The Portland daily press., 1899-10-07
PLAYED IN BIG LUCK.
Two Cases where Cheer and chance
Won Good stakes
The stories Were Told by the Men
who Profted by the Transactions
60 Listener who Was GrimIy
sIepticnI ms to the Facts.

VINO Fr0hted by the TRANSACTIONS
60 Listener who Was GrimIy
skepticnI as to the Facts.
Three men who have seen ups and
| OWNS. but are now In the land Of up,
were chatting in the corridor Of the St.
| Charles.
Ibid you ever have a big piece OF pure
| luck when you really needed il bad n said
one, who is at present high railroad OH
cial. Il did once and never again. 1t
happened in Denver In 1882. I was
broke. / had justfcome out Of the hos
pital after long tussle with pneumonia,
and ! was unable to do manual labor,
which was the only thing l could find.
To tell the TRUTH l was desperate. One
! afternoon, when things were at their
worst, | was sitting in the old Charpiot
hotel and overheard two men talking very
secretly about a big strike in some mine.
l inferred from their conversation that II
! was somewhere in the San Juan district,
/ but they didn't mention the exact loca-
ton or the name OF the property. When
| they went out, | noticed tiny piece of
ore lying on one Of the chairs, where it
had evidently been dropped while they
were examining some specimens. II was
brown quartz. literally full OF gold. 1t
was ore that made fellows heart jump
| just to look at it, and while | was turn
ing 1t between my fingers 1t all of sud-
! den flashed into my mind that 1t must
have come from the Lady Alice. They
had taken such stuff from it once, but
the vein had 'pinched out and the prop
| erty was supposed to be n. Z. Its stock
had dropped to nothing.
"Of course it was only guess" con-
| tinued the speaker, ''and there were sew
eral hundred chances that it wasn't the
Alice at ALL did some quick thinking.
| There was banker up town who owned
| lot of Alice stock, and in two minutes
l was on my way to his Office.
"'Look here says / when finally got
into his den, L have information worth a
lot Of money to you. What is it worth
| to meg
"'Not cent down says he promptly,
but 10 per cent IL get it.
Il handed him the piece of ore 1t
| was about as big as the end of my thumb.
| They've struck that in the Lady Alice,
says |.
"To my surprise he turned pale as
death and yelled for a clerk Run after
Smith" be hawled, and bring him back
with that stock"
ger. and he WAS then ons his way to de-
| liver bundle of Alice stock for which
| the banker had just been offered n couple
| of hundred dollars. He had thought 1t a
| good trade until he saw my ore. Smith
came back, and the banker tried his best
| TO pump me, hut | wouldn't tell him any
more. Ii he had known was only guess
ing. he would have kicked me out but
| the fates were with me. The next day
the news of the discovery got TO the pub
| lie. 1t was the Alice sure enough, and
the stock went scooting slsyward. Mean
while the fellows in on the secret had
bought up all they could. My banker
scooped in big pot OF money, and got
| $500 for my share. ] suppose / ought
| TO have had three times MS much, but it
was such godscnd didn't kick. That
was the one case of downright bull luck
| in my whole career"
| II made something out of nothing once
| myself" said another of the trio after a
| little pause. Il can't say the affair did
me much credit. but as a general thing q
| fellows conscience begiAj TO stretch
when his coin begins TO shrink. Anyhow
the facts are these: drifted into eastern
Ohio good many years ago and landed
| in little town near the state line just at
lne time 'he great OH poom began 70 de-
ss,op' was huIu UP anu dlun know
WA 70 40, oul Iuckity l hau g0ou
.i i rev uass aiter l arrived
- y. pioper.y on Whien on nau peeii
az - p rn, Wy ~ sue'ioh W oruer ol
az s,. n"u oeen nAeu aniohs
xUhaI:.. ~ :: ~ ie ~ :. '"il. en"p ilo,li
o,u :. ~ anu II was generaiiy
$4,000 500 snsl 'ne SAFE "ouiu pe cut
sI .u,, ~
- suoli.u over 10 'ne auetioh room
WIN u,e hight clerk OF the motel, ana by
mere chance we sat difecuy oehind the
man from "heeiing- WINE we were
waiting ! remarked, merely IN JEST that
.nousnt ouy lhe properly, ana, TO
my SUNRISE ,ne cierh TOOK II IN uead ear
n n,. lle Nne" ho'nlng ABOUT my reai
~. anu SUPPOSED no uoub''
'nat was soiiie OH sharp IN cog.
:. Tow nish are you gong ne asked
III ~" zone. ~,
e.o oo 400, guess ! !, lcilow her as hlgh as
S1v'Voo' repheu army; AT tnat the
| w ue1dIIk man nearly Tell OH his seat,