The sun., 1907-08-18
TOWN OF TBE BODYSNArCHERs
FIRST CALLED DGRAVEYARD. TEEN
skTDOO, NOW GREENwArER.

The Cremat Orhutu the Leading saloon
and ''The Undertaken" the Newspaper.
sGrcenwater, first known as Graveyard
then as Skiddoo. says a writer in The ws~o
To-day, had population six months ago
when some OF us visited the camp in the nrst
automobile ever driven in the Funeral
Range, of 500 men, no woman being brave
enough to remain more than two nights
Since then the population has swellsd
TO a steady total OF 1900. including three
permanent women.
-Iu that period the camp has been visiteA
by two State Governors, a score ef cnss
Rressuen a celebrated muck rsker, thrss'
notorious pugilists six United States Sena-
tors one murderer, one embezzler, a famous
EnsIish actress and hundreds Of persons
investigating potential Investments
"The copper produced in the neighbor-
hood OF Greenwater up 20 dste would not
mako the pennies dropped on any Sunday
into the missionary boxes OF q country
church. And the cost Of living has in po
item lessened.
Hay costs $40 a ton; wood. for fuel.
$50 a cord; coal, 900 a ton; water the sane
as ever; sugar, 90 cents q pound; can NJ
corn or tomatoes or beans. 81; the cheapes.
meal, 81; a hired bed. o.; rent Of a small
tent, $50 a month, OF a one room shack,
$40 a month; coffee. $3.50 a pound; ths
cheapest Shoes $40 a pair. high boots, SIS
a pair; milk. anything up to 50, so far the p
record price, quart.
at was near midnight when We reached
the camp.
Apparently all the camps inhabitants
were still al large. every shelter along the
one struggling street, Cemetery avenue.
being visibly lit. and the throng that quickly
clustered about the car seeming, dimly out
lined, the likely limit Of population.
-One among us, sufficiently specified here
as the Senator. was immediately recognized.
attacked by a score OF handshakers show
cred with introductions. and escorted
with the rest of us In tow to the Crema-
torium, the nearest OF ten saloons. After a
terrible drink. making instantaneous total
marched to the Cafe de Grape, where seated
on splintery benches at a clothless table
we fihed ourselves with fried steak, chicory
disguised with condensed milk Tor condensed
milk disguised with chicoryl, potatoes
stewed in villanous canned butter, and
adamant pie.
"A casual request for a glass OF water
started a strange whispering among not
only those who served us but among our
flock OF hosts; and il was while somebody
fetched the drink from a saloon only
one able to furnish it--that we learned
our first lesson copcerning Greenwsters
chief problem. That glass OF water cost as
much as half q pint OF whiskey:
The nearest water supply. Of which this
camp could even occasionally avail itself
was at Ash Meadows, nearly forty miles
away, on the Twenty Mule trail between
Johnny and Death Valley. Kelly's We'll. pre-
but il had TO be hauled further. much Of the
way up a heavy grade, and the tremendous
| daily drain on that oasis by the desert mule'
skinners freighters left little TO spare.
Water had to be hauled int. into camp IN n
twelve team wagons. and the supply on
hand was always wofully inadequate. At
| best water cost $40 a barrel. generally SIS
en- the price was 81 for half a gallon, and
by no means infrequently a s'assful re-
We presently discovered that no beds
were to be had in either the Hearse or the,
Tomb, two big tents respectfully spoken
Of as hotels. The proprietor OF the general
store, who was also the barber, the boot
mender, the harnessmaker, the postmaster
the marshal, the mayor, the grsvedigger,
the letter writer, the butcher, the under
taker and the Justice OF the peace, offered
us. however, rest on piles OF blankets on
the dirt floor Of his emporium, and there.
! our faces romped over by Gargantuan rats
and after the murder OF two tarantulas, Va
passed the night.
When we asked why every namsbl.
| Of the grave, even the newspaper, daily
single sheet printed on brown paper, being
titled the Inyo County Undertdker-Green-
water, by the way, is in Inyo county.
Cal; though approsshabls n.soh only ,S,, from On.
long established nickname Of dwellers
among the Funeral Mountains, Body
Snatchers. proudly boree by those entitled,
to it, had served az inspiration In all subse-
euIes. .E,rther sntsrtainment VA. Afforded bv
perusal Of that days Undsrtaksy. Qppies o.
which were brought to us fresh Hom tha
press. The reading matter on the front
page was largely regsrding located ne-
sensational prospects in nearby districts
all deadly dull
-But on the second and last page all vas
delight from the tall typed advertisement
intending visitors were invited to reach
Greenwater from Borax Smiths railroad
by automobiling with Alkali Bill, TO the
locally contributed verses, q stansa OF which
may here be quoted as an excellent key
note OF everything in the pages four
columns;
Up the hills from Rhyolite some eighty miles
The man who made the Funerals. he left .
The man who made the Funerals had SONS
He ieft Che ledge Of ore in sight for you and
It's eighty miles from Rhyolit.. thi. God for
But only one short mile TO He'll and just lob
OF jump.
The constant cropping up, in talk and
type, Of Death Valley spurred US at length
| TO tramp two grilling miles TO the edge
Of Monkey Cliff. From that elevation
we could see, 5000 feet below US, Death
Valleys whole pallid, nasty. desolate eI.
psnse; the mountain OF pure borax. y"
| feet high at one end: the mountain OF nitre-
| enough, properly prepared. TO blow Cali
fornia bodily half way 20 Hawaii. with
| a detonation that would break windows N
! New York, say experts--at the other. WIN
| fifty miles between: on one edge Furnace
| Creek Ranch, so hot that Aim In kodak
shrivels before one can shoot the ranch
buildings: on the other edge, under the
beetling Pansmints. the picturesque bun
galow Of Scotty, who lives there seldom
since he began his career OF spectsculsT'
| blue shirted squsndering.
| SLEEPING IN THE BACK yARD.
: as