Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1898-01-08

steep hillside behind. Farther along.
% one looked In either direction. were
to be seen other stores and saloons, the
latter considerably predominating.
their lines broken ut near intervals by
the door yards Of modest residences
where the homemaking instinct strug-
gled against heavy climatic odds In q
sickly showing Of geraniums and morn
ing glories. There were o Chinese
laundry and bakery; q rickety frame
blacksmith shop Haunting covering Of
out-of-date circus posters, and IN un-
pretentious drug store, developed out
Of the Office Of the one physician. who
generally attested the healthfulncss Of
the place by sitting oil day long before
his door, idly occupied with literature
which bore no outward resemblance to
medical treatises.
The houses were generally Of logs, the
few OF frame for the most part left I'M
painted, and, like their more primitive
neighbors, wearing an mir Of premature
age and decrepitude from the dark
brown stains which the fierce Colorado
sunshine had wrought on those sides
which looked to east and west. Few
were Of more than single story In
height, although the stores and saloons,
as q rule, had reached after more i'm
posing effect in the square, sham fronts
SO popular In mining-camp architecture.
while these had further emphasized
their pretensions to style by washes Of
paint In which q preference for pure
white had with the passage Of time
brought n painfully bedraggled appear
nnce to the dusty place.
Rising abruptly behind the shabby
procession Of buildings on that side
facing the hotel was q mighty hill ter.
minating In castellated heights Of red
sandstone, mass Of color showing in
superinduced brilliancy above the faded
slopes which appeared dead beyond any
hope Of resurrection; and the stunted,
dull-hued pines, sparsely dotting the
expanse, gave scarce more vivid show
ing Of life. All up and down this color.
starved surface yawned prospect-holes
beyond counting, q few gray dump
piles at intervals telling Of deeper
work; the smaller number still that had
gone so far rs to erect shafthouses
showing now for the most part deserted.
It Is the common background Of the
mining camp, this disproportionate
showing of failure and success; and cs-
pecially were failure and gaunt woe
most in evidence in Windy Gulch in
this summertime Of 1894, for its veins
were mostly but rich in silver, the ILL
omened metal ut this time cast into
limbo by the powers that shape the
financial policy of the world.
But the camp wore an air OF lethnrgic
indifference to all It's ills on this warm
August Itsday began early.
when the steam whistles of the working
mines shrilly cried out for change Of
"shifts," and up and down the hills on
every side the miners, always with tin
dinner-pails swinging in their hands,
might be seen going to or coming from
their labors like struggling professions
OF overgrown ants. Then women, bare
headed and bare-armed, came out to
fetch water from the creek or to stand
gossiping at their doors, while With
loud cracking Of the drivers whip the
stage for Orodelphia would wheel up
before the post Office to have the lean
mail-sack heaved on board with mighty
show of Importance. And after the
stage would come disjointed follow
ing Of men on horseback and dusty
couples in open carts; more often still
heavy freight-wagons laden with ore
and others piled high with fresh lumber
exhaling clean, resinous odors; oil
these cumbrous conveyances with a gay
jangling of bells at the horses heads,
for the road down the canyon was mar
row, and for safety's sake 1t behooyed
that oil give warning OF their coming.
All this was in the early morning, for
the majority would choose TO have the
day before them for the long, hard trip
TO town, making their homeward why
when the shadows had begun to length
en- and the air had grown cool. Now in
mid-afternoon nothing disturbed the
sleepy calm OF the place save n few
children and chickens pottering about
in the thick dust Of the street, the one
brood apparently us listless and void OF
purpose as the other. Across the way,
the postmaster, secure in belief that no.
body would come botbering him for
either mail or merchandise at this hour
Of the day, smoked in dreamy content.
his thin form luxuriously telescoped In
q wooden armchair. his long legs dis
posed across IN iron wheelbarrow,
which was evidently part Of his stock
In trade. The saloon man next door
was visibly snoring, his mouth o very
cavern of escaping sound; while SO long
time had elapsed since the doctor
had turned page OF his book that 1t
would seem he might well have commit
ted the last to memory. There was n
soft, broken murmur from the creek, q
drowsy swish of leaves among the cot
tonwoods along its banks. and the
stamp-mill at the far end Of the place
went on in a dull monotone, like n
devils tattoo that would never stop;
but witbal It seemed deadly quiet.
Dorothy Meredith yawned helplessly
as she turned from her outlook behind
the dusty lace curtains Of the Palace
hotel parlor to purposeless survey oil