The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 4, 1901, Page 11

THE SUNDAY CALL. Washoe Seeress has lost her cunning. Instead of predicting with unerring accuracy the fore- coming events Mrs. Sandy Bow- ers, once Queen of the Nevada Comstock, wanders aimlessly and discon- "tentedly through the house and grounds of the Nevada Almshouse. » That the woman who lived so regally, ' who threw money about so lavishly and who was indulged in her smallest whins and caprices should end her days in a lcharitable institution seems passing | strange. None of her-fair weather friends have come forward with a helping b in her time of need. Those who sought her ia- | wors and who couldn’t do enough for her }4n prosperity’s falr summery days have bfafied to see or know anything about her when adversity’s dark form loomed in ! sight. In May, 1859, a number of Mormon girls crossed from Utah into Nevada and took up their abode in mining town called Gol e was rough and cru uncouth and uneducated, but for t there were plenty of attrac and the hewn logs used to ring with laughter and the tinkle that Sandy Bow- met and wooed the ame his wite. asted three days vas ample quainted. considered the v ! and while shing after beer or ake the three-inch boots. tween in those belle in her es was en- tunate man was Sandy ne was a e belle of fieece her ssessed. She bride scene of mi cing and he pretty gi the m ngle fol- rry 3 1, but the money that always find its to board bill,” one fellow sald, “All right.” of the Comstock’s richest gr lieu of the money. And that is where Sandy Bowers made his money. It wasn't through work, it wasn't through skill or brilliancy. Just luck; fhat kind of Juck that follows a yellow éog The “Bowers claim” soon turned out to be very veluable. It raised its owners to 1 rank, gave them big notions and little sense. bulld & house that will befit le of our means,” gald Mrs. B. to bestirred himself to find a Some place where they nd where a palace er a search he de- Valley and selected but that was 8o suttable locatt could be exclusive, could be erected. A cided on the Washoe & place that was exclus and terribly lonely New, we ain't goin’ 1o have no common » declared the new millionaire. n' that can be & re.” And he carried out his plans most thor- Every stone in the mansion is a and was carried from California a train of oxen. When the rambling castle was completed Sandy bethought himself of furnitur most swells have books, kinds of books, and we and his wife's command lots must have lots, was carried out to the letter T. of books, The bookman thought he had fallen into & enap. Ehakespeare, Burns, Milton and Homer went from New York to Washoe Velley, and packed tightly against the jcs wes the worst French trash of Everything and anything. The oldest and newest was demanded by Mr, end Mis. New-Made-Rich. All the books were magnificently bound ang put sway in solid mahogany cases o top busts of famous men rested and hed the q proceedings. sald proud owner to a ow,” e friend, “them books cost heaps of money ere’s lots of learning thar. Bee this His name’s Bhakespeare. He wrote he did poetry. Dan’l made d Henry Clay used to be up e fell off and was smashed to Ordinary carpet rods were not good ugh for the stairs, 8o solid sllver ones made to order. Beautiful velveiy laid out nd playing fountains dotted the green here and there. An arti- ficlal lake was made on one side of the house and was used for & swimming pool. Every hat anybody suggested was on until the piace was se. biess and Mrs e veri you, B. yes, pic. ABFEL =1o fl j 200k, » ALL ZINDS OF WE 705 T HAVE' L 0TS any money he would ask the clerk for the bag and grasp a handful of twenties, throw one at the clerk and go his way with no questions. What were a few twenties more or less to him. But he didn’t by any means carry off the palm. Mrs. 8andy swept into the din- ing-room in a gorgeous pink satin frock. And jewels! All she could carry. After trying everything on the menu and throw- ing champagne about recklessly she beck- oned the waiter to draw her chair back. After she had taken sufficlent steps to bring her long . train into full view she suddenly called out in a loud tone, ‘“Reckon I've forgotten something, the place when the erratic guests de- parted. The “Bonanza King,” as he was sometimes called on account of his splen- did hospitality, the wine, music and all that helps to attract pleasure-seekers, did not live very long to enjoy his vast wealth. But before