The San Francisco call. [volume], December 06, 1903, Image 14

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
THE SUNDAY CALL:
The offices of United States Marshal
and' United States Attorney In a Ter
ritory are not very lucrative and resort
Commissioner. of the General Land.Of
fice I wrote him as follows: "Slr-^-I find
in the advance pages " sent me of , your
forthcoming annual report a statement
that the Truckee River takes' Its rise
in Pyramid Lake. ¦ runs • southwesterly
and empties into Lake Tahoe. The re-
the oth*» hand, t2» Irian vote was
equally large. ¦- ...
"Are yon an IrlehmanT** gald the can
didate.,: : ! /' ; ;;'- ; ; '.; .;.'•: •-•'•. ¦¦'.:--¦¦¦ '¦'¦
"I am sire, and proud of It," was the
reply. *B8nB0Bu£S
"Well, go and get a negro and com*
upon the stand with him. •© that X can
examine both of you, and Til give you
my ; best 5 Judgment.**.
: Curious ; are \ the ways 'of a man ¦ with
a mine*. "" Once'upbrila tlrne,^having.*ao
ddentaliy.' a few '; months', time I and a
Attorney '¦. at r law, . veterinary surgeon
and general contractor; will practice in
all ¦ the courts, draw deeds and all . pa
pers, cleans vaults, whitewashes fences,
digs wells, saws and chops wood.
Translates French, German and Span
ish papers. Works by the day, ; hour or
Job. ¦ "¦- Office at ' residence on Goose : Flat.
Give me a call.
The ; following Is from an advertise
ment i In : the Prescott (Arizona) Miner
of / August, 1879:
.'STEPHEN ]q: MARCON.
(Jack of all trades.)
Governor Torres of Bonora and Gov
ernor San* ord of Arizona were In the
habit of extraditing public offenders on
each. other's demands, without the for
mality of a resort to Washington for
papers. It was accomplished by the
simple but sufficient process of seizing
the criminal In an unconventional way
and depositing him on the other side of
the line, where officials were waiting
for him. .
An Arizona merchant told to another
dealer s> large bill of dry goods and
clothing, which were packed in bales
by the vender for transportation by
mule train. Arrived at their destina
tion 100 miles away, the bales were un
packed and found to contain only
worm-eaten dried apples. .The swindler
in the meantime fled to Hermosillo.
When the usual Informal requisition
was made . Oovemor Torres replied
that the villainous opposition press of
Mexico had been sharply, critidzing his
official administration, especially in tha
matter of extraditing criminals without
papers,* and he would be compelled to
discontinue the practice for the present.
But his great and good friend. Gov
ernor Saff ord, should not therefore be
powerless to punish* offenders against
the laws, and If his great ' and good
"Is the ledge permanent?" asked the
cautious Investor of the prospector who
was trying to sell, his claim. •"Perma
nent?"' was the answer, "well I should
•mile. If you had Niagara for the wa
ter power and the Territory of Arizona
for a dumping ground; and hell for a
blast furnace you could not work that
ledge out in a million years. 1 *
To his Excellency Robert Leather
wood. Mayor of Tucson: His Holiness
tho Pope extends his heartfelt congrat
ulations to your Excellency at the es
tablishment of telegraphic communica
tion between the andent^and honorable
pueblo of Tucson and the holy see. His
Holiness the Pope ventures to hop© that
the wires will prove links to bind to
gether the hearts of the people of the
two cities. His Holiness the Pope de
sires me to Inquire of your Excellency
where in hell la Tucson. -
-ANTO3CHn > .T.T l »
Finally, about midnight, when the
crowd surrounding Leatherwood car
ried crimson paint brushes and were
all telegraphically hilarious, the fol
lowing telegram was received and read:
"ROME. March. 1SS1.
A new Mayor of a newly Incorporate*
ed city is about. as important •> funo
tlonary—In his own opinion— as can ba
found anywhere, and the smaller th«
city the larger the Mayor. Wh«n the
construction of the Southern Padflo
road was In progress across Arizona
there was chosen as Mayor of The an*
dent and honorable pueblo of Tucson"
a publlo-splrlted little gentleman
known to fame as Bob Leathsrwood.
