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Show HI ANECDOTES OF JOHN W. MACKAY. If - ! U H I j jit llWft!3? BmiR' HM Ir Iackay liad some queer moods. He was K, i II' hot tempered and anything like an imputation of BH'M ' llia business methods stung him like a wasp. h Mnflt When the big bonanza began to decrease in pro- HL !L ceeds there were people who intimated that it Hfr 111 was but a trick to iear the stck and a iaw was Hi! m passed by the Nevada Legislature compelling all KJ 1 T deep mines to admit stockholders twice a month fa :rf ' for examination of the mine. There was a very Hjij;' i f wealthy broker in Virginia City whom Mr. Mackay H h ., did not like. After the passage of the law this H I broker was among the first to demand admission Hi J , l ;jj into the lower levels. Hi u, . f t The Comstock levels are so hot that one going H n ' jS into any of the mines, even on a hot summer day H tjii', f'S and remaining there half an hour will, on being IHnh f hoisted out into the surface atmosphere, feel a HI ' , . ,j chilly sensation. Of course, men in the mines per- Hftp1'; '1 spire so profusely that ordinary clothing would HHe'a i : I - be ruined if worn there. Hit mm t"e rue was nS aS established that H91 1 fflji visitors would go to a room set aside for the pur- HHalfwrS? pose, take off their clothing and don a coarse suit, H il numbers of which were hanging conveniently on Hl f -ue wa On emerging the clothes worn were Hajf I I thrown off and immediately taken away to the flRfr,, I f laundry; the visitor would take a bath, put on his H! ' I own clothing, take a drink of whisky if he desired; Hi ! 1 k. then, after waiting a few minutes could safely go IKk H about his business. IBShH Well, as said above, this broker presented him- HH self, doffed his own clothing, donned a rough suit HflnHN and was lowered into the mine. Mr. Mackay, so BBHH I soon as the cage started down went to the "bath HhRHH i and dressing room and said to the attendant, "Do you know the man who just went down into the mine?" "Oh, yes," was the reply, "Mr. ; a fine gentleman." "He may be," said Mr. Mackay, "but when he comes up and throws off his clothes you see that they are burned." "Why, Mr. Mackay," said the man, "Mr. is always carefully care-fully and cleanly dressed." "No matter," was the short response, "You burn the clothing. I do not want any friend of mine ever to put on clothes that that blankety blankety blank has ever worn." Mr. Mackay once took offense at a man with whom he had long been on friendly terms with and did not speak to him for a month. Finally he sent a messenger asking the man to call at his office. As he entered the office Mr. Mackay held up a box of his cigars and said, "Take a cigar." The man complied. "Take a dozen of them," said Mackay and added, "We all make d d fools of ourselves when we get mad." That was all that was ever said about tho trouble between them. When Mr. Mackay was just beginning to come into prominence as a financial factor, the late Senator Sharon was king of the Comstock. He was a small man physically, always in delicate health, always hot tempered and sometimes was as arrogant as a turkey cock. On the other hand, Mr. Mackay was five feet nine and three-quarters inches in height, weighed 162 pounds, was muscled like a tiger and hard as iron, a natural althete; more, he had tho carriage of a trained soldier and an eye like the eyes of the Arab steeds told of in the Prince of India that "looked the sun in the face without winkine." One day these two men disagreed about the management of some mine in which both were in terested. Mr. Sharon became angry and was in prudent enough to say to Mr. Mackay: "I wii make you pack your blankets out of this camp b fore very long." Mr. Mackay looked at the littlH king for a minute and then slowly said: "Yot will? Well, when you dol will still have a might advantage over you. I can do it." He spoke h such a tone as a prize fighter might use to a sicl woman who had insulted him. A few days later one morning Mr. Mackay me "Billie" Wood, one of Mr. Sharon's attorney Wood said "You look troubled this morning, Mi Mackay, what is it?" "Not much," was the reply, "only if I do no get $60,000 by 3 o'clock I shall lose and it wi! be worth $3,000,000 in sixty days. "Come with m to my office," said Wood. Arrived there Wooc excused himself, asking Mr. Mackay to wait fo Him. In five minutes he returned with a ceitifi cate of deposit for $60,000 in Mr. Mackay's nam and a note at sixty days for the amount am handed both papers to Mr. Mackay. "Where does this money come from?" asked thf astonished man. "From Mr. Sharon," was th-reply th-reply and he added, "Some men ought never I quarrel and two of them are you and Willian bharon." Ihey never did after that. In th Lharon campaign for the Senate Mr. Mackay spec tens of. thousands of dollars for the Sharon ticke and when the California bank was temporarily w locked Mackay stood by Sharon like a brother. Mr. Mackay never referred to his charities, bu there was one which caused him a vast deal o merriment, though it was at his own expense 'ihere was a bright, jolly, eccentric, witty, ne'er dt , eJ named Jason Baldwin on the Comstock. Everj Lody liked him but he never could "catch on" an' was always in arrears. One day there was a bui ness meeting in the Bonanza office to which seven. gentlemen had gathered. After the business was over those present began to discuss available raci for candidates for the city election, which was to take pla'ce in a few days. At last Mr. Mackay swung around from his desl and asked: "What are you going to do for Baldwin?" Col. Osbiston replied, "He wants to run for con stable but has no money." "Well," said Mackay, "send him down and I will give him $500. If we do not get him an office we will have to make a place for him in the mines and he is not much of a success as a miner." Osbiston went up town , met Baldwin and said "Jason, why do you not run for constable?" '1 have not a uiamed cent," was the reply. "Hov much do you need?" asked Frank. "Two nun dred and fifty dollars," said Baldwin. "Well," replied Osbiston, "go down to Mackaj and he will give it to you." "Yes he will," said Baldwin incredulously. "He