Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1901-04-06
STARTLED THE CAMP
A PRANK THAT ENLlVENED A SNOW
BOUND MINING TOWN..

The Resurrection of Supposed
Dead Lawyer Was Mutual Sur
prise to the Community and to the
Victim of the Tricksters.
/ life in mining camp when It Is
snow bound" said prominent mining
man Of Chicago the other day, as q
dreary time, and men will do anything
| for the sake of n little amusement.
The story am going to tell you actual
ly did occur, and at that time we all
welcomed the Joke as a godsend and
made hero of It's perpetrator.
"The winter Of 1893 rested an appall-
ingly heavy hand on the CGur d'Alene.
Buried many feet deep under a 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. Ingress to and egress from
that bountlfully rich territory was a
feat that none but the hardest man
dared essay, for It was an even chance
that death from exposure might be the
lot of the one who attempted it.
"Wallace at this time was thriving,
busy, prosperous town where the arti-
fetal excitement of mining boom ev-
erywhere betrayed itself. The shutting
down Of many Of the mines had left a
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 the dreary time Of walt
ing.
"Just at this period the most prom!-
nent young lawyer of the town fell i'll.
There wasn't anything particular the
matter with him except a heavy cold
and impending fever; but, being some
what of n hypochOndriac, he at once
believed himself to be In a dangerous
condition. He. 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-
lieving himself to be really Ill which is
so dear to the hypochondriac's heart.
'The three men who were his friends |
and who were admitted to his apart
ment took advantage of the conditions
surrounding him to perpetrate a 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
'In 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 a COT
fin. Alleging the hard winter and con-
sequent hard times, he beat the under
taker down One-half in his price. TheJ
however, got even by sup
plying plain pine box painted n 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 1t by
the three coDsplrators. The lid was
hen screwed down, and the following
lay John Greene, followed by the en-
ire population of the town of Wallace,
Ida. was laid away In the cold, cold
ground.
about ten days later Jack. having
entirely recovered his pristine health,
appeared upon the street. To say that
lis advent created n sensation is to put
t mildly. Three or four superstitious
miners, thinking 1t was his liant
took to their cabins on the
hillside and to prayer and fasting.
The only woman In the camp had fit
f Mysteries and tainted dead away.
ireene, however, stopped the general
anic that his appearance was precip- (
tating by stepping into the Crystal
'alace saloon and there absorbing his
our fingers Of red eye in a perfectly {
atural and earthlike manner.
ut was hard to tell whether the town
T Wallace or Jack Greene was the {
lore astonished by the explanations '
hat there ensued. At length, when |
hose present had become convinced
eyond cavil or doubt that it was [
ireene in the flesh and not Greene in t
ne spirit-althoug by this time 1t t
lust be confessed that spirit In great t
lenty was in Greene-they sent for I
ne three conspirators [
"'What did you do 1t for| was the l
uestiOn addressed In blunt and simple '
rms to the ringleader I
" We'll, III tell you. You see we |
anted to run Jack for town Office Il
I'd we thought In this way we could I
It a line on how he stood with the Il
But'-and here he slapped
wad Of newspaper clippings down +
! the bar in front Of the astonlshed
I'd aggreved Greene, Jack, you won't h
l. Just read those obituaries and see Il
hat the people think Of you. Why, Il
ter such send off as that we t
ouldn't dare to run you for the office
picking fleas off a yellow dog that W
rs locked up on the town farm" Il
-- OF
The nefrlcb'a Io~s n,