The Western Union Telegraph Com
pany completed its line to Tucson a few
months In advance of the completion
of the railroad and the dtlzens, under
the leadership of Mayor Bob, organized
an Impromptu celebration, consisting*
mainly of "setting them up" for each
other. Early In the day Mayor Bob
sent off telegrams of congratulation to
the Governors of California* New York
and other States and the Mayors of Ban
Francisco. New York, ; Chicago and
other cities. In the evening answers to
these dispatches arrived and were read
by Mayor Bob to the' crowd In the
Fashion 8aloon, where the .main cele
brating was conducted. A. pair of un
principled wags obtained /some receiv
ing blanks and suborned the new tele
graph messenger boy, and when th»
genuine dispatches began to give out
faked dispatches were concocted and
delivered. A telegram purporting to
come from President Arthur congratu
lated the Mayor of Tucson on the con
nection of his city with the Federal
capital by wire. Then came a telegram
from Lord Beaconsfleld to the Illustri
ous Mayor of Tucson, saying: "Her
Majesty the Queen desires me to ex
press her personal and official delight
at being in touch with you. and hopes
that the harmonious relations between
Tucson and London may never be dis
turbed."
has occasionally been had to question
able methods for Increasing their rev
enues. One diligent and rapacious
Marshal In Arizona trained three Wal
lapal Indians as detectives. When the
jrain stopped for half an hour for din
ner at a station in Arizona one of these
savages would approach a second-class
passenger, or a brakebeam tourist and
say to him: "You like make half a dol
lar? I give you half'a dollar you go to
store ''across street and buy enc bottle
whisky. Saloon man no sell * to Injln.
When you come back I give you half
dollar more and take i the whisky."
The tenderfoot who availed himself of
the offered opportunity was, upon the
completion of the transaction, arrested
immediately by a Deputy Marshal for
selling liquor to an Indian. "His indict
ment followed in due course. The proof
was plenary and . conviction followed.
Each conviction resulted in adding $100
or more to the assets of the Federal
officers out of Uncle Sam's pocket, until
the | Judge | presiding after four or five
convictions; with the same set of wit
nesses, . • remarked : "Mr. Clerk, how
many more of such cases as these are
there on- •the calendar?" "Eighty
three." , "The Marshal has been Indeed
diligent in the discharge of his duties."
said; the court, "but I cannot permit
his teal to bankrupt the United States
treasury. Mr. District Attorney, you
will enter a nolle prosequl. in all the
other cases and an order that the de
fendants b* discharged.**
Years afterward a man came Into
my office and Invoked my services In
some litigation in which he was In
volved and suggested that he had once
turned a lot of water on my wheel by
locating me in a mining claim. /It
seems ; that my locator had backed a
litigant In a case where I had been em.
ployed on the other tide and be was a
witness and was aeverely handled and
his friend . lost the case ~«nd ha ! remem%
bered it, and when they were out pros
pecting and .discovered the Kempton
they concluded to locate me therein, so
that In the event of trouble they would
have a lawyer.
tew thousand aouars io spare, I con
cluded to rid myself of both by a trip
to . Europe. In Paris I received' a let
ter from a banker in a mining town
where my home had been, inclosing a
quitclaim deed to him of a one-third
Interest' in the Kempton mining claim,
and saying that if I would sign it I
could draw on. him for $500. I did not
know of any such claim, or of owner
ship of any mining claim in that dis
trict, and I did not think it safe to
take the money, so I wrote him brief
ly, declining the offer, giving no rea
son for my declination and stating that
I would" soon be back. Some months
afterward on my return to 'my, former
home the same gentleman called on
me, told me that the mine was look-
Ing better and offered me $3000 for my
interest. I said I would look into It
and let him . know in a few days. I
visited the district where the mine was,
searched the records and found my
name along with those of one Kempton
and one Hamilton signed to a. notice of
location of 'the Kempton mining claim.
I did not know either of these gentle
men and inquiry developed the fact
that they had sold their two-thirds
Interest to my banker friend some
months . before and - that Kempton was
dead and Hamilton had left th» Terri
tory. I interviewed the banker and
stated the facts to him and
agreed to accept $5000 for. any Interest
I. might have in the mining claim, pro
vided he would elm an agreement that
I had sold with the understanding that
I did not. know whether I was the per
son whose name was in the location or
whether It was another of the same
name. He accepted my offer and paid
the money. - -
friend would kindly indicate what
amount and kind of punishment thm
fugitive ought to receive ha (Governor
Torres) would see that It was Inflicted
upon the rascal. Governor - Bafford
wrote in reply that he thought about
three months' imprisonment at hard
labor would be right.' Governor Torres
gave the culprit for good mearar* four
months' practice In street cleaning la
the chain gang and the rascal never
knew and nobody else was 'ever abla to
ascertain for what offense It* was pan**
isbed. " ¦ : --
The trustees of the principal mining
companies created a milling corpora
tion and contracted with themselves
to crush all the ore at a high price
per ton. The rich ore was mixed with
poor ore and the poor ore with bedrock
and the stock of the milling company
paid dividends while the stockholders
of the mining companies paid assess
ments.
Two humble adventurers In the lar
ceny line resorted' to more primitive
methods of obtaining other people's
property. They were employed in the
assaying and melting room of one of
This being accomplished the superin
tendent hauled up and detached the
wire cable, took out some necessary
pieces of machinery, closed and locked
the hoisting house, and placed a trusted
ally on guard. That night he rode on
horseback to the railroad station forty
miles away, caught the train and the
next day at noon was in San Fran
cisco. His relative was a man of large
resources and within three days they
had quietly bought up two-thirds of
the stock in the mine. Then the im
prisoned men were released, work was
resumed, the bonanza was developed
and within one month the stock had
advanced from $8 to $600 per share, and
the trust-betraying scoundrel — for he
was nothing else — was worth $7,000,000,
and was at once admitted to social and
business communion with all the other
magnates of the Comstock.
Another "operator" In charge of a
bank loaned the money of Its stock
holders to mining corporations to en
able them to continue development
work in advance of the collection of
assessments. If the company "struck
It rich," something happened to the
pumping machinery and the shaft filled
with water. The "operator" and his
friends bought in the stock, then the
mine was pumped out. the bonanza un
covered and more millionaires were
created.
Breaches of trust by which millions
were obtained were as brazen as the
dissipations of the millionaires. To this
day men relate as an exhibition of
financial and business acumen the act
of a California mining boss and county
politician who at a low ebb in his for
tune was 6ent to a relative to take
charge of a quartz mine In Nevada.
The mine was owned by a corporation
and its shares were selling at $8 each
In the San Francisco Mining Stock
Board, for no considerable body of ore
had been found. One afternoon the
superintendent was present when the
miners broke Into an ore body which
two hours' work with the picks dis
closed to be enormously rich and ex
tensive. Obviously the plain duty of
the manager was to make public the
news or at least to communicate it to
the stockholders, whose trustee he was.
Instead of doing so he ascended to the
surface, hastily collected bedding,
blankets, cooked food, wines, liquors
and cigars and lowered them down the
£00- foot shaft, accompanied by a note
to the shift boss stating that the men
might cease work and make themselves
comfortable; that they would be kept
there for a few days, during which time
their pay would go on; that each man
would receive $100 as a gratuity, and
that the families of those imprisoned
would be told that an accident to the
machinery was the cause of their de
tention.
(Copyright, 1903, by Thomas Fitch.)
Some of the great fortunes of the
Comstock lode came to their possessors
through methods which elsewhere
would have made those who practiced
them candidates for the striped suit
of the convict rather than the toga of
the Senator, and would have entailed
general obloquy rather than general
esteem. The impulse which begets and
directs the "sacred golden fury" Is usu
ally ap impulse of the pit, and those
who are inflamed by it often prepare
for the mad race by stripping them
selves of conscience and turning deaf
ears to the monitors of good faith and
honor. The evil consequences are not
confined to a few. The paresis of In
tegrity which results extends to the
masses and lessens the moral upright
ness of those who neither participate
in the dishonest act nor share in the
plunder. Often, indeed, the baleful in
fluence thus created extends .to and
poisons the literature of the . period.
