The Columbus commercial. (Columbus, Miss.) 1893-1922, 1896-05-03
AN ARIZoNA MYSTERY.


The Disappearance OF Eolo-Ncrdl BIZ ana
his Family Of Grsens
What has become of Bill Green,
known in the early 9Os IN Arizona as
Palo-verdi Bill because he was tail and
verdant. and, later known as the Long
Green for a reason that viii presently
appear2
Bill lived in the glorious Salt river
valley up under the middle hump Of old
Comeback mountain, seven odd miles
from the town Of Phoenix. Here he
cultivated the perennial alfalfa, as well
as an abnormal propensity for drink.
To the latter cause may be attributed
his failure in the former vocation. He
irrigated unceasingly-himself, not his
land, and with 'red-eye" instead of wa
ter.
Cattlemen love not a poor pasture and
when the steers failed to come to his
brown and barren fields, palo-yerdi Bill
grew low in spirits and low in pocket,
and crooked his elbow" so Higgins,
his nearest neighbor, said, Ito an extent
that was scandalous."
young Greens lived on during this era
of depression it is not given man TO
know. Some said IL was cottonwood
bark for the mistress and the young
ones, while Bill knocked the red blooms
from the tips of the sahuara cactus and
brewed a fair quality of tizwin-an
Indian beverage that rarely fails to
knock man out in one round.
Thus matters stood when, one bright
day in early summer, Simpson, who
keeps a general store on Center street,
leaned over his counter and said to his
clerk: 'Here comes Palo-verdi ELL with
his batch Of Greens. Tell him we don't
want his trade and sec that you're
struck by lightning before you sell him
two-bits' worth of stuff"
The clerk met Bill at the door heading
his verdant procession, and promptly
told him that Simpson wasn't anxious
for any more credit trade.
'Ner cash trade, either. take it. re
marked Bill, as he flashed q roll o
4 greenbacks as big as his wrist and
walked away, while Simpson grovelec
in dust and flour behind the counter
where he had dropped in order to be out
Of sight
Bills expenditures in Phoenix that
day are matters of history. Mrs
Green's ideas all ran to blue calico, and
she went from store to store purchasing
with a lavish hand When she got
through, Simpson was the only man in
town who had any blue calico.
The children Of the affluent Bill in
vested in stick candy from one end OF
Phoenix to the other, and Simpson,
again, was the only man who had any
stick candy left on his shelves.
AS for Bill himself he made it a point
to drink in every saloon, pay in $50 bills
and haughtily refuse to accept change
| He bore his immense load of newly-ac
quired dignity and other things Will
surprising steadiness, and at last b,
bought up a menagerie that happened
to be in town and left the place, sup
posedly for his ranch, but neither hg
nor his family have ever since beer
heard from.
Whence came Long Green's wealth
Whittier did he vanish2 Here's an op
portunity for some one to settle ques
ton which is perplexing the thinking
portion Of Arizona's $4,000 people.
Did the menagerie break loose ant
make way with the Greens? Other
wise, how would it be possible for th'
entire outfit to disappear and leave no
a rack behind-not even a vestige O
candy or calico?
Here endeth the conjecture. = vii
liam Wallace Cook, in Detroit Free
Press.