The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-08-26
DIAMOND JoE's CAREER.
A Rough Character Who Yves Wort,
$1,000, 0OO.

a Rough Character Who Yves Worth
s7,OO0,000,
No name is more familiar to the miner
west, ana rev more SO to the capitalist,
than that oil Dlar-. ond Joe Reynolds. Ali |
sorts Oh stores have been circulated about
his life, hcw he got his name, and when
and Where he died. Some are true.
others fiction. We were all gathered about
the board OF miners table at Cripple
Creek, Col, says n writer in the Philadel-
phia Times, when the following narrative
was told by DR.. Sydney R. Bartlett, the
mine expert, who had been a roommate
at Harvard with Blake Reynolds, the
only son of the famous "Joe."
The doctor was also an expert in the
employ of Reynolds, and played an i'm
portant and grewsome part at the time
of the old mans death. Colorado mines
and ores were discussed and then the
conversation turned on Arizona, where
the Congress mine was spoken of and
with its former owner, Diamond Joe.
He was the sharpeSt man on a bargain
and wlthal the most gener ous maa l have
ever KNOWN" said the doctor. S'He was
lame-hip disease, which was brought on
when boy. 1t illustrated the stuff he
was made of. He had a jacIs-knife, and
in drinking at an air hole in the ice il
slipped through. Reynolds went home,
got al AK and chopped hole in the ice
large enough to admit his body and dove
in, caught cold, RESULTS in a disease
which famed aim for life. He told me-,
continued the doctor, ''that he started at
eighteen years of age with S25, with
which he bought $40 heifer, leaving
him $40 in debt, and from that time up
70 his dying day he had never been out of
debt, despite the fact chat he left 81, O00,
1900.
THE true story of his getting the name
of Diamond Joe was in this wise: Joe
Davidson owned number of steamers
plying on the upper Mississippi, while
Joe Reynolds owned boats running south
on the river to New Orleans Both lines
were known as the Joe steamers and all
bales and goods We're marke via Joe line.
The oonfounding eff the two resulted in
Reynolds drawing q diamond around the
Joe on all goods shipped, and thereafter
he was Diamond Joe, and in no way did
the appellation come from the fact that
he had fondness for wearing the pre-
cious stone.
CAS- a plunger the old man had few
equals. One of the greatest was the Del
Pasco mine, in Arizona, but it's turning
out badly only strengthened his deter
mlnation to secure a world beaten and it
was about this time that he set his heart
day is one of Arizonas greatest produc-
ers. He paid S39, 900 for the property,
and it was sixty-five miles from Prescott,
and any railroad. i went out to make
an examination of the old property for
Reynolds and handled assays and reuuisi-
items departments of the place and they
were lively days out there. The story of
Reynolds death has not been repeated
correctly, so III tell you the facts.
rains were on. Outside the mill we had
little shanty, clubhouse, and here
we all slept. Never shall l forget that
February night Joe had been complain
ing for several days, though he was ND
and about the mine and mill every day.
lone afternoon he was taken down
suddenly, and l undressed him and put
him to bed in one of my own night
gowns Towards evening he grew worse
and the storm outside was fearful.
About six o'clock knew that he was dy-
ing. HIS desperate efforts to breathe
were frightful. His head was on nv
shoulder. Then it was that the Thought
struck me of getting his body to Pres
colt, for we had no ice, and it was a
mighty bad road, covering sixty. five
miles, and a start must be made at mid
night, If the one daily train out of Pres.
colt was to be caught.
About nine O'Clock l ordered the mill
carpenter to come to the clubhouse. and
whispered to him to knock some boards
together into coffin, and in few
minutes above the blowing outside
could hear the nails being driven home i'm
poor old Joe's coffin and he not dead. It
was pretty tough l assure you, and the
night made things worse. About mid.
night he died, and by l O'Clock we had
the body in the coffin, on one of the
wagons, with its relay of six mules and
its Mexican driver, and the start to Pres
colt was made 1t took the outfit just
twenty-four hours to make the trim. and
we.caught the one train out of Prescott.
1t was sad ending of great man and n
terrible journey"
And what became of the mine?' asked
one of the men at the table.
1t sold last July" said the doctor,
"for 81, 100000"