The San Francisco call. [volume], June 23, 1907, Page 1, Image 1

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

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The San Francisco Sunday Call.
Magazine Section Part I.
HIGH=GRADING AT GOLDFIELD
IT was in GoldftcM tliat I met my
old friend. Bill Gordon, minfr. As
we toyed ivitl> utir glasses I turned
to him inquiringly. ••Bill, what ever
became of John J-anpan. who came
fco*-n to this countrj; from Buttc four
or five years ago?" Bill's eyes lighted
up with pleasure at the memory. "John
Langan,". he mused, with a reminiscent
Chuckle, "sure, an' tltfrc v.-as the boy
that had sqmcthin' on his mind besides
bis hair; a fine man, indeed he was.
"Well, sir, old John is down. in Call-
Corny a-3ivin* on a "fruit ranch an*
a-takin' it easy for ' the i rest of his
days. Sure an' John has . plenty o'
money now an' I'll be after tellin' you
how it was. . You remember about fiva
years 3507 lie come do^vn here pros
pectin'; started our up. north some
where with an outfit an.* cou'plc o'
burros. Walked" "in here when thers
was only a couple o' cabins by Rabbit
springs "Over there on the Malapi.
Pretty rough goin' them days, I guess,
from all John has told me about it,
but he said them rc-d hills over there
to the northeast, behind the T*!orenc«
an* the Mbuawl:, uiius did looli good
to him.
"Well, he luns around an* pr»#«
pecked an* located a few claims, an 1
more people drifted in art* located mora
claims, aji' pretty' soon tomebaoy niaOe
a. strike on the Jumbo or' the Sand
storm or some o" them mines you an
see along- llic hills there. Jo'vn never
<3id niuch-vork o't liis clairnE-r-an' .sja
had some good locations, too— just sold
'cm alt -for, ;i ..little :cn.py_ an" look ti
dj-inkln". ;L'idn"t amount, to .uothih' f«rt
over a year. ' V
"By tliafitcv* thf Moha»"lc* begrtirt
be a. producer ia" old John took a brae a
an' went-to swlbjln* z sins'e jacli in tli«
xnlne. Staj r eJ i^vith it . to% an' ; -«viiea';
Hayes ahd'Monrfettc* struck 4i!gh g^rad«
in the MoiiSv.l;.- Jolrn was shift boss ,
for 'em an" a. sood ; njir.c? he •_. was. %o
be sure. »P;x.ti; T < soon the men begun,
high gra-Jin" anu Jo'i;i " Ijcsun' to ' tiro
'cm. Out t'.H y l«-oa!i'l «-oa!i' 'come, the bully
boys. loadoJ ' (!\u25a0."•'"' Vviih 25' iind SO
pounds «* tUa* rich stuff— every' shift '
was tiic sairii' wkj-. an' oil they -would •
go to some o" thc£< bum assayers an*
sell ro- k -Hint ud go ?ro to the pound
for $H«; • t'leu off ti.ey -would so again. _
with tlKir mooejr to the dance halts or
the ealooiis or to back the wheel, an*
they'd be sx>od ici-ers an* spend it all.
"I was one o' t*i'i:n an' the biggest
fool in the lot. Me a carrj'in* away 23
pounds faf the best of it every shift,' an* .
I Itnew tlic go'oJ rock, when I seen it.
T«o hundred and tifty ar.d ?300 every
day -I mad<-\ -Ah. man, I should .b«-_
worth thousan-jg o" dollars todaj- an*
look at m*-:, just enough to "buy a
drink now an' then like I allus had."' \u25a0 ,
In Cosmopolitan Goldßeld
We had wandered out on to the.,
crowded streets of Goldfield. ejbowin g
our way through the ceaselessly* mov
ing throng, bumping strange. membeVs
of one of tiw most cosmopolitan crowds"
fv«;r tongrogatca in a mining camp -in, '
search of golden treasure. A stranga .1
crowd it was indeed, filling '
a^id jraniblins: houses that stood sida "
by side for solid blocks or pacing, rest- .
l&ssly «p atid- down the rough, board
walks Jool^insr for excitement and
events?*; Bich and poor, bold and'timid, ?
