Nevada State Journal from Reno, Nevada • 8

PAGE EIGHT NEVADA STATE JOURNAL RENO NEVADA SUNDAY JANUARY 22 1950 Very ew Mining Camps Outshone the Glory of Bodie POTENTATE LAYMAN NAMED POTENTATE KERAK TEMPLE Arizona union is trying to to WEATHER BE THRITY IN at BUY AT 1395 1495 '48 DESOTO COUPE SEDAN had 1595 '48 PONTIAC and SEDANETTE one 1195 '48 STUDEBAKER COMMANDER 4 DR 1295 1095 and lustiness she only equaled by asking in the un contract of Doubfe DirtT Nose Drops Work ast! SHEERBRAVADO AND LUSTINESS REIGNED THERE Laurance Layman well known Reno justice of the peace has been elected illustrious po tentate by Kerak Temple Shrine at the annual meeting PICKETS TAKE UP MARCH AT NEW LOCATION irst figures indicate the high est temperature during the last 24 hours second lowest tempera ture yesterday morning third rain or melted snow during the last 24 hours (T amount too small to measure during the last 12 hours) Observations taken Italian Society Elects Officers New Shrine Potentate Names Committees for This Year Lester Hiip Is to Head Circus Shrine Potentate Laurance Layman this week an nounced his appointments to committees which will aid Kerak Temple in carrying out its heaviest program since 1946 In addition to carrying on normal activities local Shrine members will attend the imperial session in Los Angeles June 19 to 22 which will be presided over by Imperial Potentate Officers for the ensuing year were elected by the Italian Benev olent Society with Romolo Bevi lacqua being named president to succeed Rosmino Barengo John Bevilacqua is vice presi dent Joe treasurer Louis errari secretary Joe Gra nata collector Aldo Bevilacqua conductor Mark Jr guard and Barengo Tony Bevilacqua and Tony Casazza trustees The society which was organized in 1892 will observed its 58th an niversary at a banquet to be held ebruary 4 at 7 pm at Lawton Hot Springs amous Quotation Originated by Its Reputation potentates Ritualistic team: Earl Ross chairman Tait Williams Harry Swanson Miles Pike Tom Rutherford Charles Carter Clayton Phillips Harold West Jack Cunningham Allen Weyl Withers Distinguished guests: Charles Gorman chairman Silas Ross Merwyn Brown Shrine Relations: Laurance Lay man Cecil Creel" Lester Hilp Transportation: Howard Wells Harold Mahan Bert Hazelett Pilgrimage committee: Roy Bergstrom Harold Hilts Lloyd Bowen Ben Maffi Howard McKi sick aHrold Mahan Lester Hnp the opium dens demimonde mere hand and toughs fields over tablish to curb the nightly murd ers robberies and vandalism Soon the lawless element was curbed Murder was treated as murder and not as a harmless prank as earlier history would indicate from the lack of punishrhent The Bodie ire De partments really took their work seriously and even the little Chin ese ladies on King St had their brazures or feet warmers taken from them live coals charcoal and all' The Chinese of which there were many were even dis tributed in their opium smoking almost a cardinal sin in the eyes of the Orientals of that day The years 1879 and 1880 marked the zenith of colorful his tory gold was plentiful bonanzas were usual rather than exceptions So it was but natural that the more refined citizens attempted to remove the stigma of the name Bad Man from A flower show came into being and the newspapers lustily blared forth the fact that Bodie had won the top awards for its displays of tulins and hvacinths! Gaily painted window boxes the order of the day according to the and colorful floral dis plays transformed the once bleak streets of Bodie into a flower gar den One item in the editorial column of a later issue of the paper states the belief that mania for tree planting bids fair to make Bodie a forest town in a few Those who visit the for lorn relic of Bodie today will find it difficult to visualize this verdant picture On Oct 7 1882 a comet seems to have been regarded as harbing ers of dire calamity Probably it was but a bit of superstition said the strong minded The ordinary citizen refused to comment but the fact remained that in ebruary 1883 the business portionof Bodie was going through a severe crisis There was the sudden collapse of the Red Cloud then the Noon day then the Detroit Copper Mine suspended operations Bodie was still a large camp with between four five hundred men em ployed in the mines and mills The rapid closing of the mines spelled panic and in spite of the heavy snows of ebruary miners were strapping their blankets to their backs and walking out of Bodie daily Even the Chinese were desert ing most of them with large sums of money