will fire me out of the office. "No, it is all fixed, go and see him," said Frank. Baldwin thought, the matter over and then summoning all his cheek, he went to the Bonanza office and walking up to the rail said, "Mr. Secretary, Secre-tary, will you kindly inform Mr. John W. Mackay that Mr. Jason Baldwin would like to interview him for a few minutes." He was shown in, whereupon he said, "Mr. Mackay, I want to borrow $250." "You want to borrow?" (with heavy accent on the borrow.) "What are your securities Baldwin?" "They are a little thin," was Baldwin's repl). "but there is just no end to them." "You would give your note wouldn't you?" said Mr. Mackay "Why, certainly," said Baldwin. Mackay 'drew up a note, filled in a check, tore tho check out and pushing both papers across tM table said "Sign the note Baldwin and there's your money." Baldwin caught up a pen and signed the not& "Had you not better read that note, Baldwin?' msked Mr. Mackay. Baldwin picked it up and read 'hloud as follows: V "On demand for value received I promise to pay llto the order of John W. Mackay two hundred and 'jpftj dollars with interest at the rate of 5 per cent "ler day until paid." m Dropping the note Baldwin looked across the llf table and said: "Make it $500 Mackay and put it mt 10 per cent a minute." n l Bennie Hereford was a clerk in the Con V office. imlt went East for a bride, was absent a few weeks, 'brought his bride home and next morning drew a check in his own favor and presented it at the jBbank. The teller told him he was sorry, but the ijorders were strict and no overdrafts were honored. II "But I have $3500 on deposit," said Hereford. "I Mim sorry," was the response, "but the morning you jllleft for tne East Mr Mackay called, said he feared there was some irregularity in your accounts and drew your money. Of course he is entirely responsible re-sponsible if you can show that everything is O. K." Hereford rushed down to Bonanza office and in mingled fear and wrath demanded what had been found wrong in his accounts and why his money had been drawn. "You had $3500 on deposit you say," said Mackay. "Yes," tremblingly answered Hereford. "I was sure there was something wrong. No clerk in this office ever before had $3500 on deposit." de-posit." "But what is there wrong?" demanded Hereford. "How much was Con. Virginia stock when you went away?" asked the Bonanza king. "About $4," was the reply. "How much is it this morning?" asked the chief. "I heard it quoted at $32 on the street," said Hereford. "Well," said Mackay, "when you went away I thought $3500 was not much to get married on, so I took your money and hought 2000 shares on a margin in your name. If you need a little money and think the profit is sufficient all you have to do is unload. But don't give me away, Bennie, rather go home and tell your bride how smart you were to buy Con. Virginia at $4.00." N Mr. Mackay and Mr. Sharon owned the Virginia City Enterprise in the '70's. Just after the crash of the California bank, when Sharon was struggling under the wreck and when it was said he had borrowed $1,000,000 of Gov. Stanford to help get the bank on its feet again, Stephen Gage of the Southern Pacific called upon the Enterprise editor, edi-tor, explained that a joint resolution would in a few days he introduced into the Nevada Legislature Legisla-ture asking Congress to "buy back at $1.25 per acre all unsold railroad grant lands in Nevada. He explained that it would be a great advantage to the State as it would enable the State to have a much more desirable choice of school lands. The editor declined to entertain the proposition, though it was urged with the well-known skill of Gage, whereupon Gage took the train and went to ' San Francisco. Two days later a note came to the editor from -Mr. Sharon asking that if possible the proposition of Mr. Gage be set forth in the best light possible in the Enterprise. Accordingly, the proposition was stated and the Paper pointed out every possible advantage that could attach to it and was silent as to its obvious disadvantages. Next morning the editor met Mr. Mackay just as the latter in a buggy was nearing a livery stable. He sprung from the buggy, let the horse go and much excited, exclaimed, "You know d d well that is not right." (He had a little impediment in his speech and when excited his words came out to jets.) The editor in a plausible way named some of the advantages of the proposed arrangement, arrange-ment, at which the Bonanza king grew hotter and hotter until he burst out with: "You know the th- th-thieves have sold every d d acre except desert; that a hundred acres of it wouldn't sup port a horned toad and they want to get a dollar and a quarter for it." The conversation went on for perhaps five minutes until Macka was nearly beside himself, when the editor drew from his pocket Mr. Sharon's letter and said, "By the way, Mr. Mackay, will you not glance over this?" He caught the letter impatiently, read three lines, turned over the page, glanced at the signature, then handed it back saying, with a laugh, "Why d n it a man has a right to express his opinion has he not?" and strode away. He did not care a penny what become of the measure, but evidently he had all the morning been nursing a half suspicion sus-picion that Gage "had got to" the editor. A blackmailing newspaper was for a time most abusive of the Bonanza firm. One day Mr. Mackay met the Enterprise editor and said: "Can you write something particularly mean? If you can, answer that article in the Mail that came this morning. Try to get a libel suit." In three days the editor was able to inform Mr. Mackay that the suit was filed claiming $50,000 damages. With a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes Mackay responded, "All right, only do not let up on the thieves for one holy minute, if you get a new suit every day." When Mr. Fillmore, so long passenger agent of the Southern Pacific railway, died last autumn, half San Francisco sent beautiful ilowers in sympathy sym-pathy and respect to the Fillmpre home. Mr. Mackay sent Mrs. Fillmore a check for $10,000. When President Garfield died of the fund raised for Mrs. Garfield Mr. Mackay contributed $25,000. |