The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1899-07-15

Chicken Bill" Lowell, ex-mail carrie
for the district. Chicken Bill'' ha,
claim on Fryer Hill not far from tn
spot where the two prospectors 10
Gated the Little Pittsburg. and he hat
worked 1t for six weeks without takint
anything out in exchange for his labo
except tons of Improbable soil. On,
day he helped himself to some pa,
dirt from another and luckier man.
claim and dropped it in the mud veil
he was working. Then he sent fo
Tabor, showed him the dust and of
fered to sell out for $3.50. Unhesitat
ingly, the innocent Tabor paid thu
price. "Ohicken. Bill" went down tc
town and bought drinks for himself
for week. At the end Of that time
he was looking for some one to blow
him off to carbolic acid cocktail, TO,
Tabor had dug five feet deeper than
he had gone and struck gold that had
not been transplanted. Before the
vein was worked out it brought in d
million dollars. That was the way the
Chrysolite Mine was discovered.
People said this was bullhead luck,
and Tabor was good fellow, but
didn't know enough to go In when it
rained. After had organized few
stock companies and come out far
ahead on all of them public opinion
had another opportunity for second
guess.
Among those who thought that To.
Dor was ''easy" were Foley and Will.
gus, owners of the Matchless claim,
which showed some color, but not
enough to convince them that 1t was
really much good. They convinced
Tabor, however, so successfully that
he gave them $112, 900 for the prop
erty. 1t was reckoned to be worth
perhaps $25, 200, as claims were going
then. As soon as the sale was COM
pleted the former owners went about
telling everybody how they had fooled
good old Tabor" The curious cir
cumstance OF a subsequent offer Of
So, 900, 900 to Tabor for the Matchless
saddened the remainder of their exist
ences with the knowledge that under
some circumstances honesty is the
best policy by a huge percentage.
Then there was the Maid of Erin mine
which Tabor and Major Dubois
bought for $40, 900; dead loss, said
Leadville. Two months later they
sold out to an English syndicate for
ten times that amount; the luckiest
hit ever made, as Leadville put it.
But the syndicate didn't like the looks
of the claim after they had bought.
and raised such lamentations over the
matter that Tabor said be didn't want
to swindle anybody and he'd take the
mine back at the same price. There
upon Leadville, which hadn't learned
any better yet, wrung its collective
hands and said that somebody ought
to look up nice quiet lunatic asylum
for poor Tabor, where he'd be re-
strained from dissipating his fortune
in such a manner. A year or 30 later
somebody tried to buy that same re-
jected mine for $4,000, 900 and was
greeted with cheerful laugh.
Thus far all had prospered with Ia
Dor to which he had put his hand.
People called him the luckiest man in
Colorado, and as soon as he got the
title his luck changed. 1t is singu-
lar circumstance in a world where evil
deeds are not always visibly punished
that as soon as he deserted the wife
who had been a true helpmeet in the
days of his adversely, Tabor's affairs
underwent a change for the worse.
He got divorce from her-through
no fault of hers-and with $500, 900
which he settled upon her as the price
of his release she went to live in Dem
yer and dropped out of his life. His
money-$7, 100000 approximately
was now scattered all over this con-
tinent. Much of it was in Honduras,
much in the Northwest and some on
the Pacific coast. He invested heavily
in Denver property and some of the
handsomest of the old houses there
were built by him, but all had passed
from his possession before his death.
Going to Washington, he married
there the young woman for whom he
left his wife. The marriage was made
famous by Eugene Fields roem of the
$4,000 nightgown, which was all
legged to be part Of the mine kings
trousseau. From that time he became
the butt Of the Western newspaper
paragraphs, o sore trial to him, He
had been In politics aud had been
elected Lieutenant. Governor OF Colos
RADIO, and had run for United States
Senator, but had been defeated, Sub,
ssquently hs was appointed Senator 70
Gil a unsxpirsd term Of one month,
but his public lie was embittersd by !
the enmity OF many men who had
known HIM in Leadville and could not
forgive him for his treatment OF his
wife.
Tabor built opera houses md no.
tells. but lost money on them. There
is not space here to tell OF the steps
by which he was reduced to beggary,
but the end came in 1898, when he
was left with nothing. Then the best
of the man shone forth again. At the
age of sixty-three he took pick and
went to work. His second wife stood :
by him in his misfortunes as the first
had done. and they lived as other la
boring people do. For a year he
worked thus, declaring with unbroken
courage that he would dig out an
other fortune for himself and his fam
lily. Then Winfield Scott Strattcn.