Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1897-10-14
9Ne~e@eNoe~o ~e@e~e
"a FRONTIER DUEL. :
4 BY nal ALFRED r. CALHOUN =
o~s>a@a~ea~e&s&s~s

lbG.4sLISt AFtu ny gdlhDi4HB u even
worse
These fellows always go armed. carry
themselves with a swagger and fgura-
lively drag their coat tails on the
ground at all times in the hope that
some one viii give them an excuse TO
shoot.
Fairplay is very good name for a
town or camp. and Fairplay, Col, is to-
day a thriving, law-abiding place, but,
like all western towns, it had to pass
through all the stages Of social eyolu-
ton from the absolute barbarity of its
beginning to the high civilization of the
present.
There are many men not yet beyond
middle life who distinctly remember
the first hut erected in Fairplay. and
who retain a vivid recollection of the
first hotel, the Great Western, which
was composed of three rooms, one can
vas. one log and the other unplaned
boards. Though this establishment
claimed to furnish accommodations
for man and beast" il had no stable
for horses, and all its dodgers had to
sleep in hunks in one room, while bread
and bacon constituted the bill of fare,
with now and then sugarless coffee.
The extras" were composed wholly of
bad cigars, strong chewing tobacco and
whisky of kind SO much viler than the
ordinary fluid that one drink of It has
been known to produce all the effects
of delirium tremens on man unac-
customed to il, and it always produced
a homicidal mania in those who i'm
dillged in it as often as once q week.
The bar of the Great Western was
the rendezvous. the headquarters, for
all the miners and teamsters in the
vicinity and you may be sure that it
was constant resort for the gamblers
and desperadoes who always swarm
about a new mining town like flies
about a sugar hogshead in July.
For the accommodation of the latter
class. with whom he was in full sym
pathy. and with an eye to his own gain
he had only one eye-the landlord OF
the Great Western had fitted up place
for playing faro, and a number of pine
tables on which those so inclined-and
it was surprising how many were so
most uncertain game called poker.
At this time there were only two
women in Fairplay viz, Mrs. Chamber
lain, the wife of the principal mine
superintendent, and Lizzy Chamberlain,
her daughter.
Some men, with wives and daughters
at home In the states, rather blamed
Mr.. chamberlain for subjecting his fam
lily 10 the hardships inseparable from
such n life. but, had they known that
the devoted wife and daughter insisted
on accompanying him and sharing his
trials. they would not have been so hard
in their Judgment.
Arthur Lyons, fine young fellow Of
four and twenty was Mr.. Chamberlain
assistant, and as be boarded with his
employer it was pretty generally con-
ceded that he had "the inside track" so
far as Lizzy was concerned. and that
their marriage was only question of
time
There was, however. in Fairplay. one
man who emphatically refused to be-
lieve that Lizzy Chamberlain looked
kindly ON Arthur Lyons, and this man
was known as RED" Snively, the first
name being given to designate his com
pleXion and the sangulne color Of his
hair.
Red Soively wished to be known as
THE Mountain Terror" and he tried
hard to have the name attach to him
self, but as the majority of the miners
looked upon him as a nuisance rather
than q terror the name did not stick
70 any great extent.
Red Sniyely was a staggering. ever
armed hraggart. lie was supposed to be
silent partner in the Great Western
hotel ard it was q matter of notoriety
that all the gambling features Of the
establishment We're under his immedi-
ate charge
He claimed Missouri as bis home. and
when he became confidential-whi
was always tEecase when the game was
going against him he would hint that
he was forced 10 come west "owin' 10
iirtle cuttin' scrape" he had over u game
of cards.
With the 'brazen effronterv Of his
class, Red Srivclv made himself very
Objectionable 20 Lizzy Chamberlain bv
his disgusting attentions: 50 much so.
indeed, that she dreaded - venture out
unless accompanied by her father or
Arthur Lyons
ON one occasion the latter told Red
Snively very emphatically that his con
duet was disagreeable 70 Miss Chamber
| lain, and that it must be stopped. and
this was said with such caf,n e4nnhaSis
that the bully was not left iii any
doubt as to the young mans meaning
nor Of his determination t, enforce his
/ request.
In addition 70 its many other uses the
Great Western was me post Office ut
which the weekly-more often the
mouthly-mail was delivered.
One rainy a ernoon after the mail
had come In Arthur Lyons went up to
| get the ever-velcomc letters and papers
| from tie east.
WIN,