The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1919-10-23

0. j. O'Dell, the member OF tn
Pacific Coast Circulation Service witt
is conducting the present circulation
campaign Tor The Silver State, is f;
man who has travelled much and me
all kinds of people. Being able t.
judge, and choosing wisely, he lovei
the life of the West. Among O'DelPs
treasured possessions is a copy o
the address delivered at the funeral
of Riley Grammar at Rawhide, some
years ago. He suggests that The
Silver State print it as a classic OF
the Wild West, and this newspaper is
glad of the opportunity to comply
with the idea. Perhaps no man was
ever honored in memory with a finer
Grafton.
AS Grammar lived a life out Of the
ordinary $50, out of the ordinary,
were his death and his funeral. A
few years ago Riley Grammar sought
to recoup his fallen fortunes in the
mining of Nevada, and in one
of those camps-Rawhide-he died.
Nothing stranger ever came into
the life Of Grammar than the circum-
stances that marked the final rites,
held at Rawhide. Before a rough
coffin, placed in a variety theatre in
the rear of a saloon, there was
preached one of the most remark
able funeral orations ever heard;
And it was listened to by an assem-
blage that would be impossible of
duplication outside of a mining camp
such as was Rawhide in its early
days-and before the great drought.
Rough-clad miners, silk kimono-
clad women from the dance halls and
the variety theatre, business men,
bankers, gamblers, bartenders, and
all the fotsam and jetsam of a min
ing camp, assembled around the rude
bier.
The eulogy was delivered by a man
who had once been a minister, but
who had to be aroused from the
slumber consequent upon many hours
at a gambling table, to oficiate.
But the mourning of these people was
sincere. Tears stood in the eyes OF
hen and women who believed they
had lost the power to weep. There
were solos by a woman who had once
been an actress of renown, but who
at this time was the wife of n OF
Rawhide's business men, and by Jack
Hines of Alaska fame. Then, with a
months growth of beard on his face,
and his flannel shirt open at the neck,
H. w. Kn~ickerbocker preached the
sermon
Knickerbocker had had a fascinat-
ing career and had made consider
able money at different times in the
gold camps of Nevada. He vas one
of the early figures in the Goldfield
boom and was also one of the early
corners into Rawhide. He and Raw
hide Jack had known each other for
years and We're close friends. AS an
actor, a minister, a mining man, and
a fearless gambler, Knickerbocker
had passed through stages of expert
ence that were denied to most men
He was a typically Western charac-
ter and fitted perfectly into the wild
rough life of the new camp of Raw
hide.
The night that Riley Grammar died
Knickerbocker had gone through al
unusually long and arduous session
at the gaming table. The funeral wa
set for the next day, and the onl,
problem that confronted citizens 0
Rawhide was that of finding a mai
to deliver the eulogy. Knickerbock
er's name was mentioned and he wa
instantly chosen as being the onl
man available. Rawhide Jack wa
sent to notify him. He found Knick
erbocker asleep owe the gamblin
table where he had played the nigf