The daily Alaskan., 1905-08-07
An Amateur Assayer
torisinaLl

"Minen' lngeneer, be y'r' said the westerner, with a slight tinge of Irony. Reckon we're trihe late In these parts. We had minen' ingeneers and assayags here afore the stun was dis covered. but they didn't hit nothen."
 "v.ho found the goldT" asked the stranger.
 "Naal. there's a yarn about that replied the other. 'I been in this place ever since We was a handful O people with no way to come and go except on foot or by horse or mule. They were linden gold an around us, but nary a find right here Finally there was a stage The run through for the benefit Of the mines beyond, and In time the telegraph was put on. The telegraph operator was young feller with a wife and four children and was gitten' more kids right along. don't know what salary he got, but it wasn't enough to keep his family out O rags and from lookcn hungry. The operator didn't git much sympathy, for Instead O tryen' to do extra work to help along he was foolcn' his time away with glass bottles and acids and sich things. The next thing we knowcd there was a sign stuck up on the tele- graph office William Harris, Assaycr Waal. we all laughed at the telegraph operator setten' up In a trade at which there wasn't nothgn' Co do.
 'One evenen' | see gang around Bil- Iy Harris a-guye,f him, and went to find out what they was given him. It turned out that they had put up a job on him by chlppcu' on piece of his own doorstep and give it Co him to assay. Billy had reported that it as saved S25O to the ton. They was laugh en' at him and pokcn' 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 ioh 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 comfort ed him.
 "How did you happen to make such a blundcr, Billyy' she asked.
 Dunno says Billy.
 "'wen, mcbbe you'd better % over your work and sec
 "So Billy he goes to his telegraph or fec and works till late, then goes home and tells his wife he can't find no mls- taIc; that the devil must ho' 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 anl his mistake the next mouen'.
 "The fust thing Billy does the next day Is Co go up to the cliT up there, where he knowed an the stone used he-e come from. and chips on a piece O the rock. He takes it Co hts office and puts on the acids and things and clts inc same result as afore. Then he goes home and tells his wife that he haln't made no mistake at oll, and the second assay was bettcr'n the fust scnce It give $500 Co the ton.
 "waal. without sayen' nothcu' Co no body Billy took the pieces O stone Co assaycrs and without tellcn' 'em where they come from tole 'cm to assay 'em. They all give him the same results he got himself. Billy went home and, s,,,tcn' himself u3 with hls wife, tNle Ter that the cNrr was a gold mine and they was the only people on tGc carsh | that Lnowcl lt
 While this was CoCn' on VIC was a. guycu lilly fer ar we was wo'th. Billy didn't say nothon'; he kcp' look cn' sarrowfil-like and hung his head. Then one day his wife she went away, and when she come back she brought her brother. sleek lookcn' chap with store clothes on him, He cavorts around makcn' trips up Co the cllif and loadcn' his pocket with clipped pieces. At the same time BIlly's telegraph ma chine was a-clicken' and a-clicken' as 1t hadn't never clicked before, The next thing we knowed was that the brother-ln-law had bought the cliif, or a certain part of it, and Billy and his wife was part owners. Then we be gan to look at each other and scratch our heads. There ain't no meaner feel en'. stranger, than after callen' Q feller fool Co find he's got the drop on y. 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 cllff. When I met Billy agin, says to him, says 1, Billy, what'n y take fer yer doorstepV He didn't make no an swcr, but do y know, stranger, that night the doorstep disappeared. and the next day a surveyor staked out Bily's claim and he md his brother n-law stood guard over it with guns.
 The next step was the organization of the Doorstep mine and lt leaked out that the company had given Billy 55 per cent Of the stock fer the prop. erty,
 When Billy got older and richer, he elected himself president He's been runnen' lt ever sence, and It's been payen' better and better. One
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