The Sumpter miner. [volume] (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905, 1900-08-15
THE GENTLEMAN
FROM
Comments on Five Cent Beer
and the Mining Game.

'' w wv
invite you in to have something with
me-" said the gentleman from Colorado
Saturday evening. 81 noticed In THE
MINER several weeks since that the
price Of this popular amber beverage had
been reduced to five cents and, viewed
from a philosophic standpoint, ! regretted
10 note the change.
ut Is usually not q good sign TO see
The superb, ial observer will conclude
that business is dull. money scarce and
that business men are s%crapping for everv
dollar IN sight. But such Is not the case
N this camp. Next fail, when the bad
weather drives the miners and prospectors
from their claims and cabins into town,
and they line up in front OF the twenty
odd mahoganies In Sumpter, the pro.
pfiet0rs thereof will wish they were
getting n int, instead OF five cents, for the
beer that the boys ATE going to call for
iust tof the novelty ct paying only i've
cents for u drink. This little lull In the
saloon and hotel business, OF which some
people around here are complaining, is
the regular thing in all quartz mining
amps during two or three months every
summer.
"Yes, ! hate Ia see beer or anything
else, except a new spapcr, sold for i've
cents. iecl the san way about q news
paper being sold for one or two cents.
Though q lot OF them are not worth any
more, a smaller price than u nickel sug.
pes,s 10 my mind copper pennies and
Bosion-and there IS nothing on earth
dislike 81 much rs do Boston and cop.
pers. always think OF the two together
as ! d. Of Oregon aud m~ossbacks.
could talk 4 week with cheap beer as a
>timuiuS) on the evil effects on trade and
the sOrdid influence on the human soul
which the general circulation Of pennies
rxerts, but rs there Is no danger OF this
extreme calamity Detailing Sumpter,
will not eNpatiate on SO inappropriate a
topic.
"But. 10 &c, back /, the original prop
~nsi,ion, come IN and have a beer with
me. think ! am worth a million, but
am temporarily 4 triile shy on currency,
and every fifteen cents saved At present
is worth while. Just have 4 little
patience aud YOU can order yellow label
At my expense before many moons-iust
ior n HASH Ut course-ior, rs a matter
ot fact. all We thoroughbreds prefer beer
10 wine. have heard that talk made on
numerous occasions, and Il comes In
handy ut this writing; but, TO tell the
truth, II Is merely a convenient con talk
for those who haven't the price; OF else
have to apply cocaine TO their wounded
feelings every time they separate them.
from q iver. rs II they were having
u tooth extracted.
at costs money to drive a hole four by
and Nmber II with hewn dimensions.
That Is what ! have been doing for three
past, and that is why am shy
Of coin. OF course, ! have played the
game before; have lost often and won
occasionally. and know something Of the
fascinating allurements OF the business,
but never before have felt such an all
interest In every stroke Of the
pick. as during the past ninety days.
Reing imbued with the accepted idea that
the presence Of water indicates the proN.
unity ot mineral, watched ~anxiously
Tor every damp spot W the tunnel. Then.
finally We got into a perfect mesh Of
and ! experienced the same
.seusatl0N that masters the faro tiend