The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-09-10

the DIlnufOId lafN stepped out Win n ut
Tie shell game and lifted my wad."
This" said Mason. is the jarSon o.
a cab driver. What do you mean?'
I'm cut 1t out. replied the man, y
he left me ten thousand dollars in bank
stocks II paid dividend or about per
cent. md no lakes. Being naturally
smarter than my father. | at once deter
mined 10 take that money and get rich
| sold the stock. pockcte1 n check book
and got busy. one bright morning In n
little town on the Monongahela river. a
commissioner was selling n tract OF land
before the court house. In my hunt Cor
good things happened by accident to
| Know about that )anG, II Is n rough
mountain tract. not worth ten dollars an
acre, but II is underlaid with the Pitts
burg vein OF coal, standing no eight feet
thick clean and solid like Q ledge OF sand
stone. A corner OF the land comes down
opened and operated by the old farmer
who lived on the place. He had a pole
tippie. wheeled the coal out by hand and
got off about car a day. The tract
contains some two hundred acres.
u stepped up TO the commissioner and
inquired about the sale. He told me that
The owner was broke and the court was
selling The land. l inquired II the coal
was included and he said. Yes; from the
Sky 10 the center Of the earth Then /
asked the bid, When ne answered ff
teen dollars / nearly threw TT! Fif-
teen dollars The coal was worth two
hundred an acre. Nov. J had been
Knocking about the coal country for a
good BIT. and / was no greenhorn. 1
knew that this was the Pittsburg vein
and knew what II was worth The
court was selling the land. so there could
pc no doubt about the title. would not
nave trusted any dealer about q land
| mere was the court--the old blind lady
herself-sclling the land. SO the game
MAS MAS bound to be straight. ] bid twenty.
| The commissioner called it a moment
| i,, I,6
crowd. with nose Ike your elbow. bid
twenty-five, | let the thing hang to see
II ho, mere was another bidder; then. just
looked me over, snorted and finally bid
| thirty-flve, and five more ] said He
stamped around for while and finally
hlteq II 60 forty-fVe
Al right. Nosy' | said to mvself.
you and end it An five I said an
I've. h,se more every time you raise it He
looked at me for a good minute
You're a damned foolI he said, and
then he walked out or the crowd Nosy
vas right about that; but ! didn't know
It just then. The land was knocked
paid cash and got my deed, all signed,
sealed and delivered.
When got home and opened my
package. l had as nice box of saw
dust as you ever saw. The oil girl IN
the blinkers had double crossed me like
an expert. No street falSir could have
cleaned smoother job. NV title to this
land proved TO be only a life estate I
hunted up o lawyer. He said that a
court did not guarantee title when il
sold land. remember his language
member it, He said The doctrine of
caveat emptor obtained at judicial sales;
Tue purchaser bought at his peril. That
Court s fogI sn,s eyes ,a.d are your market The
the public, sells the title for a good
one. takes your money: and. If the
tna. tiae is defective. you arc, stuck. you
lady comes out to her door and sells you
a: pig In a poke, II there's no pig in IL,
the jokes on you. II it's somebody else 8
against the she'll and the little pea, the
llve-doliar bill and the soap box. the glad
| gent who knew my Uncle Ephraim I'm
Potunk, and all kinds OF crooked faro,
blind girl in the court house
| leaned my elbow on the table and
looked through the open door at tie
narrator Of This tale. indiffercntly sip
spinning out his story like upsy salor.
rhis sanguine temperament goes surely
with this disease; no other dying men
whistle thus cheerily in the face OF death,
| so there I was" the man continued,
| no money, no land. ! had bought only
the right to use this ground as long rs
ers on his feet would have starved on
Nosy. 1 discovered then that he was
eapper for the Union Fuel company.
| coal combines OF America
Nothin' doing he said Our COM
pany put up that little job TO catch just
fee simple title to that land then we
picked up the debts of the old farmer.
who was supposed 10 own it but had only
NE estate az we knew, We got the
debts for 10 cents on the dollar. when
| ne showed the creditors that the rube had
no title. Then We brought q creditors
suit TO sell the land I expected To buy
but when YOU butted In and bid IL over
our debts, / s!de-stepped. We made about
$4,000 on your cut-in. No we will not paw
out any good money for your old life
| 10 this land for the next ten years :
guess we'll just set back on our hunkers
and walt Till the old man dies. So long,
may not see you again, You're a lung
| or. ain't yOu?'
That was two years ago The bugs
haven't knocked of any time. Clark saws
| I'M all tn ''
Randolph Mason leaned over and made
llttle calculation with his pencil on the
| corner OF the writing pad.
In your condition OF health" he said
sIU,noo sh0uld easily buy per cent
annuity. Could you live in tho Mar
quesns on $500 II ycar?'
The sick mans eyes snapped.
With all the comforts OF home ana
money TO inves. IN the funds as the
French say. Outside the grub, YOU onIv
need a sleeping mat and a pair OF pa.
lamas. Fifty plunks a month? / should
say yes" '''''
VERY we'll said Mason. You shall
nave slzoo Gown for expenses and 5000
nayaole semi annually as long as Won
| live S'u
The iacetious youth made n wide, 1ndI
crons gesture with both arms as though
ea.norns up great heap Of bundles
| An motor, an private car an
an ineurance dIrectorship. an the yorne
princess. my daughter. for Wife an
! from?" "N''0
randolph Mason looked down at him
| black. es ooo'
From the Union Fuel company" he
| answered.
| fingers. 'A'
T.. "stuff's on" he said. You Nigh. yet
II from the fresh air fund or Uncle
A5dul Of Turkey, but not the coal trust
We shall set IL from the Union Fuel
company. said Mason Mr. Parks
with us N''''
Tif.,