The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-08
THE ONLY DUEL IN NEVADA.
CONDUCTED ACCORDING TO THE
y OLD CODE OF HONOR.
Mix-Up in Miners Politics PrecipI-
tated n Row in Which "A Blow Was
Struck-BOId Billy MuIIigan Vim
IicnteS His Honor.

town of some 5000 inhabitants a short
year before a poney express rider found
some rich chloride silver ore in Pony can
on, got drunk as a matter Of course over
his good fortune and boosted of his hnd
and exhibited his specimens. Within a
month there were over a hundred pros
pectors delving in the hilsdes of Pony
canon, and within year a town whose
lots We're selling from 500 to 5000 apiece
graced its banks. That silver ore running
from 500 to 1000 per ton was found in the
recently discovered mines was undeniable,
for every store and saloon possessed speci-
mems of it, To be sure, the vein was of
the razor blade" variety; that is, while
many were very rich they weres also very
narrow. But none told the flaiherlng tale
that when depth was attained they would
increase in size. To be sure, the ore car
ried no gold, but this was before the per-
petration of THE crime of '73," and silver
was still good enough for anybody. so that
made no difference In the rush to the
new Ell Dorado along with the miner and
the trader came the gambler and the "gln
man." as the Nevada tough was called.
Pretty nearly every desperate of note on
the coast whose fame had not fickered
out with his life before it's advent saw
Austin in 1S63-64. Some even attained po-
litical and official pr omineEce. Most
Haynes, the chairman of the Board Of
County Commissioners of Lander county.
of which Austin was the county seat was
an ex-highwayman who had escaped the
penitentiary by peaching on his pals when
arrested a couple of years before. His
fellow commissioners showed themselves
worthy coadjutors by assisting him to
run the county over 100000 behind in six
months, with very little to show for it.,
But that's another story.
The narrow lodges running in all direc-
lions and often intersecting each other,
led to endless Disputes between the min
ers, and here the gun men found their
them to hold forcible possession of the
ground in dispute and there was a man
killed either on the hillsides or in the sa-
looms nearly every day. With the toughs
and killers who came to Austin were two
men who figure in this story. One, Bar
ney Mulligan came from Sacramento,
where he had a Local reputation as a bad
man." There was an underlined impress
sion among men of his fix, however, that
sport. One of Barney's strongest claims
20 his reputation as a fighter was that
he was a brother of the celebrated Billy
Mulligan of San Francisco Dave Scan
nells old deputy when sheriff, who was
expatriated by the vigilance committee.
Now there was no denying that Billy
was man of nerve and mighty handy
with his gun. Tom Coleman was a broad
shouldered. heavy-set Irishman, whose
r.Ia M md 40
betoken the tough. He had won his spurs
on the levee at Sacramento as a steam
boat runner in the early days, and had
| the reputation of being a bad man TO run
up against.
That fall 1t was reported that new min
eral had been found in a locality about
ten miles from Austin, and there was a
stampede to the new mines. It was deter
mined to organize a new mining DIS
trict, and a miners meeting was calico
for the purpose of enacting a code or
mining laws and of electing a mining re-
corder. Now the office of mining recorder
in new and fourishing district was a
| rich plum, and much sought after There
were two candidates for the position and
one of them, in order to make his calling
and election sure, had taken the precau-
ton of employing Barney Mulligan and
his band of roughs to work for him at
| the polls"
As the election was not governed by laws
and any one that claimed to have located
a mine in the district could vote 1t en-
abled Barney to get in some fine work, and
up to noon everything was going his pa
tron's way. Early In the day the candi-
date who was being showed under by these
tactics, dropped on the game and posted
off to Austin, where he secured the serV-
ices of Tom Coleman and his band of
gang. Shortly after noon Coleman and
his cohorts appeared and the festivities
! began. A dispute arose as to the right Of
a voter to cast his ballot, and Coleman
slapped Mulligan's face and dared him to
resent it. Barney weakened, and with his
forces withdrew from the field. From that
time 1t was easy sailing for the Coleman
crowd and, of course, their candidate was
triumphantly elected. The talk Of the
town was not the election, but of the in
suit to Mulligan, and as to what he would
do about it, The consensus of opinion was
that he would do nothng-though some Of
his admirers insisted that in good time
he would summon Coleman to the field Of
honor that the insult might be effaced in
blood.
Soon It was rumored that Billy Mulligan
was coming by the overland stage to re-
visit the scenes of his former great ness
alter mss seven years OF exile, ana that ne
would stop in Austin to visit his brother
Barney. Shortly Ii was announced that
he was in town, and the crowd in and
about the big stone saloon showed that
something more than usual was on the
taps. II was Billy Mulligan holding a le-
wee. Az first he was a DISAPPOINTMENT
Barney was a burly, broad-shouldered ruff
fan, weighing at least 1870 pounds, while
Billy was short and slight apd would
barely tip the scales at 40 pounds. But a
sight of his face changed all this. A res
olute jaw, cruel mouth and a cold, snaky
gray eye, betokened man whom It would
be unsafe TO enrage, and who, once arous-
ed would go all lengths to wreak his ven
geance. Standing in the midst OF his WOO
len-shirted, unshaven, red-faced admirers,
he formed marked contrast.
He was attlred in the latest New York
fashion, with clean linen and silk hat, and
his dapper little figure showed the most
careful grooming. Il soon became noised
about that he was going to call Tom Cole
man to account for his insult TO the House
Of Mulligan. opinion was divided as to
whether It would be a street fight or a
mk6ICALLi ~