he died he took it into his head to present his wife to Queen Vie- toria. Bustle and confusion reigned for a time. The most elaborate gowns were conceived with which to astonish the Queen and her court. And there was trunk after trunk of them. A regular rainbow, All the time Sandy’s tailor was busy making him waistcoats and fancy much is them all, I say?” When the dealer named the price Sandy drew forth a huge wallet and slamming down the gold said: ‘“You didn’t think I had it, but I fooled ver. Send 'em up right away.” When there is a will there is a way, vou know, and both Mr. and Mrs. Bowers for luncheon. Each one was to purchase whatever particularly struck thelr fancy. Sandy found the first art shop and quite - liked the appearance of the place. The four walls were covered with pictures of had firmly resolved that their light haven’t I?" and forthwith threw a gleam- frills, for he wasn't to be left in the all descriptions, all sizes, shapes and col- shouldn’t be hidden under a bushel. The jng yellow twenty at the astounded shade by any means. ors. After walking about with his thumbs brighter it-gleamed the better. waiter. Then, when the money struck Feeling that his friends would miss him in his vest pockets and squirting tobacco here and there he cocked his head on one slde and with a grand sweep of one arm said: “Them’s nice. When they reached their hotel, which, by the way, was the Cosmopolitan, Sandy drew forth his pouch filled with gold and threw it at the clerk with, “Keep that fer Those were gala days for the hotel me until I want it.” Whenever he needed clerks and a mantle of black hung over the floor with a click and bounded into the air, she sallled out of the room, with Sandy strutting after a quick secong. sorely and that the departure of himself and wife would indeed be a great trial to them, he resolved to give them a dinner that would act as a soothing balm. Accordingly he invited twelve guests to il @ The Greatest Sport of BiG Game Runting Ts o Net 2 Royal TiGer stilly night he will hear thelr loud purr as ne up from drinking at a stream How much is them, how 7 AM among the few fortunate Englizh- in covering the few intervening miles. The wood, and all night fires had been kept net, nothing more; the snly weapon I had “‘ men who have participated in the. they c Wynaad at that time of the year is sin- alight; tomtoms freely thumped, accom- a rusty spear. I suppose all the sins of & rarest form of big game hunting—the Where, in the marning, their'puss Wil b culanly ‘beautiful, The air is soft and Panied by profuse ewearing at the ticer my life should have crowded into my netting of a voyal.tiger.’ b speek of. PRIBLY/wialble.n €ha Rofh sel:olay, balmy; Km winged butterfiles flutter °nd all his female relatives, The nets brain at that moment, or I should have The natives of the Wynaad are good #portsmen, and they have experienced equal difficulty in bagging the lordly deer slayer, .Nor is the desire to secure a tiger skin solely a matter of sport with resembled large meshed sheep nets; they were fastened lightly about six feet high, and hung so“that they would bag easily when the animal rushed. . 1 was given a spear, and the sport be- thought of fighting wild beasts at Ephe- sus, or something clee, I thought of noth- ing. I was drunk, mad drunk, with ex- citement. I besought the royal beast to charge; I shouted wild challenges at him. a royal “Be * tiger in this connection would be geographically Inaccurate, for it rner of the Madras Presi- This ahead of you; flocks of parrots fly sereech- ing above, and innumerable pleasant sounds and scents rise from the surround- ing jungle, Arrived at the sceme of ac- tlon, I found a large gathering of the lead~ is only in one dency that this sport takes place. is the Wynaad, an clevated plateau, brok- them. Now and again “stripes” turns 1 was consumed with a burning desire to & farmers and thelr laborers, armed gan, One or two of the more adventurous en up Into countless hills, Here coffee, tea Z:t:“: ‘t::::lt::dbe:;'::\:(l:; ;; t::‘;r;:: With spears, guns, staves and bows and Were sent within the wood where they drive my -ne:fr home. After that he and cinchona are cultivated, and twenty mnte & herd, Tt can therefors be under. ATTOWS, The farmers are fair akinned olimbed trecs and acted as markérs, Theny ™MiEht chawb ; up for all 1 cared. It : men with rather a Jewish cast of coun. the others shouted, guns were fired off, Was not to be; he turned short five