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Show OH TO IE S I STAMPEDE . 9 em 'M A Leaf From My Autobiography. M Autobiography differs from biog- i raphy in having been written by I one's self while still alive, of course, I but biography is stuff composed by m mother after the party of the first I art is dead, and cannot help him- m self Some autobiographies are classics; this is a classic, make no mistake about that In autobiography Ihe pronoun, first person singular, is altogether praiseworthy, but no where else Is it permissible in good society Josh Billings defines" a bore to be one who insists on talking about himself when wo want to talk about ourself In auto-biography the pronoun I discovers dis-covers the writer, rejuvenates the dry i-ones of narrative, breathes Into it tl)9 breath of life and clothes It with unction and curiosity. So much by way of prelude to forestall friendly ciiticism, and now we are off 1 reckon it was about forty years age, more or less, when this melodrama melo-drama was launched, and the hamlet of Ogden was the Identical spot where pulled off. Ogden at that time was a straggling village and a forecast of Its present Importance would have been the Utopian dream of some impossible im-possible Don Quixote The heavy villains in this amazing vaudeville, that I am about to rehearse, except ye chronicler, have long since passed to their Valhallas, where youth Is al-w al-w ays and the years are never heavy, mourned and regretted by those who knew them, and they were many. They were popular and valued citizen? citi-zen? in their day, and even now the kindly turf of summer wraps Its guests in ambrosial garniture, and seems to appreciate the honor of watching over them while they sleep contented in her loving bosom. Here follows the cast of characters that made initial bows to the wondering wonder-ing villagers, and also it was their final exit from the histrionic stage, and they were never again heard ot in the dramatic world These aspired to no stage patronimics but their true names will appear as the plot unfolds, un-folds, and that too with consent of thoir living descendants now numbered num-bered among Utah's best citizens, as were their fathers before them. They were bona fide men who once walked Ihese streets In that eariier day and gave life to everything they touched, and now with kindly hand I lift the curtain over their venerated dust, lest we forget. The progenitor erf our respected jeweler, J. S. Lewis, was unwittingly the star actor: S. S. Schramm, sire to the two notable Salt Lake City Schramms was unconsciously the Interlocutor; In-terlocutor; Mr. Shakespear, not the Immortal William, but A. D. Shakespear. Shake-spear. who was ye boniface at ye Junction City hostelery on the Identical Iden-tical spot where the splendid Hotel Reed now stands; Colonel John E Hudson for whom Hudson avenue and the big Kiesol building was named, and William Farrall, a much respected respect-ed business man were stage carpenters; carpen-ters; Hiram Lewis, brother to our esteemed fellow townsman J S., was the Mephistopheles, assisted, unknowingly, un-knowingly, by ye undersigned. In chronological order L must relate re-late that our townsman J S Lewis succeeded to his father's trade of jeweler, jew-eler, also to his initials; this explanation ex-planation is made to prevent confusion confu-sion by mistaking the one for the other. Our own J. S. Lewis was wearing wear-ing kilts and making mud pies when the curtain rises on this sententious exhibition, but he appears no more. Hereafter the name "Lewis" applies to the elder Lewis, also to his son Hiram. In his younger days, Mr. Lewis had followed mining and with some, success, suc-cess, was a noted expert in distinguishing distin-guishing values of ores, and that reputation rep-utation followed him into later life. Hiram had also reputation In that direction di-rection and was considered a connoisseur con-noisseur (whatever that is) in precious prec-ious metals, while Schramm, Hudson, Shakespear and Farrall were de-butantees de-butantees in the field of geological and minerological mysteries. An unusual un-usual affection existed between Hiram and his father, indeed they were more like two school boys than father and sou. They were both large, strong men of business capacity, and with advice worth while. Well, as I was saying, nearly forty j ears have filled the world with la.ighter nud -'blinded it with tears, since the Ogden people looked upon a dazzling stage set resplendent with prophetic visions of a real Golconda. On this morning when our story Is laid, a solitary pilgrim might have been seen climbing the foothills toward to-ward Mt. Ogden. He was a prospector pros-pector loaded with zeal and undying hope. Over a shoulder he swung a harversack of bread and beans. In his hand bo carried a tin pan and an iron pick How the miner fared dur-p ing the day no man ever knew. When night drew her nebulous curtain over : a sombrous world that same sad wanderer wan-derer came wearily plodding village-ward village-ward The same bag bulging with : broken rock had superseded the bread and beans. Travel worn he painfully gravitated toward the Lewis jewelry shop In the rear of which to have his wares investigated by that expert alchemist, Lewis. The other malefactors were already assembled to sanction the mineral dissection. An hour passed and night had fallen1 fal-len1 By chance1 I met Hiram hard by the confluence of Maine and Fourth, now Washington and Twenty-fuurth Twenty-fuurth streets. Hiram, in his quiet way said, "Let's go in," flipping a thumb over his