The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-10-29
Still Camping on the Trail.
NO. vi.


The night was clear and beautiful,
and strange to relate while the day
was so uncomfortable warm, there
was d gentle whispering of a cool
breeze. which now was exhilaratine
and refreshing, and l am informed that
| il is a popularity of the atmosphere
here that no matter how hot is the
day, the nights are most delightfully."-
! cool, which found by my own expert
ence of this night, for after retiring /
discovered that the use of blanket
was acceptable. ''Baldy'' and myself
wandered along the front street after
leaving the hotel Las Vegas certainly
presented "a different appearance. 80
far as this portion of the town looked,
for where a few hours before all was
animation and hustle, this thorough
fare was as quiet as a cemetery. We
had walked along for a distance of a
couple of blocks, when borne on the
night air we heard the drumming Of
a very tin-panny piano. and 4 little
further ON some metallic sounding
banjo music, and as we turned a cor
ner of street going towards whence
the sounds proceeded, we soon found
ourselves in another street, running
parallel TO the street that is called
straight" and which was more COM
| pactly built, both as regards new and
temporary places of business. Here
we soon discovered was to be seen the
might side of nature" so far as Las
Vegas is concerned. The first thing
noticeable was solid block OF sa-
! looms, emanating from which were
streams of bright lights The side
walks fronting these places were
,F
you passed them you could catch such
phrases as ''BullfrOg be id: it's nav
good. I'm goin' right on to Goldfield."
While another took the opposite stand
and staked his all on "Bullfrog" for
| he had just come back from Gold
! field, and he knew what he was talk
ing about" Further on you would
hear another talking Of their prepara-
tons for the mornings start for Tono-
pah district And here. by way of
parentheses, there was no diVerging
opinions regarding the prosperity anc
prospects of TonOpah. But twas ever
thus" | never knew a mining camp
yet-that is. a new One-that while in
process of development some were
ready 10 swear to its being the great
est camp they ever struck. while as
many more, after a few days stay.
packed up their "swag' and. fiinging
ii across their shoulders, turned their
, backs on perhaps one OF the best camps
ever discovered. and with ''bated
| breath" cursed the luck that brought
them there, and now YEARLY take dp
their backward tramp upon the
trail" These, however, in nearly all
cases, were of the 'tenderfoot" class,
whose vague notions of a mining camp
and the necessary courage and enduT-
ance requisite to be endowed with for
a successful miner OF prospector are as
chimerical dream.
AS we slowly meandeTed among the
crowds. Badly" would exclaim every
few minutes, John. not in it, tell
you there's not a miner i'm the bunch.
Farmers. John. farmers. every moth
er's son OF them" And truly, Badly
was nearly right in his observation.
/ The bulk of the assemblage seemeG
young farm hands. who, like everybody
else. hearing of the wonderful discoV-
cries a TOnOpah and the surrounding
district, and reports of new strikes
coming in daily, had FASTENED from
the farms offUtah and other parts. and
while there was a sprinkling of eXpe-
rienced miners the majority were those
, who caused Badly to contemptuously
! say There's not a miner in the
bunch"
Looking into several Of the saloons,
while all were crowded. it was quite
noticeable that the amount of drinking
: carried on was quite limited. In Olden
times any saloon in a frontier town
! accommodating a like number would
be doing a rushing business, as in
the slang of the day. Men did not go
to those places then for ''rubbering,
but for business and that was 10 drink
or gamble. Talking of gambling. there
were several games going on in each
saloon. Large crowds surrounded the
faro tables, but there was little play,
and such play. as it Was called for the
smallest kind of bets only. Badly
looked on for a while. His face was
study. Badly himself was high
flyer" in his time, and often put down
big pile. in calling the last card out
; Of the box. but when he saw the petty
play before him and the absence of all
that atmosphere of his old gambling
| days, there was a tone of sadness in
| his voice as he said, Lets get away.
! Farmers, John. farmers; all farmers
and coons" To Baldys disgust there
were some colored men playing in the
crowd, but ii must be remembered
Badly came from southern Missouri
and allowance must be made for
early training. As we directed
/ our steps hotelwards, in pass
| ing a large saloon we heard the
| tones of a banjo. 1t had very loud
and metallic 'twang- a-tWang," but
| Badly loved the banjo. and he would
insist on going into the place. as he
said he hadn't heard a good banjo
player since Dick Parker left the
diggin's." We entered. There was a
| large crowd centered around the place
where the banjo sounds came from
We advanced and got to the inner cir.
! Gle when Badly screamed out, Holy
Moses" 1t was the first time he had
seen a musical nickel-in-the-slot ma
chine. for which investment you got
the latest classic in ''ragtime" from
the coffin shaped cupboard. 1t was
then Badly became reminiscent of