yards years ago the district came into brief but notorfous prominence in the city of Lons don, owing to the discovery of gold, Coms panies were hastlly formed and heavily capitalized, but the mines never gave any promise of paying dividends even on rea sonable capital, owing to refractery ore, stood that ameng Wynaad -cultivators there 18 an inbred animosity against tig- ers very similar to the feeling of the Brit. ish farmer toward the fox, With peculiar eudaclty they devise a simple system of netting, which {n faverahle oiroums stances {8 almost invariably sueeeseful, from the net. Ten minutes later 1 saw him rush out higher up the hill and roll over and over in the net for all the world like a gigantic rabbit. ‘A dozen spears were In him’ at the instant. He had no chance whatever, It is rare that a man is hurt during,'the rush; the fatalities tenance, They are evidently immigrants to thig upland in comparatively recent times, Thq laberers are a low type, very blaek, many with curly hair, thick i and a distinetly negre look, They are msuppesed to ba the aberigines of the coun- gtones flung, and the dogs let loo, The din was terrific, but suddenly above it all came the unmistakable roar of a tiger, The excitement was inte: The shrill voices of the markers In the trees could be distinctly heard. *‘The tiger is going The Wynaad is, however, a paradise foy To understand the system one must real. TV and of the ancient Dravidian stock, Wp the hill; he is running to the right; h‘c chialy coonriwiew the. ‘el ol gportemen. Elephants and bison roam 126 the lay of the land, The hills are most. A& & rule, these agreatic slaves gre down. has turned backj he going to rush man HEIL SRR WD ariiik in wild here, and several kinds of deey, 1y grass, but in thelp folds are thigk ©8st and humble in mien, but en this coca. threugh at the north end, Look eut, he the wood to stir him up. This drunken- n is the reason why few Europeans hear, of tiger neiting, and why one is never allowed to stand in ‘the likeliest spot. The farmers fear a drunken spear thrust, so ily given in the excitement of the moment. However, I was for- tunate and those five seconds when I thought the tiger would charge will re- main with me all my life a thrilling memory.—London Globa. sion, thanks to an ample supply of Duteh courage in the form of strong sago palm arrack, they were bold and swaggering, not to say tyuculent. They had with them their hunting dogs, a yellow sort of luch- er, weil fed’and full of pluck and eunning, The tiger had killed a cow the preceding afternoen and dragged it into a smail wood on the opposite hillside. Within three hours nets had been run around the is very angry.” 1 had been posted at the end of an open gladej two of the farmers were with me, It seemed an unlikely spot for the beast to break cover, but they did not agrée with me. For a moment I thought they were right. * Not twenty yards off and coming straight toward me was the infuri- ated tiger, two logs baying at.his flan Betwecn me and him was a'flimsy she which provide food in plenty for tigers and leopards. equently the big oats rarely attack cattle, and will not look at & tethered calf or kid, The hunting of them is very difficult, for cover abounds, By lucky chance & man may stumbie on one when he has his rifle with him and thus a shot, otherwise he may spend , end even years, without catcie ing a glimpse of them, although oft on & woods, from haif an pore to five acres in extent, Between the hills are swamps which asre under riee cultivation, If a . tiger be marked dewn in ene of the small- er woods when the grass en the hills. is ghert, it is quite a éimple job to run a net around the woed and await resuits, On a lovely merning iu iig early autumn news was breught te me that a tiger had been encompassed. Short time did I spend dine with them at the International Hotel at Reno. Course after course was placed before them and wine flowed until none of them could tell whether it was a ruby red or a beautiful sparkling amber. “Eat, drink and be merry” was the motto that was so extravagantly carried out. And well they might be merry, for they ate to the tune of $5000. Not to show partiality Sandy tripped merrily over to Gold Hill and banqueted his friends there. The money bag that he left as a reminder contained $2500. And then the Bowers were reac con= quer Europe. 