davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-28

he has lived the outdoor life, fought the
elements and learned of the beauties of
nature in his own rugged way. If you
accused him of thinling sunset beau
tiful he would scoff at the idea and
probably tell you that he had better
business to be- thinking about, but that
is only the outside. His life has taught
him the silent appreciation of that
which is good. 1t has taught him to
feel without knowing that he is do
ing it.
1t does not take many hours in a min
ing camp to find out the truth Of the
old proyerb, CLOTHES do not make the
man." they do not even help, in camp.
Only the smallest part of the man Of the
desert appears on the surface.
For few minutes stood apart from
the crowd, watching the faces. Then
one of the women crossed over to
piano which stood in one corner of the
room and began to play one of the old
favorites A couple of miners hummed
the tune and soon others took up the
refrain, my Old Kentucky Home"
Every sound in the room ceased and
the men who were shouting and clink-'
Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-28

There champagne was opened and
the toast to the visitors and the town
was propc csed. Nobody ever orders
anything to drink but champagne, and
| began to wonder If there was any
thing but fine wine and money in Ne
vada. 1t costs $S a quart, and nobody
drinks it. The men and women touch
the glasses to their lips, and they are
taken away. A few minutes later some-
one else orders another round, which
is poured out and taken away by the
waiter again. 1t seems there has to
be something on which to spend money,
and wine comes in for large share Of
the miners gold.
Luncheon was served at the Palms,
the far famed Goldfied cafe, and about
O'Clock the party moved on to Tono-
pah, thirty-three miles from Goldfeld.
Find Wide Open Camp
We passed the great Mohawk mine,
working day and night to extract the
ore fro I the ground before the lease
runs oYt at the beginning of the year,
and then went on past some of the
smaller mining towns that have sprung
up not far from Goldfeld.
We arrived at Tonopah after dark
1t is situated as is Goldfield, at the foot
of a range Of hills, and it burst upon
Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-28
VIEW SHOWING MAIN STREET At NEVADA

ing glasses in the bar beyond paused
to listen. One by one they took up the
notes, until the entire crowd had joined
the song. The cracked treble of avoice
that might once have been a fine tenor
arrived in time for the finish, now and
then with a rasping sound too weak to
disturb the trend of the muic.
A boys baritone, rich and unframed.
arose above the wavering treble and
the chorus went on its way rejoicing.
Three Cheers for Bride
There were few men in the room
who had overestimated their capacity
for the fire water, but they were miners
and in the presence of women-two
sure guarantees that no word should
pass their lips that their mothers or
daughters might not have heard.
One man, more pleased with himself
than others, walked about Slapping his
fellows on the should re and inquiring
for his "old pal" The men took him
good naturally. Perhaps it was the in
stinctive feeling that makes every man
protect his drinking brother-the feel
ing that no man can explain and few
women can understand.
In the dining room of the hotel there
was a merry party gathered around a
table drinking the health of bride. A
bride is not an every day affair in a
mining camp and this one CHANGED to
be the wife of Tom Murphy, one Of the
most popular of the Rhyolite boys. He
had been married twelve days before
and returned from his honeymoon on
the special.
Everybody knew him and all took
a personal part in the congratulations
and the rich shower which followed.
Tom and his bride wanted to stay in
Beatty that night, but his Rhyolite
friends would not hear of it, and big
automobile was at the door waiting to
take them to the jollifcation prepared
for them coming at the camp five miles
distant
To prove that they We're game for
anything, Mr.. Murphy linked his wife's
arm In his, sang Come Away With Me,
Lucille and they were off in the
merry Oldsmobile."
"They were game. all right, all
right" shouted some onei and then
there were three cheers for the crowd,
three cheers for ourselves and three
cheers for any old stranger who was
not lucky enough to be one of us.
From the hotel wandered down that
one main street of Beatty past the row
OF saloons, gambling houses, bunk
houses and general stores which are the
all of mining camp. The doors were
all open anu III one pidCS L Caught a.
glimpse of crowd of dark figures
with heads just rising above a sea of
smoke. You could have cut that smoke
up in blocks and shipped 1t to Los
Angeles, 1t was so thick. paused in
front of little shop that attracted me
because Of its neatness- 1t was the of
flee, store and home of the camp ply
sician. There are two of them-a man
and his wife-and they went to Beatty
from Chicago with the first rush about
nineteen months ago. On the shelves
was an assortment OF medicines and
everything imaginable I'm the way of
notions and small merchandise.
The woman behind the counter had
bright face with a determined chin,
and pair of piercing brown eyes. She
was the doctor.
my husband is off in the mines most
Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-28
GOLDEN HARVESTIS
REAPED BY TOTLERS
IN NEVADA DESERT
WOMAN HAS ADVENTURES In CAMPS
Tells Story of Fabulous Wealth in the Mines of
Beatty, Rhyolitp, GOldfeld and TOnopah
Districts-Has Wild All-Night
Ride in an Automobile

