Austin's Hawaiian weekly. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1899-190?, 1899-06-24
The RATTLESNAKE RANCH.
HOW SEALY GOT EVEN.
By Franklin Austin.

sa Revised and rewrtte"
Joe Sealy was quite character in his way.
He had been frontersnan, man and boy, for
fifty years. He had moved on as westward the
star of Empire takes its way" until he had at
last settled in Inyo County, California. He
was one of the pioneers when the great Serreia-
gardo mine was struck that yielded sixteen
million ounces of silver before the vein gave
out. Sealy had undeveloped mines galore. He
might almost be said to be mine poor
When Serreiagorda was at its height, Lone
Pine, was mighty lively place. I can tell you
The games were going all night and at least one
man was buried in his boots, every day-The
highest record being nine corpses in twenty
four hours. But these good old days waned
when the Serreiagorda closed down. The little
old town went into decay Only a few old GRO
Indians who had been there longer than the
oldest inhabtant of the village could recollect
At last times in Lone Pine began to revive.
A few years previous to the opening of this
story the government appointed land agent
who opened an office at Independence Every
body took up government land and Sealy like
the rest proceeded to make himself land poor
as well as mine poor. Everybody took up 800
acres in the valley. under the irrigation act and
a company was organized to build ditch to
bring water out of the Owens River. Seay
had land in the valley too, but he knew his
neighbors WE'LL and was not sanguine that the
harmony, displayed in the heat OF enthusiasm,
would be long enduring. While tramping
through the mountain and upper mesa's, one
day, he came across canon in which flowed
perennial stream. His practiced eye at once
estimated that the water could be brought to the
beautiful sloping mesa above, at very small
cost giving him little irrigation system Of his
own. He at once applied for the 100 acres ruin
ming across the canon giving him control of
the water and having about 80 acres of tillable
pany terminated in row, and his valley invest
ments impaired he had ranch back of the hills
that was worth something.
Remote from civilization as the little village
at Lone Pine, people came across the desert and
over the mountains to take part in the land
boom. Among these was one Charles Alfred
Mcdonald Farrell, remittance Englishman,
with romantic turn of mind 1t also devel
oped later that he had some little money to
boot After climbing all over the awe-nspiring
Sierra Nevada mountains, that tower $4,000 feet
above the Owens Valley. he decided to locate
Farrell is a good fellow and made friends with
everybody; but it soon became apparent that he
was sharp fellow too, and knew how to Use his
money to the best advantage. He hit upon
Sealy's ranch almost at once and wanted to buy
it. but his offer was verv much lower than Seay
thought the location worth.
Not long after this one of Sealy's mining pros
poets showed good indications and the mining
fever was upon him again He must have
money and that quickly. So he went to Farrell
and offered to sell. Believing that Joe needed
money, the sharp gentleman, made consdera-
mentally vowing. however, that he would "get
TJa foyO ir1pr &C