accumulated while the white miners spent their money in riotous living or the first time in her history Bodie was without a dance hall were closed the were diminishing to a ful the bullies deserted for greener the hills! By the end of 1883 all of the mines with the exception of the Standard and the Bodie had closed down In 1887 these two were consolidated and an attempt made to keep Bodie alive but the din of the crushers had been stilled the diminishing echoes of last blast were gone! As of today bare brown slopes hem in the battered ruins and va cant wrecks buildings which line the rows of empty streets Yes buildings which lean drunkenly this way and that ramshackle structures with tiny rooms and narrow halls round gaping knot holes perforated the roughly hewn planks Defeated roofs have blown in the wind whistles eerily through sagging walls Loosened sheets of tin flap noisi ly given forth sinister sounds and ghosts of busy miners seem to hover among the debris Among the wraiths of yesterday are a few buildings which have been kept in repair by those faith ful souls the descendents of Jim Cain the old and respect ed families of Bridgeport who are confident that Bodie will come back to her former glory and probably surpass it She did i come back in 1930 for a brief spell and then two years later a dis asterous fire destroyed part of the town and threatened to wipe Bodie from the face of the mountain but Bodie was not ready to join ranks of the departed and still remains one of the best preserved ghost towns of the West Did I say ghost town? That ex pression somehow fit for Another Reno business establish ment was operating behind picket signs yesterday after local 45 of the culinary workers union placed ountain 108 Sierra St on its list William Royalty internatipnal representative of the A of union said the fountain was being picketed because the Reno Em ployers Council representing the business to discuss a un ion contract for the Kenneth Philcox co owner of the lunch counter said his em ployers had assured him they I rather quit than join the Mr Philcox said the union of fered ountain the type of contract now in effect in the ho tels and night clubs here He said such a contract might be equitable in larger establish ments which do from te $400 worth of business in one but he added are lucky to do $150 worth in a whole The three girls employed at the fountain and a kitchen helper earn $550 a day in base wages Mr Philcox said The situation at ountain is similar to the one existing at the Lake Street Pharmacy whch has been picketed by the union for several weeks although the em ployes there are not on strike Mr Royalty said he felt the union was fered this establish is the area pay scale and working conditions for all culinary workers whether they be in res taurants hotels or Mr Royalty said feel it is unfair both to the employes of the non union estab lishments and to the owners of the union businesses to take any other Shrine Organization Elects New Officers New Hearing Device Has No Receiver Button In Ear Chicago Ill Deafened people are hailing a new device that gives them clear hearing without a re ceiver button in the ear They now enjoy songs sermons friendly com panionship and business success with no self conscious feelihgthat people are looking at a button hanging on their ear Tiny Phan tomold fits so deep within the ear that it is hardly seen Sound is relayed to it by an 'inconspicuous tube from a button concealed in the clothing The makers of Bel tone Dept 40 1450 19th St Chicago 8 Ill are so proud of their achievement they will gladly send you their free brochure (in plain wrapper) and explain how you can test this amazing device in your own home without risking a penny Write Beltone today Adv Culinary Workers ry To Unionize ountain I fear that in my more sentimental years I can join with the Jim Cains and the other hardy pioneers of Mono and picture Bodie as again the producer of great wealth and happiness to those who believe in her Some day Bodie will return May fortune smile upon me that I may be one of those to it In the meantime even more than Columbia on the oMther Lode Bodie should carry the laurels of a state park Her glamorous his tory should never be allowed to die! DEVIVAI A RHhl ln 1930 but it was only a shadow of its former iE I AXL v4IVlS I Dvlxl bonanza days? A remnant of the latter day effort still remains on one of the old buildings where a sign advertises and Vaudeville Here To night" Iri the days when Bodie was in its prime there were no talkies nor