whom he wanted to kill, but he was
persuaded to go away.
When he talked to me in the. after
noon he spoke Of seeing his lawyer and
said he had a breach of promise case
on, but did not intimate that he was
about to be tried on more serious
offense than that of wounding the af7
fectionS of woman.
| saw two Mexican girls who had
caught the gambling fever go into one
of the gambling sheds, place their money
and then run out again. A remaining
semblance of modesty drove them out
as the gambling spirit had driven them
in. They paused outside the door for
a few minutes, waited for the wheel to
stop and then rushed in again-the
gambling spirit had the upper hand.
The turn was against them. They had
lost. With laugh-I wonder if it was
a laugh-they rushed off down the
street and were swallowed up in the
darkness-swallowed for the time as
completely as their hard earned money
had been.
First Glimpse by Night
To the woman who has never seen a
Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-28

sands Wherever anything has been
planted it has been proved that vegeta-
tion thriveS there and / believe that
before long the valley will be dotted
with beautiful little ranches. Before
! the railroad came we had a struggle,
but everything should be plain sailing
now. around us are hills filled with
ore of great value, and it can be Sc
cured with less effort than ever be-
fore. The world is beginning to realize
that mining is something more than a
gamble. Practically all the wealth Of
the world has come out of the noun
tains, and there is much more in than
has ever come out"
Mr.. Smith was interested in proper
ties in various parts of Nevada and
was for two years at Tonopah.
Has Fountain of Youth
To Judge Sexton, the president of the
Beatty-Bullfrog Commercial club and
G. e. Southworth, the secretary of the
organization, much of the credit for
the success of Railroad day is due.
Mr. Southworth is one of the pioneers
of Beatty. He went into camp there
two yers ago from Reno, New. At that
time there were only three tents in the
camp and the railroad was a long way
off. He is interested in the Annex to
the Montgomery-S -Shoshone, the Banner
Extension mine,, one of the new prop
licS tue pkluOO IIl1IlI1S QlSIrICIS,
and some properties at Greenwater, as
well as many other claims and pros
poets that appear promising. He is a
young man, as are great many of the
prominent men of Nevada. 1t has been
often called young mans country, Z
and / could not help wondering if the
fountain of youth were not located
somewhere in the district.
j. p. Branley, a we'll known mining
man of the Bullfrog district says that.
Los Angeles people do not know nearly
as much about Nevada and the gold 10
be found there as they should know,
and he has a plan by which he intends
to show them.
Mr.. Branley is coming to Los Angeles
IN short time and with him will come
also q hundred pounds of ore from
various mines in the district He is
going to exhibit the ore and crush and
pan 1t so that the people may see for
themselves how 1t is done. He is in
terested i'm properties i'm the Transvaal
district about fourteen miles from
Beatty and is general manager of the
Death Valley Wonder Mining and Mill
ing company.
Il am going to toot my horn where
people will hear It," said Mr.. Branley
u think that Los Angeles people are
missing some Of their chances and
think the reason must be that they do
not know what there is. If they would
come to Nevada and see for themselves
they would realize.
"On many OF our properties little de-
velopment work has been done and
only a small quantity of gold has been
shipped out, but the advent Of the rail-
road will change all that. have great
faith In the future of the Death Valley
Wonder in which / am interested. and
also I'm many other mining properties
of this district" AT Emmigrant Springs
and in the Wild Rose district, Mr.
Branley also has large interests, and
he cannot say too much for the future
Of Nevada.
There We're some people who saw the
Salt Lake excursion train who asked
| II II was Beatty excursion or
(COntinued ON Page Two.)
Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-28