shoulder toward the mysterious quarry. Hiram produced a key We entered. Hiram brought up the rear and wandered a bit among the benches where jewelry of all sorts was repaired, and where filings fil-ings from rings and other trinkets hnd accumulated. I did not see what Hiram did behind my back It was no concern of mine We muzzled our feet and' continued along to the shop In rear of the store. There in ghostly ghost-ly silhouette grouped the mystics around Aladdin's lamp. A bit of rock was in the crucible. With wide distended dis-tended cheeks Mr. Lewis labored at the blow-pipe. The others in wise and solemn mien looked on. Hiram leaned an affectionate elbow on his father's shoulder, his hand extended over the crucible. The silence was so awful it could be heard. The bleb ci rock grew hot. Now a spec of rich prismatic yellow gathered gath-ered form. The yellow atom grew and grew! Now a gnat's egg in size, and now a pea, and now a marble in magnitude! Instantly all were painfully pain-fully silent, everything, save the smothering voice of the incandescent bleb of burnished gold' Gold, ye gods'. Acids proclaimed It nothing but gold! Visions of wealth greater than Cymby-sus Cymby-sus brought from Cyprus floated before be-fore their enchanted eyes, that saw nothing else, and treasures greater than Tamerlane raped from the plains of Persia! A weird light fell on blanched faces ghastly with the sight of so much sudden wealth' Dumb of speech, they gazed Into each other's ui'secing eyes! With dry prehensile tongues they caressed their parched lips! All were sworn to eternal secrecy se-crecy under pain of awful death! The scene-shifter throws another picture on the canvas! Scarco had the god of day painted with gold the solitary minaret of Mt. Ogden and gilded with iridescent glory the billowing bil-lowing hills that wallow in his corrugated corru-gated bosom when a cavalcade, such as was not seen since the hordes of Peter the Hermit wrested the Holy Sepulchor from the Infidel Saracens, debauched over the gray reaches of sagebrush that decorate the foothills from Billy Wilson's sawmill to the peaceful hearthstones of Rlverdale. The secret of a magic deposit east of Ogden was out; somebody had leaked. The morning broke without a cloud. Another cloud of people covered th landscape between Ogden and the mountain! The army of Jason in search of golden fleece and Coxoy's later army moved on as one. and two men looked on as disinterested spectators spec-tators and enjoyed it most. Everything Every-thing and everybody had been requisitioned requi-sitioned In the masquerade for gold. Men, women and children on foot for lack of other conveyance, every an'-mal an'-mal that would submit to curb or rein, every vehicle, from the pioneer's pio-neer's garrlsh coach to the disheveled hearse that had dropped from Noah's boat when he sailed, here and there a cowboy, like another Genghis Khan With a Rajput maiden upon his saddle-bow, all. all In one tumultuous conglomeration "blent to be there first. Iow the Intangible dust sifts Into In-to the air and blots out the little hamlet of Ogden, empty of living souls save the wee babe, the cripple, crip-ple, the aged bowed with years. Hiram and I wisely concluded to stay behind and care for these. The day wore on and duot Impalpable Impal-pable obscured the field of vision and hid the mountain and the sky! Late in the afternoon a spirit of uneasiness obsessed the harried multltudo among the bills! Suspicion, aye suspicion, that poisons his brother's cup, whispered whis-pered abroad the miserable sugges- ' tlon that tho bleb of rock aatiayed the hinder night had been tampered with, yes sir, had been salted, and somebody had been stung, and that Hiram Lewis am ye undersigned were the diabolical agents! Think of it! The Idea! Perish the thought' Again night drew her drapery o'er the world And now the sorrowtul cavalcade in disorder came straggling in! Hiram discovered the first arrival and questioned him. His aspect was severe, the lines of his face wore a sinister expression that was not inviting. Hiram and I had con . versatiou and concluded that coming events cast their shadows before. We gazed into each other's face and there read a portend of grave apprehension appre-hension The clamorous noise of the oncoming horde grew nearer and still more near, and something had to be done. A hurried consultation was held between be-tween us two. Hiram confessed to feeling not at all well and thought a change of climate might help some and coucluded to take first train to Salt Lako, and suggested that fishing was good on the Bear below Corlnne and advised me to go there I wen1. But before we parted we bade each other a lachrymose farewell for we might not meet again on earth. For two long days we remained in exile; and, O. those days were long! Our hearts were hungry for home when I received a telegram from Hiram Hi-ram saying his father had wired him we might retiirn, if we would kee) out of sight for a few days. We needed no urging. When we got back" to Ogden no one knew us, we were so changed by the grief we had suffered, and our conduct was different differ-ent We tried diligently In all the gentle -ft ays of life to ingratiate ourselves our-selves Into our former positions in society, so-ciety, that the people might forget and take us to their bosoms once more. Never were two boys before Christmas more kindly thoughtful than we, and the storm blew over 00 But seriously, a recollection of those by-gone days, and to see those dear faces in the picture of memory, makes sweeter the cup of lire. (Signed) A. S. CONDON, OO-: |