White Pine news. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1920-1923, 1923-01-21
BABBLING BROOKS
IN THE DESERT

Badger fights in reality are a home
industry of White Pine county. A
dozen years ago, more or less, they
used TO be so frequent and were SO
copiously written up and published
that the county became notorious. |;
was about that time that a woman
who by nature was opposed to blood
splitting, suffering and cruelty In any
form and who was a leader in organ
lied movements for the uplift hat
is TO precede the millennium, was in
cumbent of a clerkship in n of the
houses of the Nevada legislature. She
had read with horror about the man
ner in which these innocent subter-
ranean burrowers were mutilated
while callous crowds reveled over
their writhing and agony, of the way
faithful dogs, mans truest friends,
were made i~ntossausage meat or left
to die, rent, torn and bleeding, under
s~cornful laughter, until her compass
sion o~utdistanced restraint. Her first
impulse was to get elected to tie
next assembly herself and put over
a law to stop this protracted White
Pine outrage. But her sense of hui
mainly was too strong to wait that
long, so in her anguish she confded
in Charley Gallagher, then White
Pine assemblyman. a kind-hearted
scout with a pious mien and a brother
of the present mayor of Ely. Al her
request a bill was introduced by Mr..
Gallagher. While it never got be
yond the committee stage its contents
and the name of its fair sponsor were
published far and wide. That 1t must
have done some good is not doubted,
for the fights have not been so fire.
quent nor so vicious here since rs to
constitute a scandal. That this can
didate for the fame and laurels of
Clara Barton in the animal world
should not nave been heard of since
may be due to possibly a more init
mate knowledge of how the fights are
conducted. In other words, some
body may have put her next
The old badger fighting days of
Ely were made the more exciting by
the dog that played the role Of vii
lain in all of them. He was called
the fire department dog, by breed a
coach dog, and belonged To Billy
Lawrence. His name was Toughy.
He knew Just two things. One was
TO run to fires and the other to play
his role in the badger fights. He was
almost blind in the latter days hut
when held a few feet away from a
barrel he would struggle and lunge
at that barrel like a house a-fire.
When the badger IA pulled and
passed him by he would subside FOL
a time. That was in the days of sa-
looms and the t~wo-legged heroes OF
the fights were supposed to buy FOR
the crowd. AS they lined up before
the bar Toughy would enter the sa-
loon and stand and bark until che
ceremony was over. When Toughy
died he had a great funeral, flowers.
a coffin and a human burial. There
WAS genuine SOllO0, lOos III -
body knew and loved old Toughy.
In Ely there are several survivors
of a notable dog and badger fight
that was pulled off at Goldfield dur
ing the palmy days. Among them
are T.. e. Campbell and Jack Krotzeri
who witnessed Ii in all its atrocious-
ness. A new cashier of the Goldfieid
branch of the Nye and Ormsby Conn-
" bank named Degan had arrived
from San Francisco. He was an aus
tere person. digniied, refined and up
to late in his apparel. The fight was
held in the alley at the real of the
Nixon block. began pulled the rope.
In the appearance of the badger he
was disappointed and expressed dis
gust. There was no train out that
night but the next day he pulled his
freight. That the place has ceased
to thrive and the map is all but sans
Goldfeld may be due to the fact that
he has never set foot in it again. He
probably believes that to have been
the deciding factor IL he still lives.
During the Manhattan boom days
a young Englishman named Meikle-
John arrived from Japan. He said
he had been a wal correspondent for
the London Times. Shortly he ex-
pressed disgust with Manhattan. His
contention was the lack OF social life
that he had met no ladies, young,
old or middle aged. One afternoon
some Manhattan josher asked Meik-
lejohn If he could be at his tent
house that night about s o'clock.
Asking why. he was told in a whisper
that a lady wished to call on him.
Sure, he could be there. She came.
He invited her inside and it was only
a few seconds when there was a
pounding at the door. Meikleiohn
opened the door and a rough man
with a rougher voice demanded:
us my wife In there?"