be without them" she said. Baby had
evidently thrived well on her matted
milk diet, for she was as pretty and
healthy a specimen of babyhood as
could be found in any state. Her era
die was made of dry goods box raised
on two saw-horses made Of pieces of
boxes, and she seemed quite as well
satisfied as If 1t had been the finest in
the land.
At their beautiful bungalow in Rhy-
olite Mr.. and Mrs. Curtis Mann enter
tanned ten members of the party at
luncheon Tuesday. The home is the
most attractive for miles around and
Mrs. Mann, the charming hostess who
presides over it, is the pioneer woman
of Rhyolite.
She went over the desert in stage
long before the automobile route was
discovered and before the railroad was
ever dreamed of. The house is a six
room structure provided with all the
modern conveniences of city bunga-
low and fitted as artistically as if it
were built in the heart of a city where
lumber and labor are cheap. Mr.. and
Mrs. Mann divided their time between
this desert home and Los Angeles,
though the bulk of Mr.. Mann's busi-
ness is done in Rhyolite. He is one
of the most prominent young men of
Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-28

our view suddenly as we reached the
summit of the hill. Electric lights lined
the streets and from every building
there was blaze of light.
In both Goldffeld and Tonopah there
! are many fine buildings, but there are
| also many gambling houses and dance
halls, and as the night grows older the
noises become worse The towns are
gambling game that is not played
| there.
| We went into one of these gambling
| houses and to one dance hall, ''the best
| in the city," we were told, but there
was a unanimous agreement that we
would not see the worst.
| The place was large one, and man
! with heavy voice called out the dance
land invited everyone to ''whoop 'er up
and have good time"
| The poor painted creatures who had
| found their way there, lured by the
desire for the miners gold resented
our intrusion. We were intruders, we
had no right to be there, and we left.
We had supper at the bachelor quar-
ters of Malcolm Mcdonald, and roy
al desert home he has, handsomely
! furnished in the best possible taste and
| fitted with beautiful things from all
parts of the world.
had to catch train from Beatty
at o'clock the next morning, and the
chauffeurs went on strike. They had
driven all day and were tired out Fin
| ally some of the men of the party,
princes of the desert who have learned
that there is a way to surmount every
difficulty, secured one driver who would
go back, and three Of us made the re-
turn trip.
We left Tonopah at 1880 o'clock,
| a1.f.ixr OF AIA or ~ In, he
morning. We stopped there for lunch.
and found the town just as lively as
when we had left it in the afternoon.
Soon after 2 O'Clock we pushed on and
arrived at Beatty at ten minutes to G
in the morning. That was a wonderful
ride over. the desert. Rushing along
in the dark, with only the streak of
front of us, and the stars above. Now
and then jack rabbit ran into the
streak of light and as quickly hurried
away. Two coyotes crossed the path,
but they too disappeared more quickly
than they had come. The air was clear
and cold, and we were bundled to our
ears in fur coats. There was noesleep
for anyone. There was too much OF
uncertainty about 1t, the intoxicating
uncertainty that the American man
and woman loves. Another form OF
gambling.
The sun was just breaking over the
Amargosa valley as we drew up in
front of the Montgomery hotel And
that desert sunrse-God pity the man
who can see nothing but sand, sage
brush and cactus, and let his fellow
man offer coincidence. That man has
never seen the desert at sunrise as we
saw it Friday morning. He has never
seen the sun come slowly over a gro
tesquely shaped range of sharp craggy
hills and throw fairy mantle over the
sand, sage brush and cactus. A cloth
of gold with all the colors Of the rain
bow woven into 1t, and some others
that the rainbow has never known,
Puppies and violets, old rose, grays and
tans that blend into one glorious har-
mony.
In one week We saw a great deal OF
desert, but the same picture was never
Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-28
ny BESSIE BEATTY