vaudeville but there were a Jot more interesting anu uupuiiua activities going on By RUTH AYRES As I recollect the story a little girl was told the story two ways: 5 Her a expression was 1 By God going to Her mother more re ligious and somewhat appalled by the news changed the expression to bye God! going to Bodie!" That little name has been lost in the annals of history true enough but the expression has been used and reused through the years and probably applied to every city and state in the nation Then there were two other ex pressions which gained interna tional fame One was for which alluded to the day by day murders in Bodie of ten for some trivial reason whichwent unpunished year after year That in turn brought about the name of a place which was famed in the eighties Bad Man from So you see Bodie was not with out fame in its earlier days for sheer bravado was probably Virginia City in Nevada and Tombstone in Arizona It was many years ago that we visited Venita McPherson at Mono Inn and had the pleasure of listen ing to her stories of the romance of Mono county history such as the coming of Mark Twain and his cabin at Mono Lake her stories of Kit Carson her won derful piano which had come around the horn and was even then eagerly sought out by mu seums throughout the state On the way up Gene Crosby had told us of rare material for our radio programs to be found at Mono Lake and Bridgeport and our beloved Pat Parker had added flames to my already smouldering interest Here I thought historic romance at its best if only the clues had been pieced together They were for Will Chalfant in Bishop had started to earn his title 1 as Sage of in gathering material not only on Bodie and Aurora but on Mono ville and Dogtown as well So with the combined introduc tions of a group of friends I met Jim Cain who had lived through the hectic days of Bodie knew every child every building every mining claim and every trail He had his offices in the old bank one of the landmarks which was destroyed in the fire of 1932 And from Jim Cain the story of Bodie of its wealth and its ro mance its poverty and depres sion poured forth but always with the firm admonition that some day Bodie would come back and even surpass its former glory Some 20 years later there came into my bound conies of Bodie bound year bv year from 1882 to 1884 Some of the contents in the way of in cidental storio would seem utterly imnoc sibie today but the last four months have given me hours of pleasure in research Why? Well as an example the fact that a miner snoke an ungentlemanly to a dancehall girl brought about his swift demise when she reached for a gun in the cash drawer of the bar and fired with unerring aim brought about just two paragraphs in the with an editorial com ment that while she would prob ably have to appear at the inquest nothing would come of it as she entirely justified! This by the way in the 1880s when Bodie reformed! But enough of personalities reminiscences! The story of Bodie began summer day in 1859 when Water man Body a Dutchman from Poughkeepsie stumbled into the barren hills northeast of Mono Lake and made his location on placer ground This was the same year as the discovery of the famous Comstock Lode strike and as a result of the richness and fame of this latter strike fame was to reach its peak some 20 years later Although a dazzling flood of millions poured forth from the mines and mills and attracted some 10000 gold hungry fortune seekers within the space of a few years Bodie is remembered as a town and owes her claim to fame as one of the most notorious mining camps in the West Indeed she reached the pinnacle as a raw western mining camp and in lawlessness ranked with or surpassed the early day histories of Panamint Tombstone Butte Gold Hill Aurora or Virginia City and this fact was evidenced by the number of fresh tombstones each week in the little cemetery under Potato Peak one of most prominent landmarks Even in its earlier days Bodie maintained an atmosphere of tra gedy for within five months of his discovery Bill Body met a fearful death in the snow covered hills His name had been given to the mining camp but in 1863 when maps were published the spelling had been changed The boom discovery of Aurora in 1860 had much to do with the late development of Bodie which CLI A REC AE DACT fZI are reflected in these old buildings on what was jnAUtjUrrnjl once main thoroughfare This picture shows the church and the fire house Last summer an old hose cart was still sitting in the fire house although its