Douglas daily dispatch., 1928-02-12
COOPER. OLD time PROSPECTOR,
TELLS WHEN BILLYFOURR WAS
| FUSE LIGHTER in SONORA MINE

Back in the days when w. j. Billy
Fourr, state cattle inspector, was STIR
ring coffee with six-shooter and
when he could put two bullets from
his trusty weapon in the same hole
on a tree as he rode by on his cayuse,
he was a friend of Frank Cooper down
in the Sierra Madre mountains of So
nora where he was engaged in mining
es well as shooting straight" Billy
made and held friends there as he
has since, but there are few things
about his career as a mining man in
the Sonora field when things were
good that might not have been known
were it not for the fact that his for
nier friend happened through Douglas
the other day. Cooper is still his
friend and he refers to FOUR as a
''darned good old scout" and then
chuckles as he looks at Billy and
remarks, "Yes, and I want you to
put in both wordS-good and old--for
he's no spring chicken, at that"
There are some incidents in Fourr'S
life down there that you will enjoy,
remarked Cooper, as he sat and talked
of the old days, period he fixes as
d0Oub 1S1O W11C1A bAAC NOJo Al NAA~
Sierra Madre strip were in the pay
streak. "And if some of us other old
buffers didn't spill the beans on him,
he probably would keep it under his
sombrero until they wound Shroud
about him and took him out to the
hole beside a mesquite bush and rat
tied the clodS over the box. Then it
would ell be forgotten. But there is
some Of it that you ought to tell.
Here is part of it:
Took Shot to See Sun Rise
Billy was prospecting on one OF
the highest peaks in the Sierra Madre
mountains Is miles from the nearest
postoffice. His was the highest pros
pect diggings in the territory and it
was generally understood that Billy
picked that high spot so that he
could be sure to see the sun rise and
know when to get up in the morning.
Down the mountain from him, almost
ct the base, was another prospect
camp operated by a couple of good
old souls, Jack Thomas, as big hearted
an old Celt as ever came across the
pond, and Bill Campbell, a cow
puncher who had seen better days
and had left the Panhandle with the
hope that the salubriouS atmosphere
of the Sonora country might bring
him back, Their camp was the half
way place between Fourrs camp and
the poStoffice- mot, of course; in the
distance but in the travel, as it was
a real climb from there up to BillyS,
StirS Coffee With Six Iron
cnnf1
will, mail and mescal from, time to
time from town back to the mountain
and usually he would stop for dinner
or over night with Thomas and Camp
bell. Now, here's part of the funny
half of the yarn. He usually would
come back quite talkative and with a
disposition to sing and it was on such
occasions that he used to stir the
coffee with his Six-iron and also pass
the flapjacks with it and at times,
so the story went, if he thought there
was danger of burning the bacon he
would prove that a six was as good
as a fork for turning it. Well, that
was all right, for trip of Is miles
on horseback in those days entitled a
fellow to sing a bit if he cared to dc
so. But coming home with an excess
cargo and giving an exhibition of his
fancy ability in plugging the same
hole twice with leaden ball finally
got SO it made Thomas and Campbell
nervous and they set trap for Billy
'The Thomas and Campbell pros
pect was down about so feet into the
ground and much of it was solid rock
They were then going through some
solid rock and it was being done BY
blasting, of course. So expecting
Billy, they knocked off about the
proper time and when he got in they
were both in the camp and Thomas
who was past so, was not a robust
man, and Campbell, who was not 81
years old, was complaining of rheu-
matism or gout or something and they
were worrying about having some
shots set off that had been put in fol
tearing out some more rock.
CampbelIs Rheumatism Worse
"Campbells rheumatism was SO ter
rible, to hear him tell it, that it woulc
have been the tortures of the damned
to make the trip down to the bottom
to light the fuses. He had been th'
one that set the shots and fixed tht
fuses and he was explaining tt
Thomas how to light them, telling
how this one was in a hole % inches
deep and this one 35 inches deep anC
that other one Is inches deep anC
each of the II holes specifically de
tailed as to depth and amount o
powder, length of fuse and all, s.
that he must be careful not to fir
the. short fuse or he might be blown
into the kingdom come or the fourth
dimension, or something else. Thel
he said that he hated like hell for
poor old man to have to go down AM
take such chance because only
slight error might mean death to him
But Thomas was game and he got u
and started toward the hole.
Billy Takes the Fuse
"All this talk took place at tn
collar of the shaft to which there wa
no ladder and the way to get dow
end up was by the old-fashion wind
lass and bucket. Billy unloaded hi
cayuse of the mail and other good
including some moisture and starte
about singing, as was his wont. The
when Thomas started toward the shat
Billy stepped out and said in grut