The silver state news. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1907-1909, 1907-11-21

soda about A inches thick on the bot
tom of the watts. It stood all the
tests. Tt was pure soda, as white az
snow, and superfne.
Monte Christie shouting, "The
world is mine,' was not my equal
in sight. Soda commanded a good
prices both in Europe and America,
and there was no limit to the demand,
The railroad was only Is miles away
and transportation facilities were
acres Of water and thick with soda
to the consistency of syrup. It evi-
IDENTIFY was inexhaustible. I undertook
to calculate the value Of ill in sight
in dollars and cents. The result ap-
palled me. I could have bought half
a dozen empires and had enough left
to drive the R%othschilds of the face
of the earth and set up in opposition
to the Bank of England. But I was
restless and awful lonesome and /
needed another shirt bad.
About this time a shrewd little man
came along who interjected q bracer
into my system. He was a prospector,
a chemist and a man of science. He
came from San Francisco and had
been sent out to the wilds Of Neva-
da by a strong company, who had one
eye on Soda lake
CHOW if I make a favorable re-
port" he said, "'they win get the
other eye on it and want to buy you
| out-seefo
Yes, I could see. and l gave him
every opportunity-in fact I went 50
far as to send All Bing to the station
for supplies-mostly liquids-in the
hopes of inducing him to make q real
fine report. He ate and drank and
talked three days and then departed
with his report. He told me that the
company had their factories in Leices-
tershire, England, and that their buy
er and agent had an office in San
Francisco. "Remember,' he said,
"they are worth millions, and they
want soda.'
Knocks on %, 900, 900.
l did not forget, and when the buy
er Mr.. Durham, arrived in the field a
few days later, I had manufactured
cheek enough to ask a high price
for my property. He had brought an
other chemist with him, and after
spending two days in analysing the
water and examining the property,
they came and sat down on either
side Of me and asked me for my
figure. I was rather nervous, and in
stead of saying "a million" as I had
intended, somehow I gasped "ten
Millions Durham fell over and the
chemist walked off a little distance
and then turned and surveyed me with
a suspicious look.
1 saw that 1 had made a mistake.
and said: "Gentlemen, 1 am not
grasping, nor am I hard; I don't mind
knocking of, say a matter Of &c..
600,
"That is more like it," said the
buyer, "now we can talk
We did talk-did a great deal Of
talking-and in the course of an hour
we made a trade. ! was to have
81, 600, 900 for Soda lake-$500 cash,
and the balance to be paid in San
Francisco in so days.
I thought I was the happiest man
that walked the earth, but that night
l could not close my eyes. The next
day / walked-walked all day. That
night 1 had to hire a Chink to sit up
with me. The next night / had to
have two Chinks to keep me from CO.
ing wild.
T began to discover that a "cool
Million was a great big load. What
would I do with SO much money! A
thousand times l asked myself that
question. In what shape would I take
the money! I could not carry that
much coin and / did not intend to let
it get out Of my sight. l dared not
trust a bank, even the Bank Of Cal.
ifornia. Sometimes / thought l
would have it all in large bills and
go straight home to old Missouri At
other times I concluded to forward it
by express. Those were go awful
days and so awful nights. How slow
ly the time passed!
At last the horror was about to end
and I started for San Francisco to get
my million and happiness. I reached
the city early in the morning, and
trembling with anxiety. I slowly made
my way to the Office Of the great En-.
glish Soda company. I caught sight
of something black futtering about
the door knob. "Death,n I whisper
ed. A man on the inside slowly open
ed the door and to him I gently put
a few questions.
Exit High Hopes.
"Mr. Dprham has committed sui
cide,' he said. "Poor fellow, he has
been leading a wild life in this blast
ed country and he has spent millions
of the e~ompany's money. / am afraid
it will drive US to the WALL"
I fell against the wall and drew a
long breath He knew all about the
Soda lake deal.
"That is all of, I" he said.
And thea I left, walking frmer and
feeling better than for two months
before. Suddenly I became hungry
and sleepy and happier than I knew.
/ returned to Soda lake and after four
years of hard work I accumulated q
little fortune. 1t was no trouble to
take care of that kind Of money, and
I knew how to take it to old Mis-
souri,.