The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1911-02-28
FORMER RESIDENT
TELLS OF OLD DAYS
23 Wilton Road, Muswell Hill,
London, England, Feb, 13, 1911

London, England, req, lo, I9ll
Editor Silver State, Winnemucca, New
Dear Sir; Please accept my best
thanks for copy of Silver State OF
January Goth, received this morning
1t seemed quite like old times to read
some of the old names again. l see
that Mr.. J. Sibbald is still in the land
of the living Should you run across
him when next he is in town please
give him my kind regards. / live in
hope of one day paying visit to Ne
vada and going over all the old places
once again before "passing in my
checks -
/ see you have enlarged your paper
from what it was in my days / no.
tice the old firm of E. Reinhart & CO.
still have good advertisement in the
paper. Many an hour / have spent in
their store with old Mr.. Reinhart) at
the lower end of the town as it then
was.
/ always used to stop at the La
fayette when Joe Germain kept it.
The first time | stopped there was in
the year 1884. A Mexican cowboy
who bad had little drop too much
Snow Flakeo rye whisky, was being
chaffed by some railroad men when he
pulled his gun on them. They vanish
ed into the hotel and left me, tender
foot, to face the situation, but the
bratender came along from the pas
sage at the side of the hotel and
knocked his gun up, so l lived.
/ was also in town the night Rouse,
the blacksmith, was shot, having
l. do hat
the ranch to vote for President Harri-
son.
/ was with Parkinson when he was
building the large dam on Willow
creek to store the water for irrigating
Squaw valley. We lost it during the
first fireshet, and ON telling Louis Lay,
at Golconda, of our bad luck he said to
me: "Ah, Parkinson should come to
me. / teach him how to build dams.
build twenty; not one stay"
thought the recommendation was not
the best, but | knew what the poor old
chap meant. When he walked he used
to take very long steps, and the say
ing was Gin FIVE steps he had gone a
block
| suppose the big house we built,
called Fairlawn,' is still in exist
ence in Squaw valley. We had got a
postal service to the house in those
days, the stage coming from Battle
Mountain via North's ranch, once a
week and we used to get our Silver
States in a bunch.
Ask Mr.. Sibbald if he remembers
when Rich had charge of the depot at
Golconda and the chimney caught on
fire one night when / had 600 pounds
of giant powder in the store. Poor
old Louis Lay got very excited, but
we managed to put it out by stuffing
blankets down the chimney.
| helped to dig the grave at Col
conda for George Finck. / remember
every one was going to do it, but no
start had been made As minutes before
the funeral cortege came along. /
therefore suggested to some OF the
BOYS that it was about time we made a
start, so Shallenberger and | led the
way to the cemetery and made com
mencement, but we only managed to
get it four feet deep. / am thinking
that grave would still want digging
but for Shallenberger and l.
We generally managed to "paint the
town red'' after we shipped our cat
tie at Iron Point. | expect you are
about tired of my "reminiscences, but
many bit of fun l have had in the
old days in Winnemucca and Golconda.
| generally managed to help in some
surprise party when 1 came to town.
/ suppose the hot baths at Golconda
are still in existence. In my days we
could scald hogs at the spot it came
ont of the ground at the back of the
hotel.
| remember a little story of your
paper and the Tuscarora Times. Com
pliments sometimes passed and this
ia one of them: The Tuscarora Times
said that "what tae editor of the
Silver State did not know would make
a big book Your paper replied that
sswhen YOU publish that big book you
would let the editor of the Times have
the front page to publish what he
did know.5 ! think you scored.
/ see you publish q time table OF the
Western Pacific railway. l suppose
this is a new road. Can you tell me
what districts it servesf There was
talk of railroad coming through
the Squaw valley country in my days.
Are you having a hard winter, and
do the cattle have to rough 1T as
much at ever in the winterf The
mercury about this time of the year
used to 90 down to "a to 40 below
zero in Squaw valley and ! believe
much lower in other parts OF the state,
near the Oregon line.
remain with best wishes, hoping
that Winnemucca will become the
90 Athens of Nevada in the near fu-
tpre Yours fraternally,
ERNEST G. WETH.