The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-02-05
SWINDLED MINERS WHO STILL
CURSE THE MAN FROM MEXICO

Ups W l4lC lIllIIe lLdl AluioiACb
tiers in manner truly his own. He
used to stop with Old Man Lowell, who
lived in Yankee Jim, mile and half
from the mine and on the road to Col
fax. He always stopped there instead
of at the hotel, and Lowells still un-
receipted bill for board for man and
horse explains why he did so. He usu-
ally brought one and sometimes two
friends with him, but on the last occa-
sion he came alone. He said he wanted
to make a cleanup of the mill while
he was there, and Bill Mccoy and
Charlie Dewey, his foreman and under
superintendent, assisted him In doing
this. 1t took them a good part of the
day, and then Burns called for his
team and piled the proceeds of the
cleanup into the buggy.
With the gold under the seat and his
whip in his hand, Burns turned to
Dewey, his assistant. "Close down the
mine tonight, Charlie he called to
him, and started his team. 1t was the
first intimation the miners had that
had presence of mind enough to inquire
about their pay. I'm send it up from
the city when 1 get there" was Burns
quieting promise, and that was the
last Yankee Jim saw or heard of him.
The Centennial mine was not big
paying property, and much or the
States good red gold had gone into 1t,
for Burns was Secretary of State when
he jumped his board bill at LowelIs
and left crown of miners in Yankee
Jim signing for the dollars he owed
them. There were sixteen or eighteen
of them, and some of them are still IN
Yankee Jim in various stages OF pow
erty and still cursing the man from
Mexico and his broken promises. Their
bills amount to but a drop in the
bucket of a s10,000,000 corporation, but
they are still unpaid, and there is no
likelihood of their being paid.
AS manager of the mine the men
looked to Burns for their money and
him they held responsible when 1t was
not paid. He owed Lowell s74 %, of
which $40 was for board and horse feed;
he owed Adam Duncan, who still refers
to him feelingly as a thief, SOS. Dun
can worked two months for the mine
and during the last twenty-five days
of this Burns managed the property.
| Duncan was paid for all his work but
the last twenty-five days, and to Mr..
Burns alone is the doubtful honor Of
beating him out of his pay. Duncan is
keeping the only hotel in Yankee Jim
now. The place is not the roaring,
reckless, riotous town it was years ago,
man now-but Burns needs it for his
Senatorial fight, and Duncan is poor
anyhow.
Old Jim Mcintosh was another Nc
IntoSh was a Wood-chopper then, and
was rightly called Old Jim, even back
in 83. He was paid for his wood until
Burns took hold. He received one
for one lot of wood, and then he made
the mistake of delivering more He is
still looking for the money. His last
lot, he says, was worth 500, and he
put in bill for that, but he had his
trouble and the price of new ak for
his pains. He lives alone now in lit
tie shanty in what was once a prom
inent street in Yankee Jim. He still
lives by the swing of his ak, but min
erS in Yankee Jim have been cutting
their own wood lately and the old
mans living is not a trif1ing question.
In his present condition he would glad
ly forego the pleasure of representation
in the Senate by Burns if he could only
get that money. 1t would be almost a
fortune to him now-but Burns needs
it.
A. F. Mcclellan is another He has a
bill for $101 so against the mine. He
has been down for three years with
rheumatism and he has a wife and five
children to support. He has more use
for hundred dollars than Burns, and
he can put it to a better use-but he
does not vote for Senator and the claim
still stands unpaid.
Bill Smalley was beaten out of $10S;
E. H. Lowell out of $4S; John Mccoy,
$66; John Mills, $40; Michael Clark, $52;
William Mccoy, $72; John Hubbell, $24;
E. Lowell, $42; j. Gilligan, $42; Ben
Mills $50; S. r. Bravery, $72; William
Roberts, $50; M. ]. Pendergrass, SIS; A.
NJ. Mcclellan, $50, and there were sew
eral more They were all similar sums,
large enough for miners to look forward
to and count on and live on, but Jumped
together not equal to what a decent
millionaire would spend in a years
charity; and the corporation, with
Burns owner CT more than half the
stock, had capital of ten millions.
Some of the miners assigned their
claims to Dewey and he brought suit
for their money, but others, appre-
ciating the Burns characteristics. spent
their time searching for suitable word
to describe him. Some wrote to him.
but he was busy reducing the surplus
in the vaults of the office of Secretary
of State, and when their patience gave
out, and they wrote again, he had gone
out of office, the clink of his gold sug-
costing the clanking of chains. but he
was not so wealthy as he had been.
Dewey's suit was brought in Depart
ment of the Superior Court of San
Francisco. In it he included all the d.
rectors of the corporation and demand
ed from them a total of $1S1S rs. This
included besides the claims of the min
ers the claims of J. H. White. team
ster, and l.. Remler, who furnished
supplies, not knowing the financial pos
sibilities of Mr.. Burns.
The complaint had hardly been filed
before all the defendants except Burns
and Thomas r. Hayes paid with a
promptness which indicated a first
knowledge of the debt, and the pay
ment of each is now on record in the
County Clerks office in this city. That
was back in 1888. but the miners have
seen none of the money yet. This al
lowed all but Burns and Hayes to drop
out of the suit, and it reduced Burns
actual legal Indebtedness to 1864 so and
Hayes to $37 80. The suit against them
was tried and on December 81, 1888
judgment was given for the plaintiff.
This judgment still stands, but singu-
larly enough the miners can get no
word of it, nor do they know that it
has been rendered Dewey, the old
superintendent, has become friendly
with Burns again and he has said
nothing of suit or money.
During the years that followed there
were other mining schemes occupying