The Topeka state journal., 1905-07-01
THE EVENING STOR
AN Anaateur Assayer.

in a prosperous mining town in the far
west, and a gentleman in clothes of an
eastern cut got out After having sup
per he fell into conversation With
rough specimen of the country.
"Minen' ingeneer, be y'?" said the
westerner. with slight tinge of irony.
Reckon ye're trifie late in these
parts. We had n1inen' ingeneers and
assayers here afore the stuff was dis
covered. but they didn't hit nothen'."
who found the gold?" asked the
stranger
WAL, there's a yarn about that
place over since we was handful o.
people with no way to come and go ex-
cept on foot or by horse or mule. They
were linden gold all around US, but
nary a find right here. Finally there
was a stage line run through for the
benefit of the mines beyond, and in
time the telegraph was put on. The
telegraph operator was a young feller
with a wife and four children and was
gitten' more kids right along. I don't
know what salary he got, but it wasn't
enough to keep his family out o. rags
and from looken' hungry The oper-
ator didn't git much sympathy. for IN
stead o. tryen' to do extra work to help
along he was foolen' his time away
with glass bottles and acids and sich
things. The next thing we knowed
there was a sign stuck up on the tele-
graph office William Harris, Assayef-
Waal. we all laughed at the telegraph
operator setten' UP in trade at which
there wasn't nothen' to do.
zone eyenen' 1 see a gang around
Billy Harris a-guyen' him, and I went
1t turned out that they had put up
job on him by chippen' off a piece of
his own doorstep and give it to him to
assay. Billy had reported that it as
sayed $3.50 to the ton. They was
laughen' at him and poken' fun at him
till the poor feller was ready to have
the ground open and swaller him. Only
one on 'em didn't jeer, and he tole him
that he had a job o. diggen' a founda-
ton for a cabin he'd give him which
he'd better take and make one decent
meal for his poor wife and children.
Billy turned away crushed.
"Waal, instead o. goen to work Billy
went to his cabin, where his wife put
her arms around his neck and COM
forted him.
"'Iow did you happen to make
such a b1under, Billy?' she asked.
Dunno says Billy.
We'll, mebbe you'd better go over
your work and see.'
so Bill he goes to his telegraph Of
fee and works till late, then goes horne
and tells his wife he can't find no mis-
take; that the devil must ha' got into
his bottles and done all the mischief.
The woman didn't say nothen' then
only fer Billy to go to sleep and he'd
find his mistake the next mornen'.
s'The fust thing Billy does the next
day is to go up to the cliff up there.
where he knowed all the stone used
here comes from, and chips off piece
o. the rock. He takes it to his Office
and puts on the acids and things and
gifts the same result as afore. Then he
goes home and tells his wife that he
hain't made no mistake at ALL and the
second assay was better'n the fust
sence it give $500 to the ton.
+ ''Waa1, without sayen' nothen' to no
body Billy took the pieces o. stone to
assayers and without tellen' 'em where
they come from tole 'em to assay 'enl.
They all give him the same results he
got himself. Billy went home and,
| shetten' himself up with his wife, tole
| her that the cliff was a gold mine and
they was the only people on the earth
that knowed it.
ssWhile this was goen' on we was a.
guyen' Billy fer all we was woth-
Billy didn't say nothen'; ne KEEP look
| en- sorrowful-like and hung his head.
Then one day his wife she went away,
and when she come back she brought
her brother, a sleek looken' chap with
store clothes on him. He cavorts
around maken' trips up to the cliff and
| loaden' his pocket with Clipped pieces.
At the same time Billys telegraph ma
| it hadn't never clicked before. The
next thing we knowed was that the
brother-in-law had bought the cliff, or
a certain part of it, and Billy and his
| wife was part owners. linen we De-
gan to look at each other and scratch
our heads. There amt no meaner
feelen' stranger, than after callen' a
feller a fool to find he's got the drop
on v. We talked the matter over,
and some one of us hit on the fact
that Billy's doorstep and the cliff was
one and the same thing. Then we
seen the reason fer the Harris people
buyen' the cliff. When I met Billy
ag'in, says to him, says I, Billy,
1 whatll Y take fer yer doorstep?' He
know, stranger, that night the door
step disappeared and the next day a
surveyor staked out Biliy's claim and
he and his brother-in-law stood guard
over it with guns.
'sThe next step was the organization
of the Doorstep mine. and it leaked
out that the company had given Billy
| 55 per cent. of the stock fer the prop
| erty.
he elected himself president. He's
been runnen' it ever sence, and it's
been payen' better and better. One
of his girls-the raggedest one of the
lot in them times-hes lately married
a British duke and another's goen' to
marry prince"
At this point a prosperous looking
man came up to the hotel and the
westerner rose and stood respectfully
waiting for the gentleman to notice
him. The latter did so and passed in
side.
"That's him." said the story teller
''Who?"
"Mr. Harris, president of the Door
step Gold Mining company.
| HARRIET CAwLEY.