Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-03-16
A MINERS PALACE.
Wonderful House That Bowers o
Nevada Built at Washoe.

There has proba bly, never been a
home erected or furnished in the west
with such extravaganza or disregard
for money as the Bowers mansion,
which was built by miner known as
Sandy Bowers, near Washoe City,
New In '65 it was completed at a cost
of S4O7 600 There have been many
homes that cost more, but they repre-
scented expenditures for genuine art or
rare pieces of old furniture, imported
marbles and such things, and were
much larger But the mansion had but
IA or Is rooms, a two-story structure
built of the stone quarried near Wa
shoe City. The gold and silver grown
so common in Sandy's eyes, according
to his way of thinking, had as much
right to a place in his home as it did
in SClomon's temple. The doors swung
from heavy silver plated hinges. Door
knobs and lock plates were wrought
from gold and silver. The keys We're
silver pendent from small gold chains.
The fire dogs in front Of the fine tiled
fireplaces were Silver-plated. The table
service was none of syour triple plat.
1t was the solid article, wrought from
the purest of the gold and silver bull
lion. The nabobs and nabobesses of
the orient never dined from a complet-
err table service of precious metal than
did Sandy and Mrs. Bowers. The han
dies Of the bowls and pitchers were
made of gold, and SPARKLE with jew
els Engraved on the plate We're char
acteristic scenes of Nevada. One
hundred thousand dollors worth of bull
lion was worked up in this way by the
gold and silversmiths of San Francis
co, an additional force of skilled work.
ers having been brought west for the
job.
Contrasted with the luxury of the
dining room was the poverty of the Ii
brary The furniture of this necessary
adjunct of cultured home was lux
urious enough, but alas, the visitor,
CHANGING over the shelves at the titles
on the morroccos or half-levants, when
he would reach for Plutarchs Lives
or Bolingbrokes "Reticence in Chriti
cism'' met only the hollow response of
cleverly painted sham covers 1t was
library without books. Many volumed
sets We're represented by engraved
leather boards, such as Il modern book
Gent unfoldS to show you the binding
he is selling.
Mirrors brought you face to face with
yourself on every side. In the main
hall was a French plate covering the
entire side wall. Rich tapestries and
imported lace curtains, brilliant color
ed rugs, massive Victorian mahogany.
an occasional Queen Anne, a piece of
colonial or French bric-a -brac mingled
freely together. careless of the propre-
ties. The corpse of a professional dec
orator would turn in its grace if it
had even a faint idea what Sandy's
luxury looked like.
A trip abroad had given the Bow
erse some idea on servants, and the
house warming time came and the ret
irue of servants was sworn in; they
were presented with the livery of the
house Of Bowers, a study of scarlet and
gold lace. The democratic servants
Nevada or California afforded those
days wouldn't stand for the tOSgery.
and the house of Bowers had to exist
without a livery. The site for the man
sion was chosen beside natural
spring in the side of hill. At the eX
penSc Of several thousands two bath
ing roofs We're made and the flow of
water increased by drilling into the
hot subterranean pools. A homeless
child was adopted and christened Per-
STA and became the heir of the house
of Bowers Nevada Mining News.