wheels had broken through the wooden floors was some 12 miles distant to the southwest It was from Aurora that the Bodie Bluff Mining Co Consolidated was formulated with $1000000 capital stock and with Leland Stanford former governor of California as its presiding gen ius Then in the fall of the same year the Empire Co came into being with New York backers with a $10000000 capital stock and permission to increase this to $50000000 Truly even in thase days the promoters were far from being pikers when it came to deal ing in millions! Locations at Bodie were staked out mill and tunnel sites were established and a total of 38 000 feet of ground acquired some seven miles! Professor Benjamin Sillman a famous geologist de clared the Empire holdings to be one of the most valuable mining sites in the United States Others declared that it would out Bon anza even the Big Bonanza of Vir ginia City and the Comstock! Then in 1867 came the reck oning The mill had been sold for delinquent taxes and the enter prise closed down Truly here was more tragedy but Sillman geolo gist still declared that his opinion was right 1 Dearborn from Aurora located a property with two com panions in Bodie which they called the Bunker Hill which they in turn sold to the famed actor James Stark' With him was an associate named John Tucker and the sum involved was $6500 Stark and Tucker invested in a mill and after a single run tho roughly discouraged sold it to an Aurora edmpany It was soon abandoned Here though is where tragedy tears off its mask of sadness and the smiling face of humor appears for four men of limited means next gained the possession of the Bunk er Hill Two of them dropped from sight while the remaining two named Essington and Lock burg stayed with the claim until they owed a colored restaurant keepr some $950 for cash advance ed and board bill The colored man with an Irish name took possession of the mine and it remained idle un til 1874 when Essington artd Lockburg drifted back into Bodie after a profitless venture in other fields They took back the mine merely in order to re establish their credit with and to continue eating They worked in a haphazard and hopeles way merely managing to eke out an existance until one morning a cave in which was entirely ac cidental revealed a great body of gOld rom that exposed lode $37000 was quickly taken! Then after others had purchased it $600000 came out of the Bodie mine and mill in one month Borrasca had again turned to Bonanza and the fame of Bodie began! The news spread like wildfire throughout the mining districts of the West and thousands toiled and sweated up the rocky grades to this newest gold find Truly the stampede to Bodie of 1873 was on in earnest In all the little Bunker Hill (later the Standard) which had gone begging for $950 produced a total of over $15000000! Thus does Dame ortune smile or frown according to her owm no tions of the time the place and the hearts of people involved The first residents of Bodie were the riffraff and migrant popula tion and the town itself was a hodgepodge of rough false fronted buildings and streets perpetually blanketed in dust Saloons and gambling resorts were open and in full swing before the food sup i plies arrived 'The winter of 1878 79 saw brawls and fights and shooting scrapes almost nightly hoodlumism and rowdyism reigned i rampant The lighted coal oil lamps be came gargets for the pistols of the miners and the rowdys alike The danger of fire with no organized fire department was only averted by sheer luck So the organization of a volunteer fire department came quickly about soon to be followed by the society known only to The residents as a secret sometimes called the "Secret In reality it was a vigilance committee the same as San rancisco and Vir ginia City had finally had to es Precipitation Data During the last 24 hours trace July 1 to date 339 to date last year 169 normal July 1 to date 380 '49 BUICK 2195 SUPER SEDANETTE 1395 Harold Lloyd Committees are the following: Shrine Circus Lester Hilp chairman with Glen Cain as sistant Entertainment (active): Ted Berrum chairman assisted by members of Kerak Club Entertainment (advisory) Jack Lang chairman Barney Brown son Morrey rodsky Ray Marks Albert Glen Cain Commissary: red Lymbery chairman Advisory: Tait Williams chairman Charles leming Ben Regli Membership: (Jiggs) Clark chairman Milo Banovich William Avery Paul Maloney Out in state members to be announced later Welfare: Clarence Bradner chairman Cecil Creel John Hills Clarence Jones (Doc) Kingsley