The San Angelo press. (San Angelo, Tex.) 1897-1907, 1905-07-13
An Amateur Assayer


4 stagcCoaCh drove up to tie h1tci |
In prosperous mining town In the far
west and gentleman in clothes of an
eastern cut got out. After lmvins sui.
ped he fell into conversation with IL
rough specimen Of the country.
"Minen lngencer, be ~" said the
wcstcrncr, with slight tingc of irony.
"Reckon ye're trinc latc in these
parts. We had mincn' ingcnccrs and
assayers here uforc the stun was dis.
covered. but they didn't hit nothcn."
"Who found the gold?" asked tie
stranger.
WAL, there's yarn about that"
replied the other 81 been in this place
ever since we was handful o people
with no way to come ana 90 except on
foot or by horse or mule. They were
hnden' gold all around us, but nary II
find right here Finally there was
stage line run through for the benefit
Of the mines beyond, and in time the
telegraph was put on. The telegraph
operator was Il young Teller with
wife and four children and was gittcn'
more kids right along. | don't know
what salary he got, but II wasn't
enough TO keep his family out o rags
and from looken' 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 Il sign stuck up on the telc.
graph office william Harris, Assaycr.'
WAL, we all laughed at the telegraph
operator scttcn UP in trade ut which
there wasn't nothcn' to do.
zone evcncn' see gang around Bill
~ Harris n-guyen' him, ana went to
find out what they was given him. 1t
turned out that they had put up n job
on him by chipprn Off II piece Of his
own doorstep and give II to him to
assay. Billy had reported that 1t AS
saycd $3.50 to the ton. They was laugh
en- at him and pokcn' fun Mt him till
the poor Teller was ready to have the
ground open and swallcr him. Only
one on 'cm didn't jcer, and he tole him
that he had n job o diggcn' n fOundn-
ton for n 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.
WAL instead o gocn' to work Billy
went to his cabin, where his wife put
her arms around his neck ana comfort
ed him.
"'IIow did you happen to make such
ItfiI,. ,st, oeIs,1
"'Dunno,' says Billy.
"Wcll, mcbbc you'd better 60 over
your work and see
$50 Billy he goes to his telegraph Of
flee and works till late. then goes leone
and tells his wife he can't find 10 mis-.
| take: that the dcyil must In got inc
his bottles and don" all the mischief
The woman didn't say nothcn' then
only fer Bllly to go 10 sleep and he'd
find his mistake the next morncn'.
"The fust thing Billy does the next
day Is to go up 70 the cliff UP there
where he knOwcd all the stone used
| here como from, and chips or piece
| o. the rock lie takes It TO his Office
| ana puts on the acids and things and
| gifts the same result MS aforc. Then he
| goes home ana tells his wife that III
hain't made no mistake nj all, and the
second assay was better'n the fust
sencc It give $500 to the ton
"Waal, without saycn' nothcn' to no
body Billy took the pieces o stone It
assayers and without tellen' 'em where
they come from tolc 'em to assay 'em
They all give him the same results h'
got himself. Billy went home and
shetten himself up with his wife, tolC
her that the cliff was n gold mine and
they was the only people on the cartl
that knowed 1t,
while this was goen' on we was a
guyen Billy fer all we wns wo'th
Billy didn't say nothcn'; he KEEP look
en- sorrowful-liie and hung his head
Then one day his wife she went away
and when she come back she brO"G!I
her brother, sleek lOOliCn' chap wit!
store clothes on him. He cnvOrt
around makcn' trips ny to the cliT an,
lOahen' his pocket with Clipped pieces
At the same time Dilly's telegraph m0
chine was a-cliCRCn' ana n-ClickuH' a.
It hadn't never clicked before, Ihi
next thing we knowcd was that th'
brothcr-ln-law had bought the ciln', %
II certain part Of 1t, and Ely ana III,
wife was part owners, Tkrn we be
gan to look at each other aud scrat"I
our heads. There uin't no mcaner feel
en-, stranger, than after callcn' n fclic
fool to find he's got the drop on y
We talked the matter over, and som'
one OF us hit on the fact that Billy
doorstep ana the cliff was one and tn
same thing, Then we seen the reason
fer the Harris people buycn the cliff
When | met Billy ag'ln, says TO him
says |, Billy, whatll y take fer sc
doorstcpY He didn't make no an
swer, but do y know, stranger, tina
night the doorstep disappeared, ant
the next day Il surveyor staked on
Billy's claim ana he and his brother
in-law stood guard over it with guns
"The next step was the organization
Of the Doorstep mine, ana it leake,
out that the company had given Bill