Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-08-15
WOMEN WERE SCARCE.
A Feminine Face Caused Furors ln
 california's Early Days.

A Feminine Face Caused Furors ln
 california's Early Days.
 There were few women in the Cali fornia mining camps in the old days. and the advent of an emigrant wagop with a woman in 1t caused furore as is proved by the following incident from the "reminiscences of former Sem ator William M. Stewart: Women were so scarce in California at that lime that this was sufficient to arouse the whole camp. The boys, as we were called. were scattered along the coyote diggings for distance of about four miles, and when anything unusual happened the words, oh. Joe! would be passed along the whole line. When I saw the feminine raiment raised the usual alarm. oh, Joe! and tnis called the attention of the miners on Buckeye hills. where l was, to the clothesline which had attracted my notice. They gathered around on the hill, nearly surrounding the covered wagon and its contents. The rush or the boys in the immediate vicinity to see the wonderful sight attracted those farther away. and in less than ten min utes two or three thousand young men were anxiously watching the wagon. clothesline and fascinating lingerie. In alarm the man that belonged to the woman inside stuck his head out or a small tent beside the wagon. l as- sured him that no harm was intended, but that we were very anxious to see the lady who was the owner Of the clothes. This aroused her curiosity 1 sufficiently to induce her to pull the curtain of the tent aside so that her face could be discovered, but not fully seen.
 "I then proposed that we make do nation to the first lady that had hon. ored our camp with a visit. took from my camp a buckskin bag, used for the purpose of carrying gold, and invited the boys to contribute. They came forward with great eagerness and poured out of their sacks gold l dust amounting to between $2000 and S3,0OO. then proposed to appoint q committee to wait on the lady and present it. The motion was unani- mously carried, and one of the gentle men appointed on the committee sug- gested myself as chairman. l took the sack of gold and went within about thirty feet of the tent and made as good a speech as could to induce the | lady to come out, assuring her that | all the men about her were gentlemen. | that they had seen no ladies for SO many months and that the presence of one reminded them of their mothers and sweethearts at home. l told her that the bag of gold was hers on con- dition that she would come out and claim 1t. Her husband urged her to be brave, but when she finally ven- tured out about halfway the cheers were so vociferous that she was scared and ran back.
 "She repeated this performance sew eral times. and kept moving slowly back far enough to get her away from the little tent so the boys could have good view of her. I suppose half an
 hour was occupied with her running back and forth while the boys looked on in admiration. when finally gave her the bag. with all the good wishes of the camp. She grabbed 1t and ran
 into the tent like rabbit. The next
 morning the wagon. oxen, man and
 owner of the inspiring apparel were
 gone, and we never heard of them in
 after life" &