times Kerr was nearly killed from blows on the face and head, and this proved the occasion of the uprising of the commit nifty against the tyrannous Mullen dy- nasty. A placard was nailed up in the post-office, and it read like this:
 NOTICE.
 Citizens not concerned, especially wo- men and children, are requested to stay off the streets. Patience has ceased to be a virtue. We, as ceitzens, now pro- pose to act
 Committee of o. U. M. x. x. K 500.
 That meant but one thing-the lynch ing of Bob Mullen. But the desperate jurist was quickly covered by a guard of police who escorted him to the sta tion, and the "necktie party failed to come off. Mullen has not since been seen in the camp and doubtless never will return.
 One of the camps institutions" is the music or dance hall This is some times very terrible, but 1t is fixture of the situation. Cripple Creek is now 'advanced' enough to forbid lewd houses and dance halls on the main business street; they are all seques- tered on one thoroughfare, which, ap- propriately enough leads straight to Poverty Gulch," where the luckless wrecks of gold seeking are finally reck- up to await the last great reckoning One of the most distinguished residents in the ''gulch' at present is the man who discovered the Fl Paso Gold King mine. And there are others
 In the dance halls one sees a bar i'll the front and a space for dancing In the rear. A railing separates the one space from the other and the front portion is usually filled with miners drinking or listening to the music of the orchestra and watching the waltzing couples within the rail. When the music stops the girls come outside and escort their partners to the bar, where the man is expected to buy beer at fifteen cents a glass. The girl who had induced him to dance, Is allowed ten cents on the beer, and the house makes it's profit out of the five cents on each glass remain ing. One does not look for heroism or rare cases of self-sacrifce among the women outcasts who frequent these dens But one such case they tell about was that of a woman whose hus- band became dependent upon her through sickness, and who, as last re- sort to earn support, entered a dance hall and danced with the miners and adventurers who patronized the resort In telling this story to you the old timer insists that the woman through it all remained faithful and pure, that she was treated with propriety always, and that she soon came to be regarded with universal respect. This may be bit of embryonic folklore such as gets abroad in mining camps, yet it's quality as material for the rising young novelist cannot be ignored.
 Columns might be written about the gold mines from the viewpoint of the mining expert or the eastern specula- tor But most of the holes on the steep hillsides are really graves-the graves of disappointed hopes. For where one man succeeds hundreds fail And by no means does it follow that the man who succeeds was smarter, more intel ligent, or better educated than the hun dred who fail. There is a wealthy mine owner who struck it rich' but short time ago. The other day he emerged from the local bank with a check in his hand, and, meeting an ac- quaintance, shouted:
 Hello, Jim, sign my name for me-"
 So Jim signed the other mans name on the back of the check, and the latter returned to the bank and had it promptly cashed.
 Yet the "tenderfoot," they say, is at no disadvantage in competition with old prospectors in this region, because