The Goldfield news. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1904-1911, 1905-10-13
SIDE LIGHTS ON THE CAMP
Something About Bohemians and the Spirit OF Advent"n
Which ImpeIs Them to Follow the Prospector's Trail.
Written for The News by W. P. De Wolff


s.I had rather live in Bohemia than in
any other land.
For only there are the friendships true,
and the ~laurels garnered in all
mems view.
1 had rather fail in Bohemia, than win
in another land.
There are no titles inherited there, no
hope, no hoard, for the brainless
heir;
No gilded dullard, laggard born, to
laugh at his fellow in leaden
Bohemia has none but adopted sons, its
limits. where faney's bright
stream runs
In no community in the world is the
true spirit of Bohemianism and fra
ternity more manifest than among the
inhabitants of a new mining camp,
and the friendships there made are
often as enduring as the eternal hills
which encompass it ABOUT. 1t was not
the privilege of the late John Boyle
o Reilly, poet and Irish patriot, to pass
any portion of his brilliant career
amid the exciting scenes coincident
with the heralding of a fnd of gold,
vet in his celebrated poem, "Bo-
hemia,' he describes, as no other ever
has, the characteristics so prevalent IN
the adventurous treasure seeker. The
Bohemianism of the bar room entered
not into O'Reilly's musings, for he
sang of men who do things; of Argo-
nauts and pioneers; of trail blazers n
makers of history; of men of brains
and Drawn; of men of strong passions
and lasting friendships; of men of
kindly heart and vigorous hand clasp;
the sturdy of the earth, who make their
own opportunities and rise triumphant
over misfortune. Of such are the men
who are redeeming the arid wastes of
Southern Nevada and who rave made
the name synonymous with princely
fortunes; fortunes with the bark on,
built up as the result of personal en-
deavor, not acquired by inheritance or
by methods that SAVIOR of trickery and
double dealing.
One of the most noticeable traits in
persons who lave hardened to the call
of the great Out Doors is their spon-
taneity, their generous hospitality and
the pleasure they derive in performing
a service for their fellow man. Often
such favor may entail much personal
discomfort, yet it is granted cheerfully,
and in most instances is never again
spoken Of, even though the recipient
prove unworthy. Their trust in the
innate honesty of humanity is one of the
most pronounced characteristics of
their personality and is by no means
the least likeable one. They are as
CHEEKY a lot of optimists as ever drove
a skeleton from a feast or frightened
the pathway along life's journey; and
to know them intimately and to be ex-
tended their friendship is to be a bet
ter and a nobler man. There are hun
dreds of such here in Southern Nevada,
and their unwavering confidence in the
worth of mankind and their heart
kindly glow, more than compensates
for the desert s inhospitable greeting
to the pilgrim to this land of sun
scorched distances and hungry appear
ing abiding places.
Your true Bohemian is essentially a
cosmopolite; one in whom the wander
lust is dominant and to whom the call
of the wild is as potent as sirens song;
Turing him from the busy haunts of
men unto the trackless places of the
earth; sometimes to the betterment of
his fortune; often to the depletion of
his pocketbook; but never to the shat
tering of his ideals, nor to his all-abid-
ing faith in humanity. These latter
aid him in weathering all of life's
storms and at the end of the voyage
pilot him to a quiet anchorage beside
the still waters of peace.
There are many Bohemians in Gold
field; not the self-styled sort, whose
aspirations are limited to singing
ribald songs, or telling stories better
left untold, and who are chesty with
the impression that they are the choic-
est of company; but the true article,
the chaps to whom life is real and who
derive pleasure in living it at its best,
and who are culling the best there is n
it. Sunshiny, CHEEKY hearted fellows
whose genial good fellowship and cor
dial hand clasp helps to tighten the bur
dens of their less fortunate brothers.
Gentlemen all, who greet the dawn
with a smile and who at the end of day
have put forth some effort which has
made the world brighter and better.
Loyal friends in adversely or affuence,
who seek the opportunity to say some
thing good of their fellows, and to
whose tongue the damning of faint
praise is a stranger. Ready on occa-
sion to join in a pipe, a glass or a song;
or in times of sorrow to assuage your
grief with words of comforting sym
pathy. Men who are accomplishing
something and who are not being
spoiled in the doing on It. Adversely is
not a stranger to most of them and
fortuitous conditions have had no
power to steel their hearts against the
cry of the weak. Others there be with
whom the grim old task master is a
daily presence, yet they push on man
fully, confident of eventually shaking
off the incubus and attaining the pin
naele of their aspirations. Some of
them will doubtless reach their goal;
1 nfharS will mob. hut IN ai+har av-ant