The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-04-14

Hlu OUT Wnat IL was tnat MADE II so etef-
nally heavy to hoist. The assayer to
most pure. The Irshman and the German
survived the shock. went back to the
claim and sold out for $780, 900 apiece This
was the Little Pittsburg mine. One-third
of 1t belonged TO Tabor as his stake for
the grub. He was regarded az an ire
sponsible idiot when he refused 100000 Tor
his share. There was plenty of time,
however, for those who 50 regarded him
TO change their minds during the days
when the claim achieved the neat little
output Of 5000 n day. Tabor finally sold
his part Of II for a million, and said that
as he'd done tolerably well on his profit
and loss account he'd just keep on In the
mining business for a while
This was a source of unselhsh sorrow to
his friends, who knew that an innocent
sort of chap like Tabor would get swlndled
right and left II he tried to increase his
capital in gold instead of soaking Il away
The first person who thought Tabor would
be a good subject for a confidence game
was Chicken Bilr' Lowell ex-mail car
rier for the district. Chicken Biz had a
claim on Fryer hill not fer from the spot
where the two prospectors located the
Little Pltsburg, and he had worked It for
six weeks without taking anything out in
exchange for mis- labor except tons OF I'M
self to some pay dirt from another and
luck!er mans claim and dropped 1t in the
mud vein he was working. Then ne sent
for Tabor showed him the dust and offer
ed to sell out for $3.50. JInhesitatlngly. the
innocent Tabor paid the price. Chicken
BIZ went down TO town and bought
drinks for himself for a week At the
end of that time he was looking for some
one to blow him off to a carbolic acid cock
IN huI Is,as
IMAM he had gone and had struck gold
that had not been transpianted Before
the VEN was worked out il brought in a
million dollars. That was the way the
Chrysolte mine was discovered
People said this was bulhead luck. and
Tabor was q good fellow, but didn't know
enough to go in when It rained After he
had organized a few stock companies and
come out far ahead on oil OF them public
opinion had another opportunity for a Sec
ond guess.
Among those who thought that Tabor
was easy" were Foley end wilgus, own
ers of the Matchless claim which showed
some color, but not enough to convince
them that IL was really much good They
convinced Tabor however so susccessful-
ly that he gave them $4,000 for the prop
erty. II was reckoned TO be worth perhaps
$4,000. as claims were going then. Az
soon as the sale was completed the former
owners went about telling everybody how
they had fooled good old Tabor" The
curious circumstances of a subsequent Of
fer of 100000 to Tabor for the Malchless
saddened the remainder Of their existences
with the knowledge that under some cir
cumstances honesty is the best policy by
a huge percentage. Then there was the
Maid Of Erin mine which Tabor and a
Mai Dubois bought for $1,000; 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 Leadvile put it, But the syndi-
cate didn't like the looks Of the claim
after they had bought, and raised such
over the matter that Tabor
said he didn't want TO swudle anybody
and he'd take the mine back al the same
price Thereupon Leadville, which hadn't
learned any better yet, wrung its colec-
tive hands and said that somebody ought
to look up nice quiet lunatic asylum for
poor Tabor, where he'd be restrained from
dissipaling his fortune in such manner.
A year or so later somebody tried to buy
that same rejected mine for 100000, and
was greeted with a cheerful laugh.
Thus far all had prospered with Tabor
10 which he had put his hand People
called him the luckiest man In Colorado.
and as soon as he got the title his luck
II Is a singular circumstance in
a world where evil deeds are not always
visibly punished that as soon as he de- |
serted the wife who had been true help
meet I'm the days OF his adversely, Tabors
affairs underwent a change for the worse.
He got "a divorce from her-through no |
fault OF hers-and with $500 600 which he |
settled upon her as the price Of his re-
lease she went to live In Denver ana
dropped out OF his life, His money-$7,- |
100000 approximately-was now scattered |
All over this continent. Much Of IL was |
In Honduras, much In the Northwest and |
some on the Pacific coast. He invested /
heavily in Denver property and some or |
the handsomest OF the Old houses there
we're built by him, but ell had passed |
from his possession before his death. Co |
Ing TO Washington. he married there the |
young woman for whom he left his wife. |
The marriage was made famous by Eu- /
gene Fields poem OF the $4,000 nightgOwn |
which was alleged 90 be part Of the mine |
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