The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1907-05-04
EVERY 4 MAN HAS
H HIS .''s IS |:|.!! Spot. .
Story Of How Nerviest Citizen of
Aspen Once Lost His
Il Y I 1s:::5, 2 Nerve.
From the Kansas city journal:

Il saw a man today. spoke the
Cripple Creek man from the depths of
his chair, .:that reminded me of Old
Wagonbox, y of, Aspen. Il; That is, he
looked as much like him as a tender
foot can look like the nerviest Rocky
Noun taineer that ever took a nap in a
Picks Peak snow bank or went to
sleep on a cactus bed.
'FIis real name? Oh, I don't remem-
her, even If I ever heard it at ALL
Old Wagonbox was all the name folks
| knew him by; they called him ''old"
though he was only SO-because
everybody liked him, and they called
him 5cWagonbox' because he slept in
a~wagonbox for solid month when
he first came to Aspen, time Of the
big boom there in the middle of eight
les ;; no room anywhere else, and no
time in those hustling days to bother
likely weren't the right ones any
how, out of every new one that came
to camp.
well, Old Wagonbox had hardly had
time to change his lodgings to a real
bunk in shanty before he was known
as the nerviest cuss on the shoot,
on the shoulder, and on the shuttle
that ever blew over Boreas Pass into
the Roaring Fork district, and in new
makes mistakes about that sort of
thing; it's fatal to the fellows with
the erroneous opinion.
when Old Wagonbox said in a low,
soft voice at a faro game, Gentle
men, they're my chips and carelessly
dropped his right hand by his side
not reaching for his gun exactly, but
getting within mighty close calling
distance-the lookout case-keeper,
dealer, and adverse claimant always
rendered a verdict in Old Wagonbox's
favor, and it was instantaneous and
| unanimous, too.
Jim Showers.
1.-THE time Jim Showers from over
Gunnison way got on a regular Kan
! sas bender, came down the Elk Noun
| tain train into Aspen, as full of liquor
as bonded warehouse, and started to
shoot up the camp, he proceeded with
such neatness and dispatch that before
we knew it he had the whole crowd
locoed and scattered like bunch of
stampeded yearltngs. Even the sher-
! if, when he heard that Jim had clean
| ed out Ben Loeb's dance hall and was
holding the fort there 'gainst all
corners, just give a SILVER and said he
had wife and four children depend
| ing on him, and he wasn't going to
| commit suicide.
Just then along comes Old Wagon
box, smoking a cigarette, his only
vice. You're all nothing but bunch
| of cowardly id coyotes he sneered
| when he heard about Jim's lawless pro-
cedure. Here, take my gun,' he ad-
| ded, handing his Colts to- the sheriff.
I'd be ashamed to go after such a
| maverick as Jim Showers with gun
| on me-
| with that he walked to the door
of the dance hall, flung it open wide,
and stood there for 10 seconds, puff
! fing his cigarette while we all scat
| tered to one side out Of range. Backed
| against the bar at the far end Of the
hall stood Jim, crazy drunk, with his
two guns leveled on Old Wagonbox.
Don't you come near me- he shouted,
| the guns still leveled We noticed
through the windows they were shak-
Ing trifle. Don't you come near me-
he shouted again and it sounded like
a woman about to cry. TIL kill yer if
| yer take stepr
! "Old Wagonbox still stood in the
doorway carelessly rolling another Gig
arctic and lighting it, though he never
took them eyes of his Off Jim Sec
| ond. Then with little chuckle of
| contempt: You hound, you couldn't
| shoot a Chinaman,' he said, and with
that started walking slowly down the
long reach Of the empty dance hail.
putting his cigarette, while Jim kept
shrieking, Don't come near me; I'll
| kill yer eff yer do!' and his gun wob-
bling worse and worse every second.
When Old Wagonbox got within reach
! they went flying right and left out of
Jim's quivering fingers and the next
| moment he was boxing the jaws off him
while Jim sank to his knees, blubbering
i like a spanked baby.
You id Greaser,' we heard Old
Wagonbox growl, as he perked Jim to
his feet with jolt hard enough to
shake the filings in his teeth. You hit
the trail. Hear? Hit it! Hit it now
| and hit it hard. And if you ever show
your face this side Boreas again I'll
| pay some real attention to you. Ctr
I'm just telling you this to show
| the nerve of the man. And it was the
same in a poker game. Old Wagonbox
was admitted to be the nerviest player
from Lineup to Rifle; nothing could
| jar him of his kerbasa. Straight in
| his play as the Henrietta tunnel, but
dangerous because he couldn't be jol-
! ted. That was the unanimous opinion
! in Aspen camp.
| "All but Short line Hawkins. Short
line had been to college and insisted