Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (June 1, 1887)
a srn:r.sTiTioN or the nineteenth centuey. I T h in the rArly days of 1 when Hraiidy ('My, hydraulic raining romp, M-jitl n a ridge twenty mil ct of lvriinille. Sierra cnun ty. California, a a superlatively thriv. ng town. 'I1i (uUtiin i!i! not pi n ti hunlnl noults imt of whom rt engaged in the tlcn remunerative pursuit of rating thfl precious metal tf-tn tli Irt4 of the surrounding moun tain Iirandy City, like all raining r!ii of that epoch, w aa graced, nil well disgraced, !y the uot cl.-vfitl ninl decorate tyjwn of manhood. Every Our. I or fourth bnua cn the ratlin thor oughfare of the camp aa occupied aa a gambling or "hurdy-gurdy" ((Unco) hotiA In thojo data, re potable onion were rare, indwd, in the small raining camj of California, and m money iu easily obtained, minor readily gate a "hurdy-gurdy" girl five dollar for ft "lrn. 1 r danoe, and in many instant Un dollar, if h prmed ploaAntof ij-vh and fascinated the grrwly ?y. The aa l...n Wjwr and conductors of the gam bling and dance hooMNi contrived to g.thor in the greatrr irtion of the rain crV earnings; yit the camp faiUl not in l-Ti-j-nty. and there ere few who ool. tx at ftny time, jingle several d.uUe eg!r in their porkota. Among the gamblers living in Hmn. dy City then. m one Cienrg Wilton, ftn inUUigett, still ft superlatively to rtitioua, man. He was pi! of the hallucination that there wer some men in that ar&tll community acting m " r j j-t on the rttv Wilton had yiTc thU tkrtnne to Jocg and earnestly, ami (minted out so many im aginary proofs of iU reliability, that not only all the gamblers, but many minor, wore converted to his insane Ix'lief. One instance will illustrate how un reasonably superstitious this man was. Hi headquarter were established in a aaloon owned by one Hill Hill (yet liv ing), where, of course, gambling of ev ery conceivable nature waa the order of the day, and the night This place waa frequented, alao, by one Peter Simjoi, an honettt miner. Thia erBon had nev er beu known to rifk a dollar on a card, but amued himaelf with seeing others win or ho, and often annoyed the play, era by dropping unaaked-for advice. Wilaon had long regarded Simpson as a " coppor," lecauae, whenever he played at a table, and the latter waa present, he invariably lost his money. Once, he in currM an uncommonly great lc under thia circumstance, and he communicated his suspicion to others who had been inoculaUl with his superstitious fan cier, resulting in an indignant uprising against unsuspecting Simian. The gamblers forbad him entering Hill's saloon; but aa he was a man of undaunt ed courage, he declined to oley the l hot, and continued his visits. A few nighta laW, he waa waited upon by a deputation of miner and gamblers, in hit cabin, and ordered to leave the camp without delay, under penalty of serious personal injury. It may, i-erhap. be uesllMi to add that unfortunate Simp ton TAcatM hit premie the following day, SAcrificing his mining claim and all d and moved to LXjwnieville, where be roroained up to the L.urof hisd.atti.