Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1916-07-26

had been patched up with whitewash
Outside the walls. Of the city was q
large encampment of tents In which
dwelt the more impecunious or more
economical Of the miners. Here toe
had located large hospital tent
There was a great deal Of sickness,
due to the hardships of the journey,
the bad climate, Irregular living, the
0vereating Of fruit, drinking. the total
lack Of sanitation. In fact, only the
situation of the city-out on an 18TH
mus in the sea breezes-I am con.
WINGED, saved us from pestilencc. Ev-
cry American seemed to possess pat.
ent medicine of some sort, with which
he dosed himself reigiously In and out
Of season. A good many. I should
think. must have fallen victims ~
these nostrums.
Each morning regularly We went
down to harass the steamship employ.
ees. Roughly speaking, Some "Na Of
us had bought through passage heto1e
leaving New York, and 1t was un
nounced that only fifty-two additional
to those already aboard could he
squeezed into the first steamer. The
other PAS would have 10 await the
next Naturally every man was de
termined that he would not be left.
for such delay In such place at the
time Of gold rush was unthinkable.
The officials at that steamship office
had no easy time. Each man wanted
first Of all to know Just when the ship
was to be expected, thing no one
could guess. Then he demanded his
accommodations and had a dozen rea-
sons why his claim should be pre-
ferred over that of the others. I new
er saw more quarrelsome, noisy dog
kennel than that steamship Office.
Why no one was ever shot there I
could not tell you.
In the evening the main street was
a blaze of light, and the byways We're
cast in darkness. The crowd was all
afoot and moved restlessly to and fro
from one bar or gambling place to an
other. OF the thousands or so of stran-
gers we came in time to recognize by
sight a great many. The Journey home
through the dark was perilous. We
never attempted 1t except in company,
and, as Johnny seemed fascinated with
a certain game called Mexican monte,
we often had to endure long waits be-
fore all our party was assembled.
One morning our daily trip to the
steamship office bore fruit. We found
The plaza filed with excited men, all
talking and gesticulating. The much
tired officials had evolved scheme
ior deciding which fifty-two of the 800
should 60 by the first ship
By next morning the transportation
officials had worked it out We could
lot all get into the office, so the draw
ng took place on the plaza outside.
As each mans name was called he
stepped forward, showed his ticket
md was allowed to draw a slip from
| box. If it proved to be blank he
vent away: if he was lucky, he had
lis ticket vised on the spot Such a
proceeding took the greater part Of the
lay, but the excitement remained in
ense. No one thought Of leaving even
or the noon meal.
Yank drew passage on the first
teamer. Talbot. Johnny and / drew
blanks.
We walked down to tiie shore to talk
'ver the situation.
I'VE ought to have bought tickets
,ood on this particular ship, not mere
y good on this line" said Johnny.
doesn't matter what we ought to
ave DONE" reioined Talbot little i'm
'atiently. What are we going to do?
IRE we going to wait here until the
ext. steamer comes along?"
That's likely to be two or three I
aonths-nobody knows" said Johnny.
No: it's In six weeks. I believe.
hey tell me they've started regular
rips on new mail contract"
We'll, six weeks. If we stay In this
ole Well all be sick, we'll be broke,
nd in the meantime every ounce of
old in the country will have been
licked up"
whats the alternativeT' I asked.
Sailing vessel" said Talbot briefly.
That's mighty uncertain" object
d. Nobody knows when one will
ct in, and when it does show up it'll
g a mad scramble to get to her.
here's mob waiting to go"
well, it's one or the other. We
ant walk, and l don't see that the
tuation is going to be much better
hen the next steamer does get here.
here are couple Of hundred to
rowd in on her, just counting those
'ho are here and have tickets. And
len there will be a lot more.'
"I'm for the sailing vessel" said
ohnny. '"They come in every week
: two now, and if we can't make the
rst one We'll have a good chance at
lie second or the third
Talbot looked at me inquiringly.
Sounds reasonable" l admitted.
"Then we've no time to lose," said
abbot decisively and turned away to-
ard the town.
Yank, who had listened silently to
lr brief discussion, shifted his rifle
his shoulder and followed. Shortly
, fell behind, and we lost him.
CHAPTER VI.
OF For the North.
YE accompanied Talbot in some
W. bewilderment, for there was
wv no ship in sight nor in pros.