Permanent and Voluntary Con tributing Memberships Merwyn Brown chairman Paul Dor man Hugo Quilici Al Grodrian Guy Lent Wes Judy Executive: Cecil Creel chair man Lloyd Bowen Lester Hilp I inance Lloyd Bowen chair man Cecil Creel Lester Hilp Charles risch Harry Cantlion Parliamentary and Judiciary: Atkinson chairman William Sanford Harry Swanson George Lohse Publicity Robert Quivey chairman Jack Lang Al Adams Ed Reinhart Greeters (nobility) William Worley chairman Stan Soper temple Guards Greeters (past potentates) Law rence Gulling chairman all past QuIcMy Relieves Distress of Heat! Colds orecast Reno: Partly cloudy today and tomorrow little change in tem perature 1 Nevada: Cloudy western portion Sunday and Monday with rains in extreme northern portion little change in temperature Sierra Nevada: Partly cloudy Sunday in northern portion aft ernoon light showers from Quincy north on Sunday little change in temperature Sunset today 5:07 sunrise to morrow 7:14 Scouts to Join In Wells Event WELLS Jan 21 (Special) Mrs Guy Harbin chairman called a special meeting of the Wells Girl Scout Association Wednes day night to determine whether the association would be able to accept an invitation to sponsor any entrants in the amateur show being given by the Aux iliary of the Elko American Le gion Post ebruary 17 and 18 in Elko At its annual election recently Kerak Temple Shrine elected Laurance Layman of Reno illustrious potentate for 1950 Members elected to assist the potentate were Cecil Creel chief rabban Lloyd Bowen as sistant rabban Lester Hilp high priest and prophet Carl riesen treasurer William Bay recorder and rank Brownson Oriental guide The following were named the appointive positions in the Kerak Divan: James Gasho first ceremonial 'master Robert Quivey second ceremonial mas ter Hamer Halloway marshal William McNeil captain of the guard Harold Hilts director Tate Williams orator red Steiner Sr outer guard Also appointed as honorary cere monial masters were Robert Griffith Las Vegas Woodsen Rathjen Bishop Leimo Immon en McGill and Ernest Damon Winnemucca Named as ambas sadors at large were Col Thomas Miller Reno Paddy Pittson San rancisco arid Wilkinson Las Vegas The finance commit tee of the temple will be composed of Lloyd Bowen chairman Cecil Creel Lester Hilp Charles risch and Harry Cant lion Potentate Layman said that the other committees and appoint ments for 1950 will be named in the near future Cantlion Presides Outgoing Potentate Harry Cantlion presided at meeting and also as installing officer He was assisted by Past Potentates Dave Erickson and A Carlson Jr The new potentate discussed plans for 1950 and a resolution for changing the meeting date from the second Saturday of each month to the second Thursday was brought before the nobility The main objective of the temple is to attend the imperial session of the Imperial Council at Los Angeles June 19 to June 22 A committee of the following nobles is handling the arrangements for this pilgrim age: Laurance Layman Roy Berg strom Harold Hilts Lloyd Bowen Ben Maffi Howard McKissick and Harold Mahan Two important social events are planned for ebruary JVbruary 4 the Club of the temple is sponsoring a barn dance and box lunch social at the Century Club and on ebruary 25 the first for mal dance of the Shrine season will be staged at the Masonic Temple The theme of the evening will be a Night in the Garden of Allah The 200 members attending the meeting were served a turkey din ner at the close of the meeting under the direction of red (Red) Lymbery NOT QUITE GENTLEMANLY Wyo A Cheyenne husband was ordered to stay away from his wife because he tore off her clothes took all her money and left her naked and hysterical on a street 48 CHEVROLET AERO SEDAN tf STUDENTS LEARN GEMS NORTHAMPTON Mass When her sweetheart gives a i Smith College girl an engagement ring the diamond had better be good Students in a class in gems and precious stones taught by Prof Shaub are learning all about diamonds and how to dis tinguish between the fake and the pgenuine A few drops of Vicks Va tro nol in each nostril work fast to reliwe head cold dis tress make breath ing easier And if used at first sniffle or neips to mint many colds developing! Try it ol 7 wMv4d xu me paenge an DODGE 4 DR SEDAN 47 PLYMOUTH SUPER DELUXE SEDAN ORD 795 3LUAPt vuurt MANY THE ABOVE CARS ARE EQUIPPED WITH RADIO HEATER DYNALOW and OTHER ACCESSORIES USED CARS i 'I'' 450 SO VIRGINIA '48 PLYMOUTH SUPER DELUXE 4 DR 1295 49 ORD CUSTOM TUDOR I num a jr 'y: ft i jr ijrii i in mrw iimm wim ijