Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-11-12

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'wo-thirds tui III shot. I, was then
/ remembered That Mile: had been buy
+ ING shot .Iila he was arrested. lie de-
/ hird having stolen the gold, but wa
/ convicted and .-nt 10 the pcnitcutiars.
! NJ Ia" cid uf his term he retained To
7 !hirbanks. where he was CAREFUL.
watched lie bad evidently hidden The
! h"!i II" had taken out OF the box. II
- supposed that lie succeeded in get
sins Il out OF the country. but to this
: dtr no o." knows how II was done
MANY OLD 81 sToMS
STILL hitE SURVIVING
Fairbanks has long since bccoin. =
seuied community, but many Of tho
customs OF earl. mining days are still
IN erect one is the habit of nirt>
names There ar" but few "inistcrs
and every one calls his fellow by his
aud Jim and Tom. Dick and Harry
the nickna,ncs are striking. Many
oil them arc founded on the sense Of
humor that prevails everywhere
throughout tho country. One charac-
tor mere is generally known as the
man who talked the crow to death"
THIS is miner who talks so much
that his fellows time and again have
/ eft him IL disgust. They did so one
6.ay leaving a raven sitting on the
fence outside his cabin. As the story
goes the man addressed his CONVEX
sation 10 the raven and talked 10 it
until at last tn. bird dropped.
Another man IL known rs Short and
Dirty" others 'Snookum Bili' and
Sour Dough Biir and 81 fourth the
Mala,nutc Kid. The latter IS noted
for mis- iin. ua!amutc dogs II" has
twenty On hand at this writing.
The Tear Kid" Is q husky fellow.
who go, the iitle 10y wrestling with
:: tame black hear before an admirnr
crowd. and the Hungry Kid is said
! to be all" 20 ca; NJ amy time and to
never refuse u meal! a very chin
man is named the Evaporated Kid"
One OF his friends says that he is a
:unnn stringbean with the bean lcft
out. a;-'sm-up Frank owns q
cabin on the Tanana River between
Fort Glbbon and Fairbanks where he
has y little potato farm. Ne Is called
'Fat-'cm up because when he gets
drunk. which - often. he shouts that
( n" can cal " any man in the crowd
He onl" weighs 100 pounds. Every
ono knows Frank as "old Eat-'cm-up."
''SteI-and-r -halt Johnson has one
Ter shorter than the other. Ncverthe
less he is fond Of racing ami can get
over tho ground faster than tho
average sprintcr. lie Is said to in
sis. that the race track I've along the
sid" % n hill. where the slope gives
+
Another striking character is Two
7 step Louie" Two-stcp got his title
: during the gold rush ut Dawson. He
was !. successful miner. who was
+ 'Gstomcd to frequent the dance halls
night after night. The usual charge
was 81 a dance, the man being eX-
/ pectcd to treat his partner at the end
I rho story is told how "Two-S;ep
! Louie" once sold "a claim for S5.c"o
! with the understanding that $1,000 was
/ to he paid in AiAmandcr Left chips
each chip meaning one dan.e. Two
I step" came with the stampede To Fair
i banks. whore he still continued TO trip
/ the light fantastic toe. IL is said he
would sometimes come into the dance
7 halls mere ami pin 500 note TO the
/ curtain over the oS,hestra. telling tn.
men TO give the crowd Il centurys
worth OF Turkey III the straw" The
! musicians would play TWO three
dances and then take down the note.
WUSDEREuI. SNAKE
STORY - HEARD
These names and stories are vouched
! Cor by the people Of Fairbanks, but !
AZ. beginning 10 doubt whether al! the
stories hear in Alaska are true.
nave jus, been told one about mine
! - White River who had his toes frozen
so that his feet sloughcd off TO tn,
tus;ep. The story is that the man hac
walk the stubs with the aid Of
pair of bears feet made into moccasins,
the bears claws taking the place OF his
toes. The man who told me this
showed me a photograph of the miner
with his bear feet tied on.
Another eXtravagant story is a ZOO
logical one. The people here say that
Alaska is as free Of snakes AS was
Ireland after the advent Of st. Pat
rick They say that the only snake
that ever came into the territory was
one brought from the outside In Il bale
Of timothy hay. This occurred about
two years ago. As the story goes. the
snake arrived on the edge OF the win
ter and crawled out of the bale when
The thermometer was about 80 degrees
below zero. 1t Immediately frozc solid,
aud as ii laid there was found by M
( Indian chief 1t was a long snake. and
the head had bent over so that 1t looked
like a cane. The chief used it as a
cane all that winter. and ne is said to
he using II still. lie buries 1t In tho
prehistoric ice under the moss as the
spring comes on, and when the Their
mometer falls brings II out as Il prop
10 keep him from falling.
And then the fish stories. Judge
Wickcrsham the Alaskan delegate to
Congress. who lives at Fairbanks. tells
me of IL lake near the headquarters OF
The Tanana river where he often goes
Tor sport in tho summer. The water
is as clear as crystal. and looking
down over the side of the boat he can
see hundreds of fish swimming about
lie picks out the fishes he wishes to
catch dropping his bait In front Of
only the best, and pulling il away
when small Dish or pne Of the wrong
variety might swallow 1t. AZ remcm-
ner. he could catch II hoat load in an
hour. but on account Of this careful
selection and his desire for sport II
takes longer.
II is said also that when the women
or Fairbanks go fishing. instead OF
dropping the flies on tie water, they
hold them at the end Of the line, some
distance above it. and wager as to who
can make the trout. iumn the highest.
Ihose who lose have tu pay in the
shape of luncheon
Copyright. 1919. by Frank G. Car
pentcr.)
4 Adventures Of