The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-01-25
In Lighter Vein
Test a Man in Camp.


If you want to know how petty men can
be and how easily enmities may grow out Of
trivial things, you should live a while in a
camp Of some kind. hunting or fishing
camp of two three weeks duration is
scarcely the sort of camp that is meant,
but rather lumber camp. a railway con-
tractors camp or the camp of a number of
civil engineers No such camp ever lasted a
month that it did not know many quarrels
small group of men cut off, as they are
apt to be in such cases, from the society of
all other men, is bound to develop grave diff
ferences over the most trivial affairs. Often
the most violent hatreds and the bitterest
personal enmities arise from very unmpor-
tant differences
Fought 1t Gut.
The writer Of this once saw the cook and
driver of such camp engage in a personal
COMBAT which might easily have resulted in
the death OF one of Them all on account of a
dispute as to how many square feet it re-
CURED IN which to turn a thirty-horse team.
The cook was a driver himself, when not
cooking for lot of unfortunates and from
the hour OF his entrance into the camp as
sumed superiority in matters equine that
was not at all pleasing to Joe the driver.
Joe was a rather stupid fellow, a Montana
| illiterate. But he did know horses. could
drive grandly, and was an endless boaster.
| From day to day the cook, as he passed the
| grub down the oil-cloth table in the dirty
| tent would make contemptuous remarks
| about Joes ability to turn thirty horse tote
team in anything less than quarter of
mile. One day Joe. who was not good at
bandying words and therefore could get no
relief by giving the cook ''as good as Ge
| sent" in the verbal line. reached the boiling
| point He seized stick of wood and hurled
| it at the cook, who CHANGED to have in his
! hand at the moment a large butcher knife.
The rodman who happened to see the open
| ing of hostlities looked for the immediate
death Of the driver. But the cook put down
| his knife and advanced to the fray unarmed.
Joe bore down to meet him, and they met in
! the Joy of fight, Just two bulls might They
| fought hard and long, with much hard pound
ling at close range and much swearing prin-
cipally by Joe. If either had been pugilist
the punishment would have been frightful
AS it was the spectacle was a repulsive one
| The cook at last got Joe underneath, with
his arms Dinioned to his side by the cooks
| knees. He then proceeded to pound Joe's
head into the ground, asking once in a while
if the latter had enough" After while
Joe admitted that he had enough. Several
members Of the party witnessed the fight, but
| made no effort to stop it. Doubtless each one
was thinking how he would like to maui his
own particular enemy in camp. Joe was so
| thoroughly Inundated that he SUNK Off,
growing something about getting even,
never to come back. He quit the camp right
| then and there.
s.Side Hill Gougers."
| When the Great Northern was building
| through western Montana in the early nine
ties there was a very green Engllshman IN
one of it's surveying parties. For his edit
| cation the boys in the camp talked much OF
| "side-hi gougers' in the mountains TO
| the Englishman it was explained that the
sde-hilI gouger was a peculiar sort OF blrd
that lived in the mountains, and from long
acquaintance with side hills had developed a
right leg that was much longer than the left
If you could only make the ''gouger' run up
hill or down hill or the wrong way around
the hill, you could catch him. The English
man, though he watched for every opportu-
nifty, never got chance to try catching
gougers.
No Chance for Merit.
Another Englishman in another party was
very handy with his fists, but found to MS
great disappointment that there was no OPP
portunity to use his science in the west.
Every time he would attempt to put 1t into
practice he would be confronted with very
menacing looking gun He complained bitter
Nv that there was no chance for the best man
in America. ....- -s