3 Their fair weather friends pelted them with roses, and a Mexican band of four They pieces played a pathetic farewell. rendered the plece in ing, heart-breaking fas put his hand into his especially for the trip, and threw them $200 with his most grateful t On the way over the pond the men bet about the distance as usual. Every morn- such a 1 that 00 bag, on ing they guessed and every midnight Sandy paid for the wine. He had a bright thought one day. He would bribe the engineer with $10 to tell him the exact distance. When the numbers were looked over Sandy had lost as I “Well, I sald we were 310 m from land, why didn't T get it?"" he demanded. Sandy ha heard the number all right, but had w ten it 30010. Three hundred and ten. wonder he paid every night during th voyage. No one ever heard whether Queen Vie- toria opened wide her port: the American miner and wife, but they did hear tha a° “bully place, filled with queer things.” Probably thing there was the enth eler. In 1565 Sandy died in his beautiful $200,- 000 home, and his last wish to be buried at the top of the precipice that overshadowed the house. The castle was grand, stat was v and lone- 1y, and Sandy persisted in prowling abeut when ne should have been resting in peace in his exclusive cemelery. There was no life, no gaiety ther Mrs. S took her hundred thousand, the remnant of the millionaire’s fortune, and went to Reno to live. Sandy simply wouldn't stay at home. His spirit followed her. He told her things that were to be, and so in this way she was posted as to the fut: first great hit in fortune-telling wa in 1369 at the time of the burning of the Yellow Jacket mine. “I told you I saw a black cloud hov ing over the Yellow Jacket and widows in black all about ic,”” she taunted the skeptics. The proof was there! Mrs. Sandy Bowers had looked into the future and had predicted the awful ca= lamity that had befallen the mine. “She is a seeress,” “The Washoe Seeress is her proper name,” exclaimed others, and the Washoe Seeress she has been called ever since. She communed at first with Sandy not for silver, but for glory. Time after time she influenced the boards, and for a while her prophecies came true. When she said “boom,” boom it was. But all this time she was living in a costly way. Thousands were thrown about like so many dollars: dinners and parties were frequent and astonishing to the people who were used to plenty. Such willful waste will quickly reduce any fortune, and th.e Washoe Seeress soon refused to divulge any of her secrets until her palm had been crossed with a round silver dollar. As all good things have an end, so did her streak of good luck. Eeither that or Sandy’'s spirit wan- dered elsewhere. The Reno Sunday schqol had planned a pienic. Now it so happened that the train had to pass over a high bridge immediate- ly over the Crown Point mine. The day before the newspapers came out with the startling news that the bridge was to fall, and people were warned not to go. Bridge, .train, people—all—were ta be dashed to atoms. There wouldn't be encugh left to tell the tale. Some people in Reno firmly believed that they could see Into the future if anybody could, and the warning went un- heeded. When the train neared the bridge the youngsters hid their heads in thelr mothers’ laps and howled right mournfully. They didn’'t want to be hurt. An instant of suspense, a long drawn breath and the span lay behind them as strong as ever. So Mrs. Sandy lost her prestige in Ne= vada. She dabbled in stocks to recoup hew waning fortune. Like most people, L3 lost. 8he lost more than money. The last shreds of her reputation as a seeress were rent asunder. 1f she couid penetrate the future, why did she invest and lost her own money? Why, Indeed. The costly mansion that was one of the landmarks of the State became a place of resort. A dance platform was erected and the fine house was open to the gaze of the curfous public. Even that went. Then she disappeared. Ore day a Nevada man, walking along O’Farrell street In S8an Francisco, noticed a ‘shingle, “The Washoe Seeress.” She tried her luck in a strange place and had ups and downs—principally downs. For- tune, the fickle jade, had entirely deserted all that was left of the one time prosper« ous Bowers family. And this ig the last chapter of the book. With youth, beauty and money gone, paimy friends vanished like dew befors the sun. Her immense fortune has dwip- dled to the widow’s mite and all that fs . left in this world for the Queen of the Comstock is a charity meal and a cot i the poorhouse, - MADGE MOORE.. some cried. Y F