Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1897-10-08
WHALEN'S
SHEEP-RANCH,

W uoleu . luck was cOplOuS, ana II be
came prOverbial: the facts here record
Cd are but specimen pages from the
book Of his experience.
When the Consolidated Canal Com.
pany went into insolvency. its assets
consisted Of a mortgaged right OF way
through the sagebrush and several
completed but detached sections Of q
big ditch.
Mr.. Brick Whalen. the contractor on
section three, had finished the heavy
work there and was preparing to move
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 engineer
certincate up to headquarters to get
bis check. He received instead a state
nent that the company was in tenn
porary difficulties, and an assurance
that It would soon resume.
Whalen had before this worked for
ehaky corporations; he knew better.
and lost no time In acting on his knowl.
edge.
mo good howlin' over a broken pipe
Or trytn' to save the pieces he told
himself. To his gang of twenty men,
he said: "By's the company's broke and
20 am I. l can't pay We and l can't
feed ye. You got to rustic"
Whats the matter with us taking
the mulesr said one.
Them mules and scrapers don't be-
hong to me, AZ I've often told ye." said
Whalen, whose custom 1t was to refer
to legendary hacker. "'This ditching
outfit IL the property Of Martin, Of San
Francisco. and any man that NEEDLES
with It will get the sheriff after him"
TN take one, just the same" said
Shorty, "and tell Martin he can have
him again when my wages Is paid.
That's about fair"
A few others took the same view of
the equities involved. and took mules.
to which Whalen made only a wOrdy
resistance. Most of the men were in
duced to accept orders on the defunct
company for the amount due them.
payable with large interest. "And if
1ou don't get 1t very soon, the interest
win double your money" said Whalen.
When the last man had gone. Whalen
went out to the corral and counted the
mules. "F0rty-one head; that was a
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
ct once started for the railroad. On n
small stream where camp was made
one night q band of trail sheep was
also camped. Whalen eyed them dis
painfully.
II see the beggars eat sage" said he.
"Why, certainly" replied the sheep
man; that's the finest kind Of feed for
sheep"
II wish work-mules would do that"
said Brick. Il never was SO near
sheep in my life," be continued; 1.-The
smell Of 'em a mile away is enough
for me. Funny little fellows. and they
look some like mules. with ears and
tails cut OF. What do you do with
themr'
Double our money on them every
twelve MONTHS" was the reply.
No extended description of sheep
farming would have impressed the
fancy Of the veteran mule-skinner. but
double your money" was his own ia
miliar 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 brush
diet and double your money every year
IL an interesting creature.
At daybreak Whalen was in the
sheep-camp negotiating a trade of
sheep for mules on n 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
mess-hOuse on section three of the
canal. az many an evening before he
had sat watching the mules come In
from water. Tonight there was never
q mule in sight. Down the breeze came