straiglft-^ and. crooked. Capitalist rub
bing shoulders* with the ' man who had ; v
epent Ills latt dollar to get into the
country; grayibler poking: elbows into [
the ribs of mining engineer and pros- .
pector: while ia their midst a painted,:
pompadoured . and .high heeled, .wo
man, swingin" along with the bold ,
assurance of one who knows that her
path will be. cleared, leaving in her
wake the glances of these rough sons :
of the desert and a cloud of incens* '
as from a perfume factory. ] ." ' 1
Out ia the narrow. streets huge motor
cars pushed their clamorous , way, *
through the crush . of the traffic lon \
paused - noisily . beside ten mule teams .;
ready "to . start \u25ba with ' their freight top. '
outlying camps. Strange contrast, this \u25a0
mingling; °* the; past' and. present; the •
chauffeur . and . the" old mule - skinner 3
cxfsßlng ; each : other with the right good ' ,
will of ,the /mining : camp, as*, freight /
w»ffon. blocked; the road, or; skittish •
mules tried to climb; neighboring tele* '
pQles.at. sight of some^red'mba* .
>6ter seuttilnff heedlessly by. ", -.
" Taaned'and bronzed were'thesa argo*^
r auta, kbakl s uited • and "1 eather coated: I
bluff, honest. istrong,isa.vo T -where r here':
mid there • through i the- \ throng-, i as * al
ways, hard ; faced, hollow.: eyed . men, the
riffraff of. humanity, broken-down gam-;
b^era. sports. ; , poUticJans,; political •; agi
tators and; thieves 'shuffled their furtive
\u25a0way, hoping** gainst"; hope that here at
last in this-solden city they could make
the long deferred 'strike; meanwhile they
bessed the l»ar tender for a 'drinit, *or
In the early hoursof the mornins sank
' wekrily " to \u25a0 Eiecp ; orA bench ; and i cha ir,
behind the stove^aud under the tabled
Whea * lull was "on the sramea.'
»', Bet iBill- at~ my? side • still • talk
. Ing ' and ! I $ was " : interested in ,, his .story,
for I-recoi:nized'at'.onceJthVtale 6f/tlfe
. high - grader, ; than ' which * ho" mo rie dra
matic; thing; has-been* tbldTin' all 4 thV
tales} of ; mining. ' So i 'l ,lcd»hirn-; to a
place : 1 1 knew,* a '\u25a0\u25a0 leather- seated \ recess *}
in one of the*more^pretentlous'places ; oC \u25a0•
the. tor/n ...Trhere ".',yvcT could jliaveT-oiurj
drinks and!talk.in;conifort.;^- ; _-\u25a0 ; ; ,- v
* ."Indeed, ithose« was Jgreat' days,", ssys i
£ill. tc.Unsr.bij> •whisti-, at a.JtulD. "you -
; could "\u25a0hca?;_the;jlnsleio'«*money 1 f in' e^eVar;
, man's .pocket, .enough' an', torspar'c. ' • An'.-,"
i v.- ha t a ; b ! oo mi n'ji fool * I (wisj tofbel su 'rel^i
¥** t>x i n -l* l^? %^^*,°.*L t jl e ° c /.helllioles*,i,where-v
Awomcif, 'an" drink", an: gamblin'.'/was^t
SSg^asfthetair|to!th'c;' ni'an'^ifi^m'oi»«y;.^l
\u25a0 S3O O \u25a0in na.v% cocket ; o.n'% troubledf inTaajr.^j
tnougnt^at vtlie^fear^ that:I«cou!dn'tpS.etVi
tidoy tljAlhJs^youjcmild.-hcarHheUit-^
tie i ivory. ;,ba llr^a^. rolling, orV hcar>. tho';,
srapsr dealer sinsin"_ out ??- . Ii e '_ Katvd ed j^
bac^Vtiie/dice. -An;; how they|di^buckf;
the .TOh'eei-rrhundreda i; oh,^aJ^single turnip
kn'; wine, an'; wom/n;VdnyiaricSn'.%;rAh, 1
themlwasfflusli^days!;*^' \u25a0-\ t -y -'.L ...u.V-.''.
