The Goldfield news. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1904-1911, 1905-10-06
SIDE LIGHTS ON THE CAMP
Something About Houses That Arise in a Day and of Tents
That Pass i'm a Night.
written for The News by W. P. De Wolf. }

digit close against his breast is
worthy of more psychological research
than has thus far beer devoted to so
interesting a subject, and the truth of
this statement becomes more apparent
when is taken into consideration the
~alacrity with which the godilest of men
rise to the occasion under such provoca-
ton. 1t is also the custom under such
circumstances to hurl the offending
hammer into space as far as possible,
when il at once loses itself in the sage
brush. In retrieving it one acquires
an excellent general idea of the topog-
raphy of the adjacent country and rids
himself of other yards of long pent up
venum. The impatience with which he
enters upon the chase is equalled only
by the persistency with which it's OBJ
ject eludes him; and in instances where
the pursuit has become unusually sin
cere, mothers have been known to
gather their children about them, seu--
nv to the house and lock the doors
anent the invasion of the mad man.
Another source of unbridled glee-to
the o~nlooker-is to watch an amateur
carpenter standing tiptoed on the un-
certain surface of a saw horse and at
tempting to drive a nail a full inch
higher than he can possibly reach; sud
denly, the horse bucks with all the
abandon of a COW pony, and the I'M
suspecting rider is pitched forward and
all but obliterates his features against
the side of the building; pieces of his
facial cuticle mark his slide down the
clapboards and he reaches earth in q
thoroughly demoralized condition of
mind and body. This is a spectacle
worth hanging around for hours to
witness.
The rapidity with which cottages are
being erected in Goldfield is little short
of marvellous and is indicative of the
~permanency of the camp. Most of
them are the homes of miners or bust
ness men who have pinned their faith
to the mines and, confident of their
value, are establishing their permanent
homes here. Some of these homes con-
tain little in the way of pretension in
either exterior or interior decoration
and in many instances were erected by
the hands of the owners themselves.
Often their construction has been a
labor of love and as the husband and
father builded thoughts of wife and
little ones lent cunning TO his fingers.
Others there be in which the artistic is
largely an evidence both in construc-
ton and interior finish, and these are
equipped with all the modern conven-
fences. Their furnishings are quite in
keeping with the structure and in
most instances are in good taste, and
mark the refinement and culture of the
owners. The tents, abiding places of
the earlier residents of the camp, are
giving place to more durable struc-
lures, and so rapidly are they disap-
pearing it appears as though their
passing had been accomplished in 4
night. Almost Immediately their sites
are occupied by residences of adobe or
wood and within a few months all that
will remain to remind one of the tented
city period in Goldfeld' s growth will
be a few isolated dugouts and canvas
dwellings on the outskirts of the city.