The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1901-09-05
ALKALI CITY.
Fall of the Metropolis of the
Plains.
BY WILL LISENBEE.

| turo OF SOD, OF groteSque arcnlteclufal ue-
sign, not unlike an ancient beehive, with
a solitary hole for a window. 1t stood
in the midst of the fashionable quarter"
of AlkaH City, a ragged beggar among
its more opulent neighbors, a reproach to
its owner and a menace to the progress
of the town. All about it stood rows OF
new houses, glorying in their new paint,
as II on dress parade, stretching in con
ventional lines across the wind-swept
prairie.
Alkali City was in the throes of its
first boom, and the unlovely structure Of
Ruggles was regarded as a blight upon
the progress of the city. Its crumbling
walls, its sagging roof and battered door,
gave such suggestions of poverty and di-
lapidation that it provoked a movement
among the city authorities for its abate-
ment This took the form of an ordinance
condemning all structures within the cor
pOrate limits of the town that were con-
structed out of other material than bricks,
stone or wood.
When appraised of the action of the city
RuggleS responded with food of indig-
nant protests. He even dared to defy the
whole city, and, arming himself, he be
. LOOK UlUlSelI 10 Ills lAhilih6 Lhc pS
ginning of hostilities.
One of the prime movers in the plan
to get rid of the nightmare of the city's
progress was old Hinton Dock, the nabob
| of Alkali City, and the autocrat Of the
! town. He was the owner Of much prop
erty in the place, the electric light plant
that lighted the town, a creamery, and
was proprietor of a large department store
which, octopus-like, absorbed most of the
| trade of the town and the surrounding
country. He had erected an imposing res
idence near Ruggless cabin, and being IN
able to get rid of the unsightly structure,
| he had led the crusade against the I'M
| fortunate owner.
| There were those who sympathized
| with RuggIes, but few of them had the
courage to give expression to their con-
victions. Most of them were in some way
| dependent upon Dock, and to oppose him
| in any way meant ruin. 1t was useless
/ to fight against him. Selfish and sur
feited with insatiate greed, vindictive,
| constituencies, oppressive, he lived in the
| world for what he could get out OF 1t.
Half-ignorant, he saw but one object in
| life, and that was gain. This was the
| passion of his life. He never gave, except
when a return with interest was assured.
| He even deprived himself of the comforts
of life that he might add more rapidly
to his accumulations. Though a professed
or goodness in the world save in that
which possessed a commercial value. A
| drove of fat swine or a herd of steers
was more pleasing to his eye than the d.
| yinest creation of art. The contented grunt
of well-fed shoat was sweeter to his ear
than the loftiest strain of music. In the
| well-rOunded anatomy of the beef-steer he
| saw more beauty than would have been
visible to him in the rarest creation Of
| Phidias, or the richest tints of master
| piece Of Titan. If he should, by any
mischance, find his way into Heaven, his
| first act would be to censure the Almighty
| for His extravaganza in wasting so much
| pearl and jasper on the gates of the Holy
| City.
| Such was the man with whom Ruggles
had to deal. Unlike Dock, Ruggles was
noted for his shiftlessness. If he had
| any occupation, he did not seem 10 fol-
low it. He lived the life of hermit,
| spending most of his time sitting in front
of his cabin, smoking his pipe and read
ing the papers. His clothes were shabby
and well-worn, and his habitual inactivity,
the lack of visible means of support,
caused him to be looked upon as
grant. This served TO strengthen the
movement toward the abatement of the
| owner as well as the offensive structure
and upon his refusal to comply with the
orders of the authorities steps were taken
for his forcible ejectment. His hostile
| demonstrations, when notified of the fact
| finally resulted in his being escorted from
the town by a delegation of citizens, with
the injunction that he must not venture
again within the corporate limits of the
town.
Realizing the futility of further resist
| ance, he gave reluctant acquiescence to
the inevitable and strobe silently across
the plain. A mile from the town he paused
upon little hill, and looking back, shook
his clenched fist in the direction of the
town.
For more than two years Alkali City
maintained her supremacy over all other
towns in that part of the State. Then
came rival. under the ambitious name
of Napoleon City. Its growth was mag
zeal, and the inhabitants of Akali City
were filled with great concern over the
rapid expansion of the rival town. None
were more so than Hinton Dock. The
success of the new town meant the ruin
of Alkali City, and the ruin of the city
meant disaster to Dock.
His fat, sallow face grew of an ashy
paleness as he noted the rivals growth.
He fretted and fumed, and would have
crushed the prompters of Napoleon City
could he have done so. Coal mines had
been opened at Napoleon City, and al
ready many families had removed from
Alkall City to that place, and it looked
as if a stampede might be expected in
that direction. Dock was in frenzy of
excitement, and exerted all his energies
to stop the tide that was setting in against
him.
In the midst of his dilemma the unex-
pected happened. Ruggles suddenly re-
appeared in the city, accompanied by two
strangers of business-like appearance The
trio took up their quarters at the Occi-
dental Hotel, the leading establishment of
the kind in the city, and many were the
speculatiOns as to the object of the visit
Soon, however, the truth became known.
The San Francisco papers had, a short
time before, given the sensational ac-
count of the wonderful fortune of an
Alaskan gold miner, who had just re-
turned from the new gold fields with mil
lions, still retaining interests in mines and
stamping mills, from which he derived an
income of $4,000 day. The name of the
lucky miner was Ruggles, and it is stated
that he had stopped only few days in
the city, and had then proceeded to his
old home in Kansas, where he would set
tie down and perhaps make investments.
This important piece of news, reaching
AlkaH City, threw the inhabitants into |
fever of excitement. Would Ruggles, |
the new millionaire, invest in Alkali City |
enterprises, or would he harbor resent |
ment for the harsh treatment he had re-
ceived when poor and dependent?
This question was the all-absorbng
topic of conversation among the town peo- |
pie. Hinton Dock was thunderstruck at