The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1897-10-20
WHALEN'S LUCK.

WHALEN'S LUCK.
Whalen's luck was copious, and il
became proverbial. The facts here re-
corded 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 COM
pleted but detached sections Of q big
ditch.
Mr.. Brick Whalen, the contractor on
section 8, had finished the heavy work
there and was preparing to move camp to
section 6 when the company went
broke. 1t was, in fact, upon the very
day the suspension was posted that
Whalen, having bad his contract work
inspected, took the engineers certificate
up to headquarters to get his check. He
received instead q statement that the
company was in temporary difficulties
and an assurance that it would soon re.
sumo.
Whalen had before this worked for
shaky corporations. He knew better and
lost no time in acting Oh his knowledge.
mo good howlin over a broken pipe
or tryin to save the pieces" be told
himself. To his gang of 20 men he
said: "B'ys. the company's broke and
so am /. I can't pay ye and can't feed
ye. You got to rustic"
tho ,,o<<or ~r:<1 - <aI.:~-
the mules::" said one
Then mules and scrapers don't be-
long to me, as I've often told ye," said
Whalen, whose custom it was to refer
to a 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."
iii take one, just the same" said
Shorty, land 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
PERSISTENCE. 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
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 q
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 II never was so near a
sheep in my Ife." he continued. 1.-The
smell Of 'em q mile away is enough for
me. Funny little fellows. and they look
some like mules with ears and tails out
of. What do You do with them?"
Double our money on them every 10
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 q brush
diet and double your money every rear
is an interesting creature.
At daybreak Whalen was in the sheep
camp negotiating q trade Of sheep for
mules on q basis Of 80 to / and pre-
pared 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 8 of the canal, as
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 m q
pungent odor and a tinkling Of little
bells. Over the crest of an adjacent hill
appeared the flock. browsing on the
rank sage. =. 49,
They do look some like mules" b.
oOllIOQulzod, 'and Ill bet I'm the only
1rishman in America ever owned q
herd Of sheep" s
Winter came and passed. and the only
1rishman prospered. By roofing in a cut
with brush he, had oommodious sheds,
and cross sections Of poles divided the
broad ditch into as many corrals as he
chose. The sheep were fat and carried
heavy deeces.
Whalen had for help two boys who
; 81 Il 3.a.
had wandered there and asked for work.
He had proposed to hire one Of them.
but the boys protested that they had
never been separated, and that. if they
got jobs at different ranches '.the other
one wouldn't know. where the other
one was,''a contingency which they
could not abide. So Whalen offered to
A>A> AZ 80 "a q. * - K = ,