The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1908-05-29

fdemned, then the very men who
wanted to lynch the fellow" will
sign petitions for his pardon, and
the result is that we have more
murders, more lynchings and a small
er average of legal penalties exacted
for crime than any other civilized
land on earth.
The PrOspector and His BurrO.
Now and them said the prospec-
tor to his burro, you make a grand
stand play of being frightened at
something you try to make me be-
lieve is hiding behind a boulder or
gigantic Joshua, and yet you know
there is nothing there. You have an
object in view in trying to pull the
wool over my eyes, even as you
might do to a %tenderfoot. But l
know better, for l know that you are
sparring for time, that you want a
little breathing spell, and think 1
will perhaps unite the diamond hitch
and take off your pack and give you
an hour or two longer to rest at
noon or that l will camp for the night
in the middle of the afternoon in
ONE spot that L ; taken your fancy.
But, one whatever, for I am on to
your tricks and the application of
a good tough club son takes all
of the make-believe right out of you.
In many respects" continued the
prospector, you remember a num-
Der Of mining men and experts l
happen to know. These are usually
hot air merchants mining men of
the fake variety who are always run
ming a bluff on the investing pub
lie in order to part the get-rich-
quick from their long green, giving
nothing but sensational and exag-
gerated reports in return therefor.
This class in order to do business
must keep the imagination of the
would-be investor aflame. They may
have a promising prospect, or they
may not, and they care not as long
as they can tickle the money out of
the pockets of the investor by some
means or other. The hot air man
thinks ,ha inust formulate some
thing out Of the ordinary to en-
ticc the unwary into stock invest
ments and the sensations they in
vent are about on a par with your
antics when you try to make me be-
lieve that a mountain lion is be-
hind every outcrop We pass by. With
the fake promoter an inch of ore is
reported to be six feet in, width and
going thousands of dollars to the
ton from wall to wall. This stunt
works for awhile and when public
interest wax lukewarm over such
accounts, something more striking
must be reported in order to induce
the vast horde of intended victims
to put their money on the two spot
while the hot air nan holds the ace.
ITO further interest the public
some great schemes are Matched in
the brains of the fertile promoter.
men are reported to have been driven
off fabulously rich claims at the
point of a shot gun or revolver. OAR
ing thefts of high grade ore are re-
ported, and all kinds of scare stories
are invented and circulated in or
der to keep interest up to the boil
ing point, and ven holdups are re-
ported. No, these are not the heel
holdups, for l see you SILVER at the
idea. They are not genuine, even
If they are reported as facts by syn
dictate press correspondents, who are
in league with the grafters. And
this reminds me of a thrilling ad-
venture related in western mining
circles, where the field man of a big
thieving combination was reported.
No, these are not real hold-ups, the
vicinity of Raw.lide and relieved of
$4,000 in cash, being the monthly
pay roll for the men at work on the
property owned by this alleged COM
pany. The field man, according 20
all reports, was an easy victim for
the highway men, but his courage
revived soon after and for a week he
was hot on the trail of the robbers
and had the sheriffs Of three counties
engaged in the pursuit. And they
have lever came back.
81 want to tell you, old long ears,
the whole of the United States was
interested in this daring hold up,
and the avarice of the easy marks
all over the country was excited to
such a pitch, that soon after, money
rolled into the Golfers of the fakirs
in wagon loads; and then some.
Thousands believed in the report,
in the scare, but many knew that il
was as far fetched from the truth as
your pedigree is a thousand miles
removed from that Of a thorough
bred horse, and there you are. l was
convinced that the story was a fake
and I know now that it was. for the
field man when l saw him few dys
ago, confessed as much to me. but
said that something had to be done
to keep up public interest.
"Of two fakes" concluded thu
prospector, you are the least in
furious, for the receptions yo1
Practice affects only you and me
hui tho fa)xir4 with ch0rfars o. arg anf