Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1917-10-16
T h 9 ID aily
Short Story
A MINING STORY OF THE EARLY
DAYS.
By Elias Killian

E ~ AAtAsh2 tAt-+tstAA-
I A party of young people stepped into
/ the dingy rooms of q fortune teller 1f
/ san Francisco and asked her 10 ten
their fortunes
I'm tired of this business. she said
but / would like TO make little
money for my present needs T VIII
tell YOU the fortune of a couple whose
[ life is more strange than that OF any
+ one whose fortune I have ever told
All agreed 10 hear the story, and
finding whatever seats they were able.
they settled down TO listen The old
woman began
In the early days of Virginia City
there lived there a teamster with his
wife. q Scotch woman, who took {u
washing and kept q miners boarding
house Neither Of the two had ever
had any education, and neither could
read nor write. They were JUST q
plain teamster and a plain washer
woman.
One day some men came 70 the
teamster and told him they wished 81
buy claim Of q few hundred feet of
Gold bill but they hadn't quite enough
money TO pay for it, Had he any saw
ings, and would he, If he had. Ike
to so in with them? The teamster
talked the matter over with his wife.
that they might as we'll put what thew
had IN the claim since they knew o.
no way to invest 1t to get an interest
from 1t. That was a time when no one
knew what great wealth there was
i'm the sgrouud whereabouts and what
ever the couple bought could be bought
for very little money So they got ont
their stocking and dumped the bills
and gold Oh the table. counted IL and
took it 10 the men VINO were going to
buy the claim and paid for their share
ia it.
by and by the owners began TO take
gold out Of the mine. and the mere
they took out the more, it seemed. was
there to take out Suddenly the team
ster and his wife found themselves so
rich that they didn't know what 10 d0
with their money
What's the first thing 10 do, wife,
asked the teamster
Give a big blowout she answered
So they gave a big blowout at che
international hotel. asking everybo5r
they knew and everybody they didH
know, and told the landlord not DO Day
any attention whatever TO what any
thing cost
Then they went away TO Europe ta
see all the sights there They enjoyed
the alps pretty wei fer they are
much finer than the Rockies. But fn
Rome and Florence and Naples they
saw a lot OF old buildings not SO muel
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