The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-02
TOUGH sIEN AT sIERcUR.
Guns n Feature of Life at the New
Utah Mining Camp.
san Lake Cor. New York Sun.

I san Lake ADI- new lDEA sun
| Nfercur. the new mining camp fifty miles
south OF this city. winch. by reason OF
the peculiar character Of its ore, has
been called the Johannesburg Of America.
/ is already assuming the characteristics
Of the typical western mining town. Al
| though the place is scarcely three months
/ old, it has a population OF 5000 miners
and miners from al over the west are
pouring in daily. Among them. of course.
/ are some OF the tough characters who
! drift from one scene Of excitement TO
| another, and Mercur has its share with
I Creole, Cripple Creek and other new
| camps.
An impression has gone abroad that the
bad man has lived his day, but such IS
/ not the case by any means. While he
/ has been toned down to a ertaln extent,
! he Is still in the land, and, although his
/ conversation has improved 10 a certain
\ extent, he IS just as dangerous as ever
/ when crossed. The "hyars' ana "thars'
/ of the old frOntiersman are no longer in
! his vocabulary, but improved revolvers
| continue in fashion, Wtth cnange IN
| the style of wearing the arsenal on the
| outside. 1t is no longer the thing TO
| exhibit the butt Of a weapon, the proper
| caper is the concealing OF the same I'M
| derneath the coat ana 5ist outside the
| waistcOat-
| one or two in the mines, but this condi-
| ton of affairs is not the fault OF Jack
\ Scott who at one time was City Marshal
| Of Telluride, Col, when tha1 town was
/ a warm location for a tenderfoot. Jack
| has a couple of nOtches on the handle
| of his shooting iron, carved 1nere While
| he was acting in his official capacity,
| and on Christmas night he sought 10
| add another. 1t was in one of the ffteen
| saloons which flourish in the town, and
| Jack was fun of the liquids dispensed
| under various titles. His aim was bad,
! and as a result Jim Campbell Is nursing
| a broken thigh bone instead OF orna-
| menting a pew-made cemetery. Jack
| claims ii was an accident, and consid-
| ering his past record as a good shot,
| this appears to be fact. There are no
officers in Mercur, and II required deputy
| marshal from the city TO get him before
| the nearest justice, VINO, WIN a degree
| of legal acumen refreshing III IHe eA-
| IRENE, fined the shooter SO and costs
| lack is nothing If not generous, now
| ever. and is paying the doctors bills for
his victim, and declares ne VIII t re- or
| him to sound condition II ne mas TO sell
every foot of ground he owns.
Bailey Young is a gambler who at one
time killed man at Letn 1slii9e ne eoo ~
thing Of it. Young declares he wants to
live in peace with his fellowman and aban-
don the slaughtering business, but rev
nights a ago when an outsider attempted
to copper a stack of whites belonging
to one of the play ne piay4uIly si al a.
ed off a couple of the fellows myers with
a bowie Since that time betters ana play
ers in Young's joint make sure they are
playing with their own chlps' i, o,,o,. +ha
west as an eX-government scout ana a
man who at one time made Buralo Bill
| throw his hands over his head, IS mem
her of the fraternity at Mercur. Bill is
one of the mildest hammered men VINO
| ever looked over the barrel or gun. ne
is a terror, though, when arouseu' anu
| when a wild and Woolly stranger from
| Phoebe, New, happened INTO the camp d
night or two ago and threatened 70 WIPE
! the location off the NAB, Bill extended an
invitation to begin at the place where enc ne
was doing business. The bad man peg an d
by shooting out nghts su o9 ;ya lie
which resembled cross between the wan
of a dying Pah-Uta and the eIultapI now
of a coyote who had discovered luncn'
| Bili sized him up and with the remark,
| You wouldn't dare shoot at m an,
! seized him by the collar, took the pl-,tol
away from him, and traded 1t on to fle
bartender down stairs for round o.
} ! drinks for the house, not emitting the
! owner of the gun. The fellow rode away
Tanner is man with a history. His
true name is not known. Those who know
him best say he served Wit9 rsed 1ifb
the rank Of major, and that his regiment
came from the state of New YORK. he
came west during the mining boom IN Ne
vada and made a couple of fortunes, one
of which he bestowed upon his mother alld
sister, who live somewhere in the north
ern portion of the state. The other ne
spent upon himself, and he Is now accum-
J lllafing a third, which he declares VIII
be used in making his last days on earth
Command for a long time and was valued
: highly by that unfortunate officer ,,,,
Tanners experience with Buffalo Oil
, was at Newton, Kan, when the town was
: the terminus of the Santa Fe. There wac
e a row on hand in which a friend of Tan
l ner's was engaged. and he was
q | on the spot to see fair play;
: | Cody came in and attempted
to stop the proceedings. declaring that
, | he would shoot the first man who made a
e move The next second saw him looking
down the barrel of Tanners 40. Cody, is
no fool and t9ok water Had ne Talsed
e never delighted the English or drawn the
shekels from the visitors at the World S
4 | Columbian Exposition at Chicago.
, Jack McNally, another New Yorker, who
e | hadn't been in the states for twenty-five
e years up to the Saturday when Utah was
r | admitted into the union, is another inhabi-
tant of Mercur. Old Jack is as homely as
= an Egyptian statue, but good old man
q withal. He is absolutely devoid of fear,
and he won his reputation by getting
' away with a man named Campbell in
! Elko, New, many years ago. Campbell
2 was a big fellow, while Jack Is small
e | man. The former took cowardly advant-
I | age of a friend of Jacks and shot him in
I | the back with a double-barrelled gun load
s ed with goose shot. McNally waited until
r the man had reloaded the gun, and then
s took it away from him, threw it across
e the trail, and whitfield the murderer q
| path to kingdom come with his hunting
: knife He has been in several fights since
Y but never finished his antagonist after
: ward OF late years Jack has been board
I ing Company at Park City employs a
g large number of Cousin Jacks" or Cor
o nishmen. They ran boarding bosses off the
y premises by the dozen until the manage.
ment sent for Jack. The first meal he
: served was breakfast, at which beefsteak
h off the round formed a portion of the
I | menu. One big fellow threw his meat or
t the dirt floor. Jack grabbed a meat cleav-
: er and made the man eat the steak; Gov
o cred with earth as it was; made him eat
s it ALL He ran that house five years and
= never had a complaint afterward.
Q Mercur will be organized in a short time
: and regular officers will administer the
: laws.