The suburban citizen., 1902-09-27
DIVERSIONS or A MAcNArE.
How N Mining Man enjoyed Himself al
the Height of the M elon Season.

How N Mining Man Enjoyed Himself at
the Height of the Melon Season.
For three-quarters of an hour yester-
day evening Phoenix was not as dull
town as it has been for some weeks, or
ever since the summer heglra to the
coast set in. 1t had a small beginning
and soon developed into 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 engl-
neered by Mr.. Sparks, a mining man
from Alaska who had been in Phoenix
for the last two months. He had been
drinking some kind of fluid which not
only exhilarated him, but also warmed
the cookies of his heart and consider
ably decreased the size and value Of
the silver dollar. He bought a water.
melon and accidentally let it fall on the
sidewalk. 1t burst open and the beau.
tiful red inside put it in his mind to
paint the town red with watermelons.
That was 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 SNOWFALL battle in
July ensued; the broken pieces of
melon were used in place of snowballs.
The boys entered into the sport with
a zest which pleased the mining man,
who now and then showed his appre-
citation by showerlng pieces Of silver
among them. The play became 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 CONSERVATION of the
proprietor the mining man began TAX
ing possession of his watermelons and
cantaloupes and hurling them into the
street for the delectation of his youth
full followers. Some of them were
thrown at passing vehicles and at per-
sons who had not been regularly en-.
rolled in the game and who imagined
that something disorderly was going
on.
The mining man threw cantaloupes
into the air and offered So to the boy
who would catch them. The scramble
began to grow terrific, but at last all
the watermelons and the other melons
were exhausted and then the mining
man picked up crates of plums and
other fruits and tossed them among
the shrieking youth, who at the same
time were pelting him with pieces of
broken melon 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
limits of the city, he butted in in the
interest Of law and order which did
not seem to be receiving proper consid-
GRAFTON from any other source. Mr..
Casey told the mining man that this
thing would have to stop. The mining
man thought that he had another re.
cruit and that there was going to be
right, which fell with the force of
pile driver on Mr.. 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 it was none
of his business.
The mining man paid for all the
havoc that he had wrought and at
length allowed himself to be led away
by a friend. The boy with the water.
melon wagon said Mr. Sparks was
godsend. If it hadn't been for him
he would have gone home broke. Mr..
Casey holds that he was not god.
send. Whoever sent him. If it had not
been for him he would not have gone
home with his jaw broken. Arizona
Republican.