St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1902-05-10

only been killed, but had killed hi,
murderer
era, I will not believe that horric
man. He has confused dear Jacob
with some one else, | say"
'No telling, Jane, what might hap
pen in these uncivilized parts; but
suppose we do as this Wortle sug
gests, and look through the GENE
terry said Ira, in a putting attempt
| to console the shocked sister.
Jane acquiesced in most woe-be
gone manner, and the two trudged W
the unlovely street in the direction
of Ruby Hill burying grounds.
When Nevada's great mining camps
were young, and registering, devil.
may-care men frequented them, many
things were done that scandalize the
tanner generation of this day, when
these tokens of an earlier epoch come
under observation. Perhaps not
every live camp had it's calamity
graveyard; but Eureka was not the
only early Nevada town with a sec.
ton of ground reserved for those
men who met with an untimely end
or to put it more plainly-who died
with their boots on.
But Eureka underwent the hard
luck stage; her mines dwindled to
borrascas, and the faith of her stanch.
est citizens was shaken. Consequently,
interest in the camp abated, and
among other things neglected was the
calamity graveyard-neglected in this
wise-that of fresh arrivals there were
none, and more noticeable than this
was the decrease in the number of
headboards. Where they disappeared
to was a mystery at first; but the
facts soon leaked out that prospect
ors, who could ill-afford to pay tho
exorbitant price set on lumber, were
appropriating these ''In Memory
slabs for the purpose of stalking out
claims. No uncommon thing to run
across location monument, bearing
the locator's notice on one side, and
an inscription or epitaph to some de-
parted mans memory on the oppo-
site one.
When the wave of renewed interest
in Nevada mines reached Eureka, AL
bert Heehe and Alfred Deremer re-
located an old claim of theirs, and
awaited buyer. This property lay
conveniently near the graveyard, and,
as former location notices were near
ly obliterated, fresh ones were in
~
was head-board, and at each of the
four corners of the claim melan-
choly, grewsome grave-slab was inn
bedded in the mound of earth thrown
up as required by the mining statutes
of Nevada. Heehe, being of a grinly
humorous turn of mind, christened
the new location 'Sacrilege Claim"
Up the gritty and parched slope of
Ruby Hill climbed the portly Ira
Brooks and Jane, his wife. A warm,
dry breeze pulled across the broken
desert country; it dried the tear-drops
trickling down James cheeks, and
burned the florid face of Ira. Here,
there, everywhere within the confines
of the cemetery, searched the rela-
tives of Jacob o. Marley. They care
fully scanned each and every name on
tomb-stones, rounded wooden slabs,
and nondescript sticks. No trace of
the lost brother-no inscription en-
craven in memory of him rewarded
their gloomy explorations. AS last
resort, husband and wife separated,
each taking different course. The
sun dropped low in the shimmering
blue sky, the wind turned shade
cooler, and brilliant after-glow en-
blazed the weird, wide stretches of
this Nevada landscape.
SRA! Ira Brooks! I have found
him!" Jane Ellen's wall cut sharply
through the dry, twilight air; Ira
up from lowly position
he had assumed in reading decided
ly queer epitaph, and, with his usual
efforts, fastened to join Mrs. Brooks
by the side of her brothers grave.
ooh, Ira, it is true; Jacob is dead,
dear Jacob is dead and buried in this
wild, terrible spot. Poor brother!"
Ira paused before the head-board
that was placed at the end of long
mound of earth, and in black letters
upon the weather-stained slab, he
read:
In Memory
Of ~
JACOB o. MARLEY.
Died March Is, 1873.
Aged about IS years.
Cool-headed and nervy to the last.
eyes, this is poor Jacobs grave,
there is no doubt about it. Poor fel- |
low" wheezed the breathless Ira.
''Oh, dear, oh, dear! And why did |
they bury him way out here, Ira?
Why, say, didn't they bury him in
the graveyard?" sobbed Jane Ellen,
"Who can tell what these savages
will do out here. But, see, his friends
must have respected him: 'Cool-head-
ed and nervy to the last is written on
this slab"
''The idea! Why, dear Jacob was
1evout and peaceatae; not fighting
thing, as that must mean! Poor
brother! Dear brother! He shall not
remain in that grave, Ira. To-mor-
row 1 shall have his body exhumed,