The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-07-02
CHASE FOR GOLD
BY BROKEN MEN
How a Preacher Lost His Church and
Conquered Misfortune.
SALT LAKE BOYS BATTLE
AGAINST FATE is ALSO HERE RE
LATED.

Goidfeld, New. June 21.-Necessity
makes queer bedfeIoNs and the search
for gold brings mankind together in
oddly assorted lots lf you don't be-
lieve it. come to this mining camp in
the heart Of the Nevada desert. twenty
seven miles from the nearest railroad.
There are 5000 persons here now. aud
when september breaks the summer
neat, there'u be thousands more
about as cosmopolitan a community as
one could find anywhere on the globe
TEe noteworthy aDsentees are the
chinese and japanese. They are not
mere because they can't get in. This
camp has an exclusion act that works
10 perfection Long before a Mongolian
gets near the outskirts of the camp.
telephone or telegraph has announced
MS coming. y reception committee, or.
10 be more exact. departure commit
tee, awaits him and away he goes.
There's no yellow peril here.
Experiences OF Preacher.
One of the UNIQUE characters in the
camp is the Rev. n, W. Kuicl<er-
booker 4 former clergyman OF the
Methodist South denomination, who re
Signed his charge in Los Angeles and
came here to win a fortune. He is 81
years old. clean shaVen and has the
carriage OF a soldier. He left behind
q
ne reached here he was about near
broke as a man could possibly DE. But
ne was determined and perseVering and
he has accomplished in less than two
years all that he set out TO do. In the
banks OF Los Angeles there is upwards
of 100000 to the credit of his Wife and
he estimates his whole present fortune
at something like $3.50, 900. 1t was well
for the clergyman-miner that he was
well educated man and that in his
college days he had been something of
a ShakespeaTean scholar for when his
funds were out and there was nothing
to eat i'm sight, when his wrist was
broken and he could not work i'm the
mines he raised money by the remark
able eXDedient of delivering a lecture
on Macbeth" to the miners of TOnO-
pah. After that. whenever he really
needed money. ali he had to do was to
give another Shakespearean lecture
and i'm that way. marvellous though il
may seem to be, in a rough and ready
mining camp. he laid the firm fOunda
tons for his fortune. KnickerbOcker
comes from Louisiana and was edu-
Gated at Tulane university. He also
took a law course at the same college.
Forced Out of Church.
when L went there. I went into an
environment that was hostile because
was a young man. The church, how
ever, stayed by me in the whole af-
fair. l had not been there three
was a hereto. About the middle of
my second year the presiding elder in
conference preferred definite charges of
heresy against me. The charges were
that / did not believe in eternal
damnation. did not believe in the in
failibiIJy of the Bible, and that / did
believe i'm evolution. Through the in
tiuence of the bishop the formal
charges of heresy were squeIched.
I went back to my charge and
stayed there until the following July.
trying 20 fight it off. | did not want
TO 90. The climax came one Sunday
morning when / tried to preach a SER
mon along orthodox lines on the re-
surrection. Before l left the platform
1 knew il was all over. / went direct
To my study and sat down and wrote
the bishop My views have changed so
radically that l can no longer retain
the pulpit OF Trinity church, and 1
hereby tender my resignation / will
hold the pulpit only long enough for
you to find and appoint successor
When l left college" says Knicker-
booker i went into my fathers Of
nce- He was on the bench in New Or
leans for twenty years / practiced
with him for little while. NV early
life was just about as wild as they
make 'em. but there must have been
something in me that could not be alto
SeJher bad. for L was never satisfied
with il and I went into the ministry
L took Il Two years theological course
ana was sent 20 "a small charge as ju-
lior pastor in northern louisiana At
lhat place l was called on 10 deliver a
speech II was e. success and my reDIE-
tation went over the pine hills OF all
the northern pare of the state After
holding several other minor charges [
was transferred TO New Orleans to
the Louisiana Avenue church which
was. at the time OF my taking hold Of
II. considered the second church of the
Guy. Ny congregations were perhaps
INC second largest in New Orleans
Ih-1 was IN 1897 and 1898. ! stayed
'heiH Tor TWO years. when the bishop
asked me 20 take charge Of Trinity
church an Los Angeles That WAS the
lc''HihS cnufch or tho denomination
west OF rho rtocisisS- 4 went into the
Dulplt tneFs the youngest man that
ever held the charge. and one of the
youngest in the church body.
Srom Real Estate TO Mirino.
Il went into the real estate and bro
EeraSe business Ia Los Angeles and
was successful from the very start. /
made money in oil speculation and oil
lands / lost about $50, coo in a mining
proposition north Of Randsburg. Cal
Then 4 gave up in Los Angeles and
Went 20 Mexico, where l lost another
bunch % money. I came into Tonopa h
ana lost the last $500 ! had in the
world.
y could not get anything to do but
WI Ali AnN mines. lnen L came to
Goldfeld with S44 that L had managed
10 earn in TonODah before / broke my
wrist in working in the mines.
u located some claims and remained
IN Goldfeld until my grub gave out
when / had to go back to TonODah /
had no money to do work on my claims
here. and no resources; absolutely moth
1nG in the world ] was talking with
II. g Jones. d friend OF mine in tina;
mining camp of Tonopah, and think
I
Macbeth
Life is but walking shadow,
poor player who struts and frets
mis- hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: a tale
told by an idiot,
Full of sound and fury, signifyina
nothing
He reached over and tapped me on
the shoulder and said: 'Knick. ] tell
you what you do. You deliver q
Shakespearean lecture. 1 viii be your
advance agent. ] turned TO him and
said: For God sake. man, 20 whom -