Omaha daily bee., 1908-06-21
BISBEE A REAL SPENDER
Beside Him Scotty Of Death Valley
Looks Like a Piker.
HOW HE FATTENED THE BIRDS
Buys n Comic Opera, starts n Flood OF
Champagne, Puts Gamblers in
Tall Grass and whOOps
Otherwise.

they're saying that Scotty, the cowboy,
miner and coin slougher Of Death Valley.
who did all that high and lofty spending
awhile back. has turned into a tightwad."
said a man from southern California. 81
don't know whether the story is true or
not. but 1 do know that twenty years or
so ago Scotty's shaking down OF himself.
II confined to some western city, and not
brought to this side OF the Rockies, would
have created so small a ripple that nobody
would have known anything about IL ex-
cept the beneficiaries of his blowing off
bug. The swoops of the just-got-it boys
from the camps upon the big western towns
used TO be 80 common that nobody paid
any attention to their whirls. We saw a
lot Of Scotty's way Of sloughing It off in
Los Angeles. But am here TO say that
scotty never did do the real burning money
stunts that were pulled off for example by
Judd Bisbee when Judd. about twenty years
ago pulled into Lon Angeles from the
Sonora country. in Old Mexico, with a
bundle that bulged out~al over him. Judd,
after fooling around with grubstakes all
the way from the Kootenai country 60
centrA America, was one OF the first
Americans to land right on the high grade
pay dirt in Sonora The syndicate people,
especially the English kind, we're quick to
get to the Sonora country. Judd allowed
them to sink a hole In his patch Of dirt,
and then they came to him with a first
offer of 100000 spot cash. Judd. he took It.
They'd have given him S4O0, 900 or $4,000
just as easily, for Judd's plot was one Of
the incest pieces in ~Sonora-they've taken
millions out Of It since-but Judd Blsbee
was all for the quick stuff. and he bit
on the first bid.
SiEe of His Pile.
They gave Judd $4,000 in gold and a
check on the Bank of California for $780,
600. Judd slushed around the Sonora camp
with the boys for three or four days be-
fore starting for Los Angeles. A comic
opera company was stopping at the Los
Angeles hotel when Isdd got there. Judd
fortgathered with the troopers and their
manager spun him a hard luck story. Then
Judd bought up a whole theater at which
the comic opera outfit was due to play
during the next week, and had the an
nouncement printed in the Los Angeles
papers that the show for the week was
going to be free and on him. The treater
was packed and TANNED with hilarious
no-pay audiences every night during the
week, while Judd sat in a box, tossing
haDdfuls of gold at the funniest at the
oNoac NV happcnSo 10 ICkie MS SOuSeQ
risibles. At the wfndup of each act, every
night. Judd would rise in his box and in
vita the whole audience to the bar attached
to the theater, and the big raft OF extra
barkeeps. employed for the week were in
structed to let every man who walked UP
have everything that he aaked for, from a
glass of sasp'rilla to a quart OF the hiss
Juice. Probably that weeks entertainment
OF the comic opera outfit and the people
who attended the shows set Judd back a
good $4,000. II not more.
"At no stage OF the whirl did Judd Bis
bees blow-it-in scheme take the form of
buying any extras for himself. He was
probably the most unselfish money burner
that ever hiked out of a camp. When ne
arrived in Los Angeles he staked himself
to one suit Of store clothes, but never dur
ing the two months that his Sonora claim
wad lasted did he fall into such a ~frivollty
as a billed shirt. He stuck TO his old blue
flRnheI shirt with the black tic. nor did
he renege on stuffing his store pants into
his boots.