The Springfield herald., 1918-03-22
\ERSONS
St0ries nd Incidents
f Old Boston
and the Old Days
By tha Writer
Fortunes Continued
By ths Writer

Fortunes Continued
Under the head of fortunes
brought, made andlost, Dr.. Brown
is noticeable rather for what he
made and didn 'tlose so very much
of than for what he brought and
lost. It is probable that So. 900
would cover what he brought
with him. andeven that may be
$1,000 too high.
he first started a little one-horse
dry.goods st.re. with prices cor
responding to the altitude of the
country. Then he went into a
25x50 building. filed it with gen.
eral merchandise. drugs. and a
compound closely allied to whis-
ky; and notwithstanding that
prices were lowered upward
strictly in accordance with STAND.
pat principles. Doc Brown was
the principal merchant in Boston
up to the time he was hauled out
of town under q load of fodder.
For three years he did a big
business and made a whole lot of
money. Doc wasn't of those who
talks about his business, but him
self and q clerk were kept on the
jump waiting on customers from
twelve to fourteen hours a day
and seven days in week. in 3
years it is likly he has made
some money-probably was worth
at this time SO. 900 to Sis, 900.
After making his final escape
from the town. never to come
back again, the remaining goods
were turned over to his clerk. at
probably q considerably below
coat, which wasa small loss com
psred to what he had made.
7 We haven't heard from or Of
Doc for dfteen yeexss bat at that
time he WAS running a'druastore
in Missouri, and was reported to
be worth anywhere from $25, 600
to $50. 900.
The report of what he was
worth at thattime may have been
exaggerated, but you could set
Doc down in the heart of Africa
with a bolt of calico. &, case Of
pills and a recipe for white mule,
and at the end of the season he'd
come out with his colors flying
and his clothes lined with money.
Tom Hambric was another
sorry victim of those old days.
Tom bought several town lots.
built q 25x4O business building,
built q fine residence. and put in
2,00c or 8 3,OOt of hardware.
1t was the stock of hardware
that floored Hambric. he put
in the stock after Boston was
mostly built, and after Boston
was built there was very little
more building done in the coun-
try.
Tom was a fin. fellow and had
a fine family. We never learned
what he did with his stock of
hardware. but he got out of the
country with nothing, and we
understand that for years he
was in very straitened circum-
stances, having a hard time to
eupport his family.
The instances we have cited
of those who dropped their wads
in the west and had either actu.
ally or hguratively to walk outof
the country and begin life all ov-
err again, are a few among the
thousands. tens of thousands,
and even hun dreds of thousands
over the whole dry west who did
the same thing.
Facts are, the settlement and
depopulation of the entire hiRh-
land west vas a tragedy in the
temporal affairs of those well
meaning peoples They came with
buoy ant hopes and high spir-
its, bringing with them their lit
tie all with their families and
in the morning they found their
little all gone, and a hungry
wolf glowering in the door way.
In Baca county nineteen-twen-
tieths Of the settlers got up and
drove away, or walked away,
from their new homes-down-
cast, dis-spirited, and many of
them hopeless.