The sun., 1901-01-08
A FIENDISH SCHEME.
PLANNED TO KILL HIS PARTNER AFT
Err HIS OWN DEATH.
The Story of a Miners Quarrel and
How the Victim That Was to he
Narrowly Escaped Death Through
q CunningIy Devised Trap.

The Story of a Miners Quarrel and
How the Victim That Was to BE
Narrowly Escaped Death Through
q CunningIy Devised Trap.
Speaking of vindictiyeness," said a
man who used to live in the west-no-
body, by the way, had said anything
about vindictiveness, but that made no
particular ifference-''speaking OF vim
dictiveness," he went on, II think the
most remarkable case Of that kind ever
encountered happened down in the San
Juan country in 1880 or thereabouts at n
place called Chloride. 1t was a mining
camp, of course, and one Of the best
properties in it was claim owned jointly
by couple of old prospectors named
Kelly and Shaw. They had been work
ing together for years and years, but you
never saw two people less alike, both in
appearance and disposition. Kelly was a
rawboned, dark man, morose when he
was sober and quarrelsome when he was
drunk, while Shaw was big, jovial,
freclSle faced fellow, as simple minded as
n baby and as harmless as a rabbit. How
they managed to hit 1t off together for
such length of time don't know, but
suppose Shaw always knuckled under
when II came to an argument. Moreover,
they hnd never had any luck before they
came to Chloride, and I've often noticed
that men will put up with a good deal
from one another as long as they have to
hustle hard for mutual bread and meat.
ut was prosperity that finally split this
couple. Soon after they drfted into
camp they had driven a tunnel into one
of The foothills and struck a big vein of
l-fl .,,., ,wl,a ,t,,
worth a fortune, as anybody could see,
but there was no smeter in Chloride then,
and the partners concluded to simply
close up the hole and wait the arrival of
a railroad, which was being built across
the country and which would give them
transportation for their ore.
"It was during that trying interval of
inaction, when they had wealth In sight,
but couldn't realize upon it, that their
final quarrel came up. How it started
l don't know, but when Kelly made a
dive for his gun Shaw jumped out of the
window and left him in possession of
their cabin. The big fellow strolled into
camp whistling and rented room at the
boarding house, declaring he would leave
Kelly alone in his glory until the railroad
got in. we can't do anything with the
mine until the cars are here,' he added
'and maybe by that time he will have
cooled off Bit
But Kelly failed to COOL" continued
the story teller, and on the contrary, he
conceived a crazy idea that his old part
ner was scheming to beat him out of his
| share of the claim. He brooded over that
fancy and drank bad San Juan whisky
until he became dangerous monomaniac
and Mt last swore openly that he would
shoot Shaw If he ever set foot in range
of the door. 1t seemed certain to us
all that there would be tragedy of some
| kind when the time came to begin work
| on the mine, and | can't say that any
| body was very sorry when word came
in one night that Kelly was down with
desperate case of pneumonia. He had
been lying there alone for several days
| before his condition was known and
shouting in delirium when he was found.
| The burden of his rawlings was Shaw and
the claim. He shan't have 1t! he yelled,
and when he died a couple of days later
| those were the last words he uttered.
Shaw was terribly grieved. He had kept
out of the cabin for fear Of exciting the
| sick man, but hung around the door con-
tinually and cried like a baby when
we told him Kelly was dead. He had
never cherished any bitterness, and the
thought that his partner had passed
away believing he intended to wrong him
cut the kindly fellow to the hedrt. The
day following the funeral he decided he
would move back into the abin and
went over to take possession and set
things to right. Several of us joined
him there to lend hand in gathering up
the dead miners little personal effects,
and while we We're doing so Shaw hap
pened to notice brier root pipe lying
on shelf in the corner.
.'It was fully charged with tobacco
that had never been lit, and near by were
two or three matches. why. here's my
old pipe! he exclaimed. And I'll bet,
from the looks of it, that poor Kelly was
just going to take a smoke when he first
got sick. ! guess I'll do it for him. he
added and proceeded TO suit the action to
the word. | don't know exactly why,
but it seemed to me that there was some
thing sinister about that dead mans pipe,
and while Shaw was pulling the tobacco
into a glow q sudden suspicion flashed
across my mind. Throw it away, Jimp
| yelled Mt the top of my voice, and me-
chancally he took it out Of his mouth
end flung it through the window. AS il
struck the ground it exploded with re.
port like a cannon. One of the fragments
whizzed across the room and cut through
n heavy sheet iron stovepipe as il it was
made of paper. Another was afterward
picked UP in gulch a quarter of mile
away.
"What such little bowl could posi-
bly, have contained to cause such ter
rifle explosion is, OF course, pure conjec-
turc, but the chances are that Kelly
rammed in two or three what are called
4 giant powder detonators, made of full.
inmate of mercury, which is twice as
powerful as dynamite. At all events Shaw
/ would certainly have been killed If be
had had the pipe in his mouth, and thinl,
of the diabolical ingenuity of the scheme
IA scheme, too, which must have occu.
pied the mans last conscious moments!
He evidently realized that he was going
to die and knew that Shaw was just the
sort of big, lazy, easy going fellow who
would be apt to pick up a ready filled
pipe and proceed to smoke it. 1t was the
very trap in which he was most likely to
fall, and there was an uncouth subtlety
about the thing. coupled with an inhuman
tenacity of hatred, that makes my flesh
creep every time it recurs to my mind
After that affair nothing could induce
Shaw to re-enter the cabin. and soon aft.
erward he sold the claim and went east
New Orleans TimesDemocrat.
The Leopa rd's Keen Ear,
If the leopard were not such an ire
sponsible beast. he would make won
derful scout, but you can't depend on his