\u25a0."'-"Hayes j; a n' '\u25a0, Monnettej -^was •. a-takl n" ' ;
t h re o 1 rn i 1 1 i on \u25a0 a", mb n f n * o u t .' o' ..- tho , JI o -
baTvkfanl, wh at a , place . i t was f or < high- •;
erradin'I -All f the boys -wanted- joba'ia '
itjie il^h^Vf};.^ .T.itV;lca^?:r3,'W5S:t.oo,tusyJ,
:•«-\u25a0« r^rej to- pay muclt ajt- \u25a0 "
\u25a0iep t|o n go W i ; % m i n,i ix\ -, i Tlj ey-jpo lisqd •'?.
. around t4»i '-the b.oTT€ls{o* the k;
iiwh^reverL' shVvjv«nt;. / a.n''. ;Tnany*3^.he -bis s
ther^* T^asy£in' r ; > Iittle 1^racny\'aii' *;
vcrevice^where-a. man .could ; picket thV? \u25a0
»f rce ;^old an" no^ da.nar"er/o*. bis^nY caiisbfc^
thereC waVjpther f Voo<J.mipes, a .itura-u-
JnV.lt *out;Uhe -Florence,; the Jyn}bo,>the,v
f Sa^4^
an" ;\u25a0 more^Tv herc> the'^boys 4 was > s*tUn*;< ,
Uhcir'.sbarc.V;.;-!"'^-^ x 'i \u25a0 t. *'*-h '.'I- -T^T.:V-rV
t y'A^W9;Uiaii;t^th.ink"^ it! so-TwroAS^
«thcm,.d.iy.3. >~The,, anarchists In th.»
camp, jscz.-. 'Co .ahead, boys, t an* get
> what's; eorain* ~to#yoTj.*4 ; Let* us make
J-.'eur 1 . enemies,*-, the-, wealthy mine own
• «'«. divvy, -up, with us/.'.TheCearth be
longs to , everybody, share, an' share
alike.' An* we didn't need no ' urgln*.
;.*£nere ~was "plenty of it there,'- an' easy
cnousrh.it ivas'td, set away- with it. Ton
[can see , how -it, .was. .Down there un
dersrround you \u25a0would be ashovelin* an*
a sweatin', ha'n<Jlin* the 'wealth that bc
.lorfffsd to some* one thkt"eotildn*t spend
it' all. an'. -every time .you, turned a
shovelful your ' candle ;>*utt show t{ia
dull .slowjn'.. gold fc inl;tne/ rocks., ar.'—
, < well.*th»n you'd'think o" the fun goln"
on in the' town' an*" you couldn't help
.doln'-fit-'-I- u^pd-toUiave thetaJIs o' my
shirts jsewed -together, an*, every time
J'd.findi'aJ nice piece o* rock I'd drop It
injthe .breast .V my 3hirt pr in a belt
1. carried next my. skin. Everybody
.was ;do;n* it, so* I did.n't cart. . Why,
> min..TChcn .they was .workia' in the
Glory \hole-- at the^ Combination they
fired > over n.' hundred men a month for
jbigh^^radin'. : an* the ,new men was
iw^r^.thjin'th'eu Old.;. They even jumped
obthc ore tniins spiu'-to, the mill .with
; a .little sack an':a, hammer, an*. tried to
>"or£ »ove? ,.th9, 5ood stuff .while sh9
inoved., JL ', .r". \u25a0 \u25a0- r ., . \u25a0 '-^_
.; ."Weil. '.one^. day, I4 was comin' on top
.wltli -a "awful bunch o* . rich*stuff — -must
a \hjul vJoVty. potind .. an* , 1 1 was ..walkln'
i m*jght*f. ! '.st'iff i. a»* ..slow, looked, like a
.turkecjj. gobbler with , soft? bunions.
Just as I was* steppin".o£f\the cage old
John- %angan . spotted ; me , an", kind a
smiledr^ *Bill.* he sez. _"like to , sce*yoa
Vymipute.*, So old , John • took ma to
one « * Idesan'.'sez, 1J111,' he ; sez, *m« *n*
you ; Las been \u25a0 good • friends for * 900U
iCoc tiauetl on >t ext Page.^