The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-08-27
DIVERSIONS OF A MAoNATE.
How a Mining Man Enjoyed Himself at the Height of the Melon Season.

From the Arizona Republican.
 For three-quarters of an hour yester- day evening Phoenix was not as dull a town as 1t has been for some weelSssf or even since the summer hegira to the coast set in. It had a small beginning and soon developed Into a boom in the watermelon trade, which resulted in much profit to youthful melon broker, whose offices are at No. 'steen West Adams street.
 The watermelon corner was engineered by MT. Sparks, a mining man from Alaska, who has been in Phoenix for the last two months. He had been drink ing some kind of a fluid which not only exhilarated him, but also warmed the cookies of his heart and considerably decreased the size and value of the silver dollar. He bought a watermelon and ac- cidentaliy let it fall on the sidewalk. 1t burst open and the beautiful red inside put it in his mind to paint the town red with watermelons. That was a kind of frescoing that had never been heard of before. He bought the load of melons and burst them all upon the sidewalk and soon surrounded himself with all the small boys in that part of the city. A snowban battle in July ensued; the brok- en pieces of melon were used in place of snowballs. The boys entered into the sport with zest which pleased the min ing man, who now and then showed his appreciation by showering pieces of sil- yer among them. The play become more and more spirited until there were no more pieces of red watermelon hearts left big enough to throw, and the pro- cession moved on to the postoffice fruit stand. To the consternation of the pro- prietor The mining man began taking pos session of his stock of watermelons and cantaloupes and hurling them into the street for the delectation of his youthful followers. Some of them were thrown at passing vehicles and at persons who had not been regularly enrolled in the game and who imagined that something dis- orderly was going on.
 The mining man threw cantaloupes in- to the air and offered S5 to the boy who would catch them. The scramble began to grow terrific, but at last all the water melons and other melons were exhausted and then the mining man picked up crates of plums and other fruits and toss ed them among the shrieking youth, who at the same time were pelting him with pieces of broken melons and any other debris that came handy.
 After this extraordinary sport had been going on for three-quarters of an hour John Casey came along and though he does not reside within the city limits he butted in in the interest of law and order which did not seem to be receiv- ing proper consideration from any other source. Mir. Casey told the mining man that this thing would have to stop. The mining man thought that he had an- other recruit and that there was going to be more fun than ever. He led with his right which fell with the force of a pile .driver on MT. Casey's jaw. and that apostle of propriety was for a moment converted into a spinning top He brought up finally against a door, and when the world quit going around and around he went away. If the city tax payers were willing to let such things happen, he reasoned that 1t was none of his business.
 The mining man paid for all the havoc he had wrought and at length allowed himself to be led away by friend. The boy with the watermelon wagon said MT. Sparks was a godsend. If 1t hadn't been for him he would have gone home broke. Mir Casey holds that he was not a godsend. Whoever sent him if it had not been for him he would not have gone home with his jaw broken.