The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-07-24
4 ROCKY UNTAIN FUNERI L..


| lore, as the band attached to a travel
ing show was uttering it's discordan
notes just beside her window she Wen
out into the darkness alone. In tn
dignity of his recent bereavement
William Manning requested the leade
to cease playing, and as the crowd haC
already assembled in the vacant stOr'
adjoining, and moreover, the hour o
the performance had arrived, he oblig
lngly consented, blowing a loud bias
ON his instrument by way of a finale
The early morning light of the day
following, streaming through the hardy
geraniums that flourished and bios,
somed so bravely in her curtainless
windows, revealed Mrs. Manning de-
Gently arrayed for the grave, and ir
her casket awaiting burial
Indeed, when the laggard sun peeped
up from behind an eastern peak at
nine o'clock, he befIeld a most unusual
sight in that isolated mountain village.
A coach drawn by two black horses
just arrived from Lodon, a thriving
town at the mountains base, stood be-
fore the Manning's door, while several
top-carriages, looking exceedingly
frail and citified and decidedly out of
place-all however, provided with the
Indispensable brake-were grouped
near Business wagons, and wagons
used for the transportation of ores,
with seating capacity of thirty, and
rows of saddle horses lined the street,
which was filled by groups of hurrying
people, with a look of curious eXpec-
fancy on their faces
Away in the southwest, black, porter-
tious clouds We're trooping up from
behind the taller peaks, and the NUT
tering of distant thunder was heard.
On they came, solid battalions, which
gradually rose to the zenith, their
! places filled by still darker clouds of
inky blackness, until the heavens We're
obscured and the smiling sun withdrew
his face.
A sudden storm was upon them, but
little did the people care; they We're Of
daily occurrence in the short summer
season, and they We're we'll provided
with rubber garments, which We're a
necessary adjunct to ones wardrobe at
that altitude, and usually depended
from every mountain saddle.
Mr.. and Mrs. Manning We're among
the early pioneers of the town, where
they arrived, spent and worn, after ex-
haustive climbing over sinuous Indian
| trails, reaching their destination just
as the long twilight which follows the
shortened summers day had COM
| menced. Although the embryo town
was in deep shadow, the light fingered
warm and rosy on the peaks, vision
of hope to the weary pair. They were
Kentuckians and were well mated as
to appearance both being unusually
tall, erect and sinewy.
In an incredibly short time their
tents We're pitched and hotel was es-
tablished where exorbitant prices were
the rule for the most inferior accom-
modations. A similar tent across the
way was converted into a saloon which
bore the name of Gold Room" where
many a poor fellow drank and gam
bled away his money, his watch, and
often the coat upon his back, in his
mad frenzy, to return penniless to the
mine where he was employed, and, at
the next payday, repeat his folly,
1t is needless to say that between
them the couple prospered. Soon a
tWo-storied Lighthouse was erected with
an imposing board front, over the door
of which depended a sign that swayed
in every passing breeze, with Highup
Hotel in big black letters inscribed
thereon. A roomy, substantial struc-
ture displaced the saloon tent, and at
all hours of the day and night drink
ing and gambling went on, Here after
a drinking bout, reckless or discour-
aged man often ended his life with his
own revolver
Among the constant habitues of the
saloon was one Jack Conway, who,
while he imbibed constantly, was,
strange to say never seen intoxicated.
He was a typical mountaineer. Drift
ing in with the tide of immigration
which had rushed to the new Ell Dora
do in the early eighties, he had strand
ed in the little town apparently quite
alone in the world.
In person he was rather below the |
medium height with a head altogether
too large for his singularly long body
and short. spdery legs. His hat was |
always worn rakishly on one side, and |
his roundabout coat was buttoned |
tightly it's entire length, thus accentua-
ting his slended, long wasted figure. |
His cheeks were distended by two
guilds of plug tobacco, and, as he ex- |
perforated freely, it was dangerous to |
be within a certain distance from him
in either direction. He had a curious
strut when he walked. Indeed, with
his peculiar anatomical development it
was impossible for him to walk other
wise.
Jack Conway filled the important po-
sition of deputy sheriff. For the dig
nifty of his office, as well as by virtue
Of his sobriety he was chosen master
of ceremonies at the funeral, his distin-
badge being the wearing of
white cotton gloves.
As Elizabeth Manning was the first
person who had died in Highup, the
villagers decided to give her fine fun
aral; or, as honest Tim Mccarthy ex-
pressed it, 1--WE wants to give the ould
ady a good send off
Not that Highup was a particularly
healthy place in which to live--a long
continued residence at an altitude of
Ten thousand feet is not usually con-
sidered conducive to health or longevi- /
.y,-but when people were i'll they were
'emoved at once to the village lower
Town, where the air was less rare and I
aspiration easier Sometimes they re-
more frequently not And
smith, meeting Jones on the street !
sfy1rD11 IpY1,r L., |