The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1897-09-08
uhalen's Sheep Ranch.
VXTHALEN'S luck was .copious, and
w became proverbial; the facts her
by G. q. pUNHHM.

w became proverbial: the facts here
recorded are but specimen pages from
the book of his experience.
When the Consolidated Canal COM
PAW went into insolvency it's assets
consisted of a mortgaged right of way
through the sagebrush and several COM
pleted but detached sections of big
ditch.
Mr.. Brick Whalen, the contractor on
section three, had finished the heavy
work there and was preparing to NOV
camp to section six when the company
went broke. 1t was, in fact, upon the
very day the suspension was posted that
Whalen, having had his contract work
inspected, took the engineers GER
tificate up to headquarters to get his
check. He received instead statement
that the company was in temporary diff
ficulties and an assurance that it would
soon resume.
Whalen had before this worked for
shaky corporations; he knew better,
and lost no time in acting on his knowl-
edge.
mo good howlin' over broken pipe
or tryin' to save the pieces" he told
himself. To his gang of 20 men he said:
"B'ys, the company's broke and so am
i. 1 can't pay We and 1 can't feed ye.
You got to rustic"
whats the matter with US taking
the mules?" said one.
Them mules and scrapers don't be-
long to me, as I've often told ye," said
Whalen, whose custom it was to refer
to legendary hacker. "This ditching
outfit is the property of Martin, of San
Francisco, and any man that NEEDLES
with it will get the sheriff after him" "
I'm take one, just the same," said
Shorty, "and tell Martin he can have
him again when my wages is paid.
That's about fair"
few others took the same view of
the equities involved, and took mules,
to which Whalen made only a wordy re-
sistance. Most of the men were induced
to accept orders on the defunct COM
pany for the amount due them, pay
able with large interest. "And if you
don't get it very soon the interest will
double your money" said Whalen.
When the last man had gone Whalen
went out to the corral and counted the
mules. "Forty-one head; that was a
pretty close CALL" said he.
It was late in the season to find an
other job of scraping, but the mules
could not live on sagebrush and were
at once started for the railroad. On a
small stream where camp was made
one night band of trail sheep was also
.camped. Whalen eyed them disdain-
fully.
II see the beggars eat sage" said he.
why, certainly" replied the sheep
man; that's the finest kind of feed for
sheep"
81 wish work mules would do that"
said Brick. 81 never was so near a
sheep in my life," he continued; "the
smell of 'em mile away is enough for
me. Funny little fellows. and they look
some like mules, with ears and tails cut
off. What do you do with them?"
Double our money on them every
twelve months" was the reply.
No extended description of sheep
farming would have impressed the
1duCy VI tllC fCICIdH DuL
double your money" was his own ia
imiliar phrase for describing any hope
full venture, and on that evening he
smoked many pipes of black plug over
it. A brute that can thrive on a brush
diet and double your money every year
is an interesting creature.
At daybreak Whalen was in the sheep
camp negotiating trade of sheep for
mules on basis of fifty to one, and
prepared to accept much less. Three
days later, he sat in the door of the
shack which had long done duty as
messhouse on section three of the canal,
as many an evening before he had sat
watching the mules come in from water.
Tonight there was never a mule in
sight. Down the breeze came pungent
odor and tinkling Of little bells. Over