oh, for the pen of Bret Harte to
picture the marvels of the Nevada
desert!
A second edition of the days of 40
is being written out there, and it is
bigger and better edition than the
pioneers of that oIden day ever
dreamed.
For a week 1 have been living in a.
different world, world bounded on four
sides by hills of gold, carpeted with
sand and sage brush, canopied with the
clearest of blue skies and peopled with
real men.
In that week l have been whirled in
an automobile over 300 miles Of desert
road, have gone into the richest of the
worlds treasure vaults; and beneath
Khaki shirts have caught gimpses of
hearts that are stalwart and true; seen
some of the bad and much of the good
OF half a dozen Of Nevada's most famed
Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-28
the district and has the mining situa-
ton at his fingers tips.
Miners Give Ball

the district and has the mining situa-
tion at his fingers tips.
Miners Give Ball
The wind-up of Tuesday night was d
miners ball, at the Hotel Montgomery
in Beatty. 1t was hardly what l ex-
pected. The women donned ball gowns
and took as much pains in their cos
tunes as if they were living in big
city.
From Rhyolite and other surrounding
towns the elite of desert democracy
came, and the band from Los Angeles
played until the wee sma' hours The
next day there were more trips to the
mines, and / went over the road to
Rhyolite in a two-seated cart.
We had to make the trip in an almost
impossibly short time, and there was
no time to bother about the bumps in
the road. The horse trotted along re-
gardless, and somehow the cart man
aged to follow with its two wheels on
the ground at least half the, time.
That night Malcolm Macdonald, who
is one of Nevada's big men and one of
the best liked of all the mine owners
in the territory north or south, came
in from ,Greenwater with a party Of
New York capitalists who had been
viewing some properties in that newest
and most famed district. There was
another dance in their honor.
Loyal to Nevada
On the day following an automobile
party to Goldfield and Tonopah. Twen-
ty of us made the trip in automobiles
over 1OS miles. We left Beatty shortly
before 10 o'clock in the morning and
arrived at Goldfield about 2:30 o'clock.
Far out on the road we came across the
remains of an automobile, one wheel
gone and the axle hopelessly broken.
1t was a silent testimonial of a long
trudge which some one must have been
compelled to take. Just one of tha
vicisSitudes of travel on the desert.
Over miles of desert, with not touch
of animal life in either direction as
far as the eye could see. We passed
the mud springs, which many believe
will be one of the most famous health
resorts i'm the world, when the railroad
finds it's way there. Now only group
of tents marks the place where the hot
water gushes forth from the ground.
1t is in the Amargosa valley that this
road lies, and now and them we came
upon tiny ranch nesting at the foot
OF a hill.
There is plenty of water in the valley
and ii is hoped that some day the whole
stretch of barrenness will be made to
bloom with green gardens.
1t was like a perfect Southern Cali
fornia day. / remarked this to one of
the members of the party, but was in
formed that 1t was not a typical Cali
fornia day, but a typical Nevada day.
The people of that section of the coun-
try have learned loyalty to the land,
even If they are there only to make
money.
Coming from the southern camps,
Goldfield and Tonopah seemed like real
cities, ana the hustle and business on
the streets were surprising We visited
the Montezuma club, the finest organ
ization of it's kind In the state, The
large club rooms are handsomely fitted
and the most influential men of the dis
.rict are included among it's members.
Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-28
BEATTY HAS SOLVED
PROBLEM OF HOTELS
IN THE MONT GOMERY

