Rosebud County news. [volume] (Forsyth, Mont.) 1901-1906, 1901-12-26
STARTLED THE CAMP
4 PRANK THAT ENLlVEMED A SNOW
BOUND MINING TOWN.

Dead Lawyer Was Mutual Sur
prise to the Community and to the
Victim OF the Tricksters.
life in a mining camp when it is
snow bound,' said Il prominent mining
man of Chicago the other day. lis a
drcary time. and men will do anything
for the sake Of little amusement
The story am going to tell you actual.
~ did occur, and at that time we all
welcomed the JIG !" as a godsend and
made hero of its lerpetrator.
'The winter Of 1898 rested an appall-
Mgly heavy hand on the Crur Il Alene
Buried many feet deep under mass Of
feecy snow. the country lay PROSTATE.
So intense was the cold and so heavy
the weight Of the snow that it was pos
sible to work none but the richest
claims. 1ngress to and egress from
that bountifully rich territory was
feat that none but the hardest man
dared essay. for II was an even chance
that death from exposure might be the
lot of the one who attempted it,
"Wallace at this time was thriving,
II
acial excitement of mining boom ev-
erywhere betrayed itself. The shutting
down Of many Of the mines had left
large number of men living in Wallace
with nothing to do. Time hung heav-
lily on their hands. and nothing was Of
too small Importance to attract interest
provided it held out the hope OF killing
few hours of tie dreary time of wait
Ing.
Just at this period the most promi-
nent young lawyer of the town fell i'll.
There wasn't anything particular the
matter with him except heavy cold
and impending fever; but. being some
what of hypochondriac. he at once
believed himself to be in a dangerous
condition. lie promptly took himself
to his bed in the rear Of his office, de-
MED himself to all but two or three of
his intimate friends. installed a nurse
to look after his wants and promptly
gave himself over to that luxury of be-
lieviAg himself to be really i'll which is
So dear to the hypochondriacs heart.
'The three men who were his friends
and who were admitted to his apart
ment took advantage IF the conditions
surrounding him to perprtrate Il prac-
teal joke that has since become IA
nous in the northwest. They gave out
the news that the lawyer one Jack
Greene, had died, and as his mourning
friends they received the camp, which
called in body to express its regret.
''ln the meantime Greene, in the next
room, heard nothing, the visitors being
naturally quiet in the presence of
death. One Of his friends went to the
local undertaken and. informing him
that Jack was, dead, purchased cof-
fin. Alleging the hard winter and con
sequent hard times. he beat the under
taker down one-half in Els price. The
undertaken, however. got even by sup
plying ii plain pine box paintel Il deep
black. This was placed in Jacks Office
and in the dead Of night lumber care
fully weighted to the weight of
Greene's body was packed inside it by
the three conspiratorS. The lid was
then screwed down. and the following
day John Greene. followed by the en-
tire population OF the town of Wallace,
iVd.. MIS- idlu AWAY IL tHe cOli, cOlu
glound.
'Ah9ut ten days later Jack, having
entirely recovered his pristine health.
appeared upon the street. To say that
his advent created a sensation is to put
it mildly. Three or four snperstitiOus
miners thinking it was his liant,
straightway took to their cabins on tie
hiltSiGn and n q MI fo ct nu
The only woman in the camp had Il fit
of Mysteries and tainted dead away.
Greene. however. stopped the general
panic that his appearance was prccip
ita'ing by stepping into the Crystal
Palace saloon and there absorbing his
four fingers Of red eye in a perfectly
natural and eartllike manner.
ut was hard to tell whether the town
Of Wallace or Jack Greene was the
that there cnsued. AT length. when
those present had become convinced
beyond cavil or doubt that it was
Greene in the flesh and not Greene III
the spirit-although by this time it
must be confessed that spirit in great
plenty was in Greene-they sent for
the three conspirators.
"'What did you do it fo;'?' was the
question addressed in blunt and simple
terms to the ringleadcr
"'Well. I'll tell you. You see we
wanted to run Jack for town Office
and we thought in this way we could
get line on how he stood with the
community. But'-and here he slapped