The Sunday globe., 1901-08-11

Mont Lee, most marvellous Of men,
has crept back from his horror-strick-
en- haunts in Death Valley to Gods
country. over the Mojave desert to
the California coast he has come for
the first breath of pure cool air that
has reached his lungs in 10 years.
Mont Lee is the only man whom ths
terrOrs and privatiOns Of Death Val
ley can not make afraid. He is the
only man. among all the hundreds who
have dared the deadly dangers of that
desert furnace, that Fate has spared
the only one who can dwell from year
to year in this hottest spot on earth,
where the thermometer climbs to 140
degrees in the shade and the cruel heat
waves beat incessantly upon their hui
man victim until, praying with parch-
ed lips for water, he sinks dying to the
sun-baked earth, a spectacle to haunt
forever the memory--a crazed and glib
bering thing that Is more mummy than
man, the life choked out Of him by
that demon Of the desert sands Thirst.
From Death Valley hotbed of human
suffering, grave of human despair,
comes the man whom the demon Of
thirst has thus far tortured in vain.
But he has not come to stay. He is
going back. In few days the desert
will claim him, and the deserts de.
mon Thirst, will hover over him with
gaunt eyes, and bony fingers stretched
to clutch him in a fatal grasp. These
two will renew their silent battle with
each other, the one bravely defiant the
other eager for it's prey. And how long
the conflict will last, who shall say?
Mont Lee has declared that Death Val.
ley will never down him, and he has
daily fought death for 10 dreary, des.
perate, lonely years.
The reason why Mont Lee dwells on
desert sands under a sky from which
not so much as one plying raindrop
ever falls is simple enough. He earns
a living there. The sum would not
seem one to tempt-$75 monthly and
eXpenses-but it is sufficient to lure
Mont Lee and hold him there. For Is
years Mont Lee has had charge Of the
Pacific Coast Borax Company's claims
in Death Valley. For the last five years
he has lived at the mouth Of Furnace
Creek, 200 feet below sea level on al.
kan gorund. He has outlived every
man who has worked with him in the
valley. One after one he has watched
them sicken and uIe, or go mad with
the misery that death only can relieve.
His task it has been to keep the sand
and alkali, and the scorehing winds
that sweep the desert, from destroying
their wooden headstOnes. Grim, solid,
undaunted he has stuck to his post,
with the demon lurking ever near,
ready to slay. His health is not what
it was when he veDtuEed first into the
valley though he is still strong and
burly of face and figure. If the awful
ness Of his environment weighs upon
his spirits he does not betray his emo
tion.
Lee has a squaw wife and several
half-breed children. He bears the rep
Utation of being "a dangerous man to
fool with" for he is handy with his
gun and sure shot. 1t is convenient
to be a sure shot in the desert coun-
try. His Indian companion remains
with him only a part Of the year.
When the burning summer sun has
driven away all signs of human life
save him, he stays on and on, solitary
and fOrsaken, though none knows bet
ter than he the risk ne runs and the
probability that his bones will be
found bleaching upon the alkali waste.
Lees fate is prophesied by more than
one who wonders at his recklessness.
1t was predicted last year by an old
and experienced desert ranger named
Bennett, of Ash Meadows, New, who
lost his life within a quarter Of a mile
of Benefits wells in Death Valley.
Bennett was crossing to the hot
springs, and the terrific heat robbed
him Of his reason. Jumping from the
wagon he tore off his clothing and
groveled in the alkali for water, al
though there we're water barrels and
shOVels in his outfit. Mont Lee saw
Bennett die. He SCOTS at the spgges-
tiOn that he, too, will some day sue
cumb in the same way.
Death Valley" he repeats, will
never down me-"
There is little danger Of sunstroke
in the valley The air is too dry for
that. No mist wells the suns glare,
and moisture is unknown. The heat
cracks the lips, pinches the face until
the blood starts, swelS the tongue,
sucks the moisture from the body-and
then comes madness, and upon the
heels Of madness tTeads the specter,
death.
Mont Lee has a brother, Sam. who
assists him in his work They have
helped to hunt and bury scores of
bodies since they went into the valley.
1t is the custom Of miners on the de-
sert to establish the grave of an un-
fortunate wayfarer by a piece of soant-
ling at the head and foot Of each name
less grave. Sand storms tear away the
humble monuments and the next pass
erby replaces them. On Lees way back
to civilization recently he repaired the
graves Of the five soldiers who lost
their lives in the Fremont expedition.
1t is now planned to provide Death
Valley with sheet-irOn miestones. with
engraved directions, that wifi be heat
and windproof, guiding to the alkali
water pools. Frequently at these YER
mln-intested pools Mont Lee has been
compelled to strain his drinking water
through towel
Yet he IS going back.
Death valley" he reiterates, will
never down me-"
But the demon is there. night and
day, day and night. And the sands
and the alkali dust are like to be his
winding sheet.
The Knights Of Labor seem to have
the only horse.seRse left in the labor
organizations fighting the trusts The
legal action it proposes taking Of en-
forcing the laws on the statute books