The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-04-01
A WOMAN AND A MOB.
4 THRILLING EXPERIENCE IN COLO
RADO MINING CAMP.
a Son Tells Of the Night His E1cther's
Hair Turned white Rage Of the MIN
ers, Who Considered dumping" Mine
IN objectionable OfYense.

Hair Turned white Rage OF the MIN
ers. Who Considered dumping" Mine
IN objectionable OfYense.
An assayer and his young wife came to
Rosita, Colo, In the early days OF the
town. He had little money, hut managed
to start a store, where he dispensed grocer
bes TO the miners and prosT ectors during
the day. At night he assaycd the rocks
that the boys brought In from the hills
Poor enough they were for the most part,
and he became discouraged at the outlook
He GRUB staked' many OF the prospect
ors, but the samples were all Of the same
low level. Some of the men were too proud
to ask aid, but they ran up long accounts
at the store for coffee and tobacco, which
the assayer could only boIe TO see liqui-
dated when they struck it rich. But no
body struck 1t rich for a long time, and
the bills Of the searchers ran up into large
sums. One day miner who had paid
bill Of about $50 at the store came In with
a sackful of ore that he had found In q
new location. He asked that 1t be assayed.
The assayer looked at 1t and laughed. 1t
seemed to be of the same old sort. But he
agreed to make "a test, and that night
when the store was closed he went at 1t.
The result astonishcd him. Instead of its
being the same old sort it showed indica-
tions Of riches running 81 200 to the ton.
The next morning he told the miner that
there was pay in the mine and offered to
buy the claim. The best offer he could get
was third for the bill the man owed and
500 additional This was accepted. and
as the assayer's wife had little legacy
just left her he gave the claim to- her, and
she paid for It.
A few days after it became noised about
that there was new bonanza, and all the
miners went in mob TO the vicinity OF
the mine and staked out their claims. But
the Pocahontas was the only one that
proved rich, and ii was really a bonanza.
The discoverer sold his interest for q for
tune and went back TO the states. The
new two-third owner ran the mine on q
scale of expense that, while IL paid him
handsome profit, did not show any divi-
dend for the assayer's wife. One day two
men, giving their names as Boyd and
Stewart, came to her with proposition.
They would buy her share for $50, 600 and
compel the new owner 10 tote fair and TO
make enough TO pay for their purchase.
The papers were drawn up, and the men
proceeded to prepare TO seize the mine.
They secured company Of men and went
out In the night. When the watch changed,
they rushed in and drove the guards away
and had the mine to themselves 1t was
an unheard of proceeding and created a
great excitement in the vicinity. The old
miners all took sides with the dispossessed
major owner and would not listen to the
pleas Of the new purchasers that they only
intended to shut down the mine until they
hfIa settlement
N.at afternoon a mob gathered at the
saloon. 1t grew with each company that
came down from the mountains. They
vowed vengeance on the interlopers and
on the assayer and his wife, who, they
thought, were at the bottom of the deal
The assayer left that afternoon on foot fol
Canon City, and in hurry too. The mob
called after him a little too late and then
set out for the mine. Raging, up the hills
IL went, and the business men, who had
discountenanced the move, followed eau.
tiously. The mob charged on the mint
and secured some of the guards, but the
new owners of the woman's third had fled
to Denver and were not caught-luckily
for them. The mob went TO the saloon
and "liQuored up for spell and then de
cided that somebody must hang.
Hang the woman, was the demand OF
many, and the sentiment was evidently In
favor, though there was some opposition.
'"Hang one of the guards who helped
the strangers suggested somebody, and
the next two hours were spent in putting
the suggestion into practice. Then came
the old cry, Hang the womanW
The assayer's wife was frightened, and
90 were her friends. She had made many
warm adhercnts during her residence in
the camp, and they gathered around her
that night With her two boys she was
taken to the only two story house in the
place, and the men who were on her side
stood guard on the lower floor while SHE
waited on the upper one. 1t was long
and nerve wearing night. Twice the lead
crs of the mob came and parleyed with the
men on guard and declared that they could
not keep the miners from the deed they
contemplated Up stairs the woman heard
It all and wondered If they told the truth.
Once the mob itself came and for an hour
waited around the house, hoping to catch
q sight of the woman perhaps. But at last
daylight came, and nothing had been
done. Said one of the two boys in relating
the experience, "I know that my mothers
hair grew whittier that night, and almost
feel that, child as i was, my own did the
same"
The miners went out to the Pocahontas
again that morning to sec that the old
owner was in possession, and in the inter
val the assayer's wife and her sons wert
placed on horses and hurried out of the
camp. They trudged all that day in mo
mentary fear that they would be pursued
and reached safety at nightfall. When they
arrived ut Canon City, they found that
the father and husband had been three
days getting there, taking as he did a lone
some and unknown way through the
mountains. There was still the store and
the accounts against the miners over at
Rosita, but somehow the assayer did not
wupt to go after them. The sentiment OF
the place was that he and his had tried t.
rob mine, and 1t was not exactly healthy
to try it. The matter Of the mine was aft
erward settled in the courts, and the az
Ayers wife received for her share $40, 900
&C. M. Harger In Chicago Times-Hernid
Stopping . Horse with = sermon.
The late Archbishop TAFT of Canterbur,
once made an effective uee of q sermon.