The hotel problem is one of the worst
I'm Nevada and few Of the camps have
solved II as well as Beatty. The Mont
gomery hotel, of which Eb Hoyt Is
proprietor, did rushing business dur
ing the railroad day celebration.
On Monday and Tuesday nights six
ty-seven people were lodged. and many
times that number were served with
meals In the hosterly The house was
built at cost OF $4,000, and since It's
opening its fame has gone abroad
through the state. There are telephones
In the rooms and baths connected with
some, and numerous other conveniences
that would seem hardly possible when
one considered the miles that every bit
of wood had to be hauled. Mr. Hoyt
pays his French chef $4,000 a year and
his board and room, and his dishwash-
erS and laundry woman receive S. a
day. The hotel is the gathering place
for the mining men of the district. Mrs.
Ioyt, who Is one Of the most beautiful
women in the district, helps mime
host In presiding. and there is hardly
a minute that a merry crowd of miners
is not gathered around the piano sing
ing songs.
Has Faith In Future
Tom s. Smith, who is one of the rich
men of the town, makes his headquar-
ters at the hotel, and with him is q.
young bride. formerly Carrie Munroe.
g. New York actress.
Mr.. Smith has unlimited faith in the
future Of the Nevada mining district.
and says that Beatty, Rhyolite and the
other camps of the Bullfrog district
have bright future.
1--WE are young yet, but we are grow
ing" is Mr.. Smiths way of putting it.
I'VE feel that our resources are limit
less and that before many years have
passed all former mining records of
the world will be broken by Nevada,
and especially the Bullfrog district.
I'VE have the one great necessary
thing in this section of the country to
successfully develop the field and that
is water. Before long the Amargosa
valley should furnish work for thou
Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-28

mining camp and to the tenderfoot the
| life of the people is a constant round
of surprises There were several women
in the Salt Lake party including Mrs.
Jack Keith, Mrs. Tom H. Blyth of
Evanston, Wyo., and Mrs. Curtis Mann.
Mann.
The first glimpse of desert life was at
Beatty, the camp celebrating the advent
| Of the Las Vegas & Tonopah railway
| into the Bullfrog territory.
We arrived at camp Monday after
dark when the kindly night had fallen
upon the row of tents and frame build
| ingS and changed them into so many
palaces of mystery. From every dwell
| ing, whether saloon or general mer-
chandise store, or a combination of
both, lights blazed, tickle wavering
| lights that fascinated.
Great bonfres burned brightly in the
center of the main street, use street
cautiously for the thoroughfare is
neither of gravel or asphalt but genu-
inc sand that forms a velvety carpet
considerably more than six inches deep.
Colored powder, red and green, heaped
on the hills surrounding the camp, il
Illuminated the whole countryside for a
moment and then died out, leaving only
the blackness relieved by the brave
honfires and the house lamps.
Finds the Montgomery
The first rush was for the telegraph
office, a structure composed of canvas
and air holes, with the air holes pre-
dominating. The telegraph had just
been installed, and the operator had
been sent from Las Vegas. On a rough
board placed on top Of a box he in
stalled his instrument and began send
ing to the outside world the reports of
the first invasion of a passenger special
to the desert camp.
We followed the crowd to the hotel,
brass band leading the way BY the
hotel of course we mean the Mont
gomery. Every body knows the Mont
gomery. 1t is the finest caravansary
on the southern Nevada desert, and
Mr.. .Hoyt has conceived a desert tri-
umph with many of the city comforts,
and yet with desert written all over It.
The gay colored papers that adorn the
walls make a brave effort, and the
house was further decorated in honor
Of the visitors with hundreds Of car
nations and feStoons of smilaX ordered
fr ON Los Angeles for the occasion.
The room and the bar were crowded
with miners who had dropped their
picks and shovels and come from miles
around the district for the great jolli-
fication.
In that crowd were miners Of every
kind. The grizzled old prospector with
hands that have become knotted with
years of toll and constant exposure, and
eyes that are not quite as Lright as
they once were, rubbed shoulders and
ciinked glasses with the husky lad who
has the trademark OF the wind and the
sun upon his face and the CLEAN of de-
termination in his eyes.
All Sing "Old Kentucky Home"
They all wanted good time andwere
there to get il their own way. There
was no disorder, only a feeling Of good
Fellowship.
Women are not plentiful i'm mining
camp and there is no man in the world
who has more reverence for good
woman than a miner In most cases