The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-06
PET or ROUGH MINERS.
Pretty Nine. Mustaehe Won Easily
at Gaming Tables.

From the ST. Louis Republic.
The new woman is not Of this day only.
She has always existed in one way or an
other. From time to time she has made
herself conspicuous in vacations which
We're considered mems sole prerogative.
There have been female cowboys" and
horse-thieves in the western plains. Cattle
raising has been successfully carried on
by women. and feminini;y has not been
an obstacle TO good mining hauls. either
as actual stakers OF claims or shrewd spec
ulators. But there has never been a wO-
man in this broad land who equaied Nine.
I Mustache'' as a gambler. Many have at
tempted il, but il was only a temporary
makeshift for something better. or worse
10 turn up.
For over twenty years Nine. Mustache
was known In every minns camp from
Utah and Idaho 10 California. and even
to-day, though nearly a score of years
have passed since she ended her life her
name is mentioned by the Old-timers with
pity and affection, and in every miners
memory Is stored anecdotes of the little
French woman whom he ran across often
in his rough meanderings in search for
the yellow stun.
The real name OF Mime. NIustache" was
Dumont, and from the mines OF British
Columbia to those of California, and as
| far east as the Black Hills. the restless
1 little French woman followed the uncer-
tain growth OF mining camps in the pur-
| suit of her profession OF gambling. The
| first known of her was in Nevada City in
| 1854. She arrived one day on the stage
coach-a pretty, fresh, dark-eyed woman.
apparently about twenty years OF age
and her stylish appearance created as
much of a stir among the rough inhabit-
/ ants OF the town as that Of the widow in
/ the "Danites." The madame at once
/ rented from the proprietor of a large
gambling establishment a table. at which
| she started a game of "Vingt-et-un." The
| novelty OF pretty woman dealing game
a.In N,a.-
/ as she paid strict attention to her bust
ness and was very lucky, she soon had
| quite a capital.
/ Dave Tobin, the most notorious of Ne
vada City's gamblers, was then alive To-
/ bin recognized the business ability and
/ tact of the madame and formed bust
/ ness partnership with her They opened
/ an immense establishment and ran a
/ dozen games day and night. He managed
/ the large games. such as faro and keno
ana and she superintendent the small games.
"twenty-one, ''chuck-a-luck." etc, and
! of the two she made the most money.
| Mime. Dumont became a great favorite
| with the miners, for she was always
! agreeable and smiling, and accepted her
! losses with a careless shrug and a smile
while pocketing her winnings with the
| gamblers indifference. The madame and
| Tobin continued their partnership for
about a year, when Tobin went to New
/ York, where he died soon after the war
! leaving a large fortune.
| The mania for gambling and the love
! FOR gambling were Unsuitable in the mad
| anne, and for the next ten years she wan
| dered from camp to camp always success
| full and always the pet OF the rough
| miners. It became a saying of theirs that
there was more satisfaction in playing
| against the madame's game and losing
| than in winning at any other game. She
| possessed peculiar power over even the
| toughest Of her customers.
One time in Phoebe the room in which
she was dealing her game became filled
with noisy, quarrelling crowd of min
| ers, maddened With drink and fourishing
pistols. They seemed bound to have a
| free fight. The barkeepers and faro deal
| ers were fruitlessly trying to quiet the
| crowd, when Nine. Dumont observing
| their dismay, quietly approached the moi
siest and looked at them for a few mo-
| ments without saying a word. Then she
| reproved them laughingy for their UNI
gallant conduct and succeeded In clearing
| the room and avoiding bloody conflict.
| The instigator of the row she asked 10
remain with her as a sort of protector
! until the others had dispersed and thus
separating him from the quarreling crowd,
the others got away ip peace,
| Among the sporting fraternity, she wa
| chiefly admired for her 'rustling'' quail
ties. AS. an instance Of the latter quality,
rare accomplishment in mining camps,
IT is stated that once in Boise City, Ida.
| she succeeded in raising a stake with
! which to capitalize her bank, when other
| well-known gamblers remained sadly
| stranded for the lack Of funds. No luck
] canD
| where the madame was. installed ana
asked her for a stake without receiving
| IT, Despite her strange surroundings and
unusual mode of living, Nine. Dumont
| possessed the respect as well as the ad-
miration of her rough companions for
| years 1t often happened that she was
| the only woman in a mining camp where
no foot Of the gentle sex had ever touched
| ground
1t was not until the turn of luck which
| invariably overtakes those who follow per-
| sistently in the track of chance found
this strange character pepniless among
| strangers, that the dark chapter of her
| unusual career commenced.
For year she was known in San Fran
| cisco as a leader of the demimonde but
! the charity of silence which the kindly
her kind heart and generous hand had
| earned for her has always drawn a veil
| over this tainted epoch of her life. She
| soon returned TO the mining canons and
| her luck in gambling chung to her anew.
| Several thousand dollars which she earn
| ed in one camp, she invested in a Cali
| fornia farm. A few years before her death
| she married man in mining camp in
| Eastern Nevada, and turned over to him
| her California property, placing him in
| charge of IT, and RENTING to him all her
earnings while she still followed the va
| carries OF fortunes wheel The husband
| proved worthless man, and. after squan-
| dertng all her earnings, deserted her.
| During the latter years of her life, what
| years DSIOTe WAS Only al liIdnplle IuZZ
on her upper lip had developed into a
| growth of unusual proportions, hence her
| soubriquet Mime. Mustache."
One fine September morning the dead
body of a woman was found two miles
south of Bodfe, on the Bridgeport road.
1t was Identified as that of Nine Mus
| tache. 1t seems when her bank ran low
she borrowed $500 form a friend and,
with her own funds, opened a faro bank.
1t lasted but few hours, when 1t was
| broken. Without a word to any one she
wandered to the sagebrush, where her
| dead body was discovered with an empty
| poison vial which told the tale of suicide.
In a letter to the public administrator
| she said that she was tired of life. Since
| then the mining camps of the west have
| never known such as she.