The sun., 1898-10-23
Mr.. GADD|S Of DELAWARE
The High Sheriff Of Creede
Talks Most Entet-
tainingly.
A QUEER MONEY MAN WAS he
The SmOOthest CRATER on the Trail
Done up by q Wise Guy
From the Far
Far East.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8.-'I don suppose
that any man who ever hit up Creede
when that camp was booming along like
. Wisconsin lumber drive is going to
stand up and say that Creede was any
thing like dead easy mark or a putty
for tenderfeet," said Tom
Wilkinson, now of this town, who used
to be sheriff of Creede. "When you get
down to it, all the boys in those days
we're groftsrs, more or less, and guess l
was just as much Of u CRATER as any Of
'em, even il they did elect me sheriff and
refrain from shooting a hole in the plug
hat that ! wore all the time l was sher-
iii. The Creede push, when Creede was
lively, was surely made up of smooth
people, and when it came to nibbling at
foxy games there wasn't man of 'em
that wouldn't make couple of side
steps and then shoot swift and straight.
But I've often observed in the course Of
a heap Of piking around tie big camps,
that it's just these wise, crafty camps
that are bound, every once in while,
TO get it pasted on them the hardest and
in an aggrayatingly easy way.
"a big gossoon OF tenderfoot- look.
ing young fellow-he wasn't more than
% or 24-turned up in Creede one after.
noon in August, 1893, when 1 was turn
ing the day trick IN keeping the camp as
orderly as it could be kept,G l lchIl him
looking because he was logged
out that way-frock coat, light striped
patent leather shoes and that
kind of rig. He;didn't try to saw off a
plug hat on us with that make Iup-for
some reason or other | was the only man
that could wear plug hat in Creede
with impunity-and the little plaid fore
and-aft cap that he wore with that long
frock thing made him look even more of
a yap than his actions made him appear
to be. The young fellow didn't do any
staggering or butting into anybody, but
he seemed to be just naturally soft. He
had big moon face, With pink cheeks,
and his light curly hair andi white eye
brows made him look hiy-Avered. He
put up at old Mrs. Reagan's boarding
house and the boys there sized him up
as too much Of jellyfish to be worth
picking on. He went around grinning,
with his hands in his pockets, and when
any of the boys happened to drop him a
word Just to draw him out and see what
his lay was he shot off the conceitedest
mess Of talk you ever heard. The boys
out in Creede weren't in the habit, as
you may suppose, of making any brags
about their family trees, but you only
had to toss word at this cub to set him
TO rattling about who and what he was
and who and what his people were. He
took a long chance in doing that. but the
talk Just made the boys so tired that
they didn't have the energy to souse him
in the creek or chuck him under stamp
mill. ran into lin myself the day
after he struck the camp and 7 hadn't
my more'n given him ihe civil greet
han he began to put me next to ..is
Whole business.
"'My names Harvey Gaddis the Cad
lises Of Delaware, y Know says he to
ne, and Pm out here looking for an in
for my father, Harvey Gaddis,
# Washington, D. G. Must ha' heard of
lin, haven't you?'
No. said l, I haven't heard Of him.
'ut l want to tell you something, son.
Iut out the pedigree talk around here.
he boys might kind o take it as kind
# reflection upon them. Fact is, there's
ONE OF them that might have made you
eel small already if it wasn't for what
on say about looking for an Investment.
'hey've all got a hole or two in the
round to unload, and that's largely the
eason why they're standing for this chin
uusic OF yours about what a warm tribe
ou've renegaded from. If you're going
D invest in Creede dirt, you'll get.all the
how in the world to do it. But cut out
he family tree guff. 1T won't help you
little bit if you want to get all that's
oming to you, as to any stranger, in this
amp
"The young jay seemed to improve
ONE after this talk Igave him, and he
id let up on the Gaddises-of-Delaware
low. But he remained a pretty weak
ind OF pollywog, for all that. The
oys let him alone because they figured
i'm as pretty sure investor, and they
idn't want to chase capital out of the
Amp, so they let him blow himself ior
Il the drinks he wanted to buy for
hem, which was good many, although
hey couldn't get out of the habit OF
izing him up out of the tails of their
yes. He had a steady jug for the first
'eek he hit the camp, and on a couple OF
ccasions my night marshal had to lead
i'm to old Mrs. Reagan's. l have since
ad occasion to believe that the tender
,ot never was drunk at all while he was
4 the camp, but that he assumed all O
his callow, college-boy festivity just in
le line Of working up his part.
"This Harvey Gaddis boy hadn't been
I the camp for more than ten days be-
IRE all of the boys that had disappoint-
,g, no. pay shafts in the rock began to
ct around him for a deal. They took
i'm out, one by one, to look over their
aims and the whelp tried to look wise
hen he inspected them and talked stuff
bout strata and ledges and leads that
,unded like he might have picked it
ut OF his geology book at school. Some
ow or other he didn't seem to be very
cen on the buy until Buck Wingate,
ne OF the sharpest mine saIters that ever
,uffed a shotgun full of yellow slugs, got
old of him and took him out to one OF
is holes. Bucks rock was beautifully
xed-Buck spent three hard days and
ights at the job-and it appeared to
,rike the tenderfoot's eye. He asked
uck how much he wanted for the
aim