Bret Harte made of John Oakhurst
Buch a sanctified sport as never really
existed and he laundered the gar
ments of his 6carlet women to a pale
pink color. Yet the probabilities are
that John Oakhurst cheated at cards
and that the fair Delilahs of the foot
hill mining camps never suffered their
spasmodic acts c' kindness to interfere
with tfelr regular business. Some of
the millionaires of the Comstock were
6hameless In their lives. One of these
had a home In which the exterior de
cencies of dvllzed life were preserved
end where he raised his family, and
had another residence in which there
was no attempt at concealment of con
stant debauchery and where he raised
the devlL Another took the air every
afternoon In an open carriage, accom
panied by some public woman, and
many instances might be related of or
gies as public and as debauching as
those which Tacitus ascribes to Nero
and his court.
When General James H. Nelson was
The candidate paused. .The ; fifteenth
amendment had Just been ratified and
there were 400 colored men in the coun
ty whom he did not wish to offend.. On
"I did not,", was the reply.
"If yez didn't say it thin, what have
ye to say about It now ? An' do ' yes
think that' a naygur is as good as an
Irishman?" ¦ " .."¦;* . .
"It Is reported of yez that ye said last
night that yez considered a naygur was
the alq.ua! of an Irishman/ Did yez say
that?" ¦';> >.;¦•-¦¦ V, -\ ¦ .
"I'd like to ask yez a question, sir,"
said a tall Hibernian to the candidate
who . was orator of the evening. .
"Certainly," replied . the speaker.
"What is it?"
"What do you ask are my chances,"
said an Independent candidate for
Sheriff. "Really, I cannot accurately
say. It will take. 750 votes to elect me,
and all I can be certain of is that I will
be the . next Sheriff of Ormsby ' County,
or else there are 963 of the biggest liars
in the world living right here."
The liars were there— 946 of them.
verse Is the case. As ; Lake . Tahoe Is
1600 feet higher than Pyramid Lake
the difficulty that would be experienced
by the Truckee River; In' changing Its
course to accommodate Itself to - your
report would probably be l less than
your department .would ;• experience In
changing • the report to accommodate
Itself to the course of the ; river. With
the highest assurances of distinguished
consideration, I am," etc. '
And Commissioner changed the
report, but his dignity would not suffer
him to reply to the letter.
tho big mills and they practiced pinch
ing and pocketing gold and silver
amalgam, a few pounds at a time, un
til In the course of a year's time they
had stolen and carried away over one
hundred thousand dollars' worth. How
to market their goods was a problem.
ComEtock bullion had an Identity of Its
own and any offered for sale outside of
the regular channels would arouse
suspicion and 'might result In detec
tion. In this dilemma they took Ras
cal Number Three Into partnership.
Rascal Number Three had a few thou
sand dollars capital. There was a bank
rupt mining corporation called the
Hornet that owned an abandoned mine
and a dismantled live-stamp mill In a
decayed mining: district about forty
miles from where the stolen bullion
was hidden. Rascal Number Three
was a skillful metallurgist and miner,
lie bought up the Hornet stock for a
trifle and took possession of the prop
erty. With a far night Journey he
transported the bullion In a spring
wagon to the old mill. Then he re
opened the Hornet mine and with the
aid of the two thieves refitted the mill
and began crushing the ore. There
was svme silver in the Hornet ore and
to the actual yield the conspirators
added a portion of the stolen bullion
until it all was marketed. While this
was in progress, the continual yield
from the Hornet gave Its stock a mar
ket value and it was fed to the public
at gradually advancing prices. It was
estimated that the three clever rascals
cleaned up a hundred thousand dol
lars each.
THis Is the
Twelfth of These
Clever
Articles
SagebrosH
Sketches
Recollections
and
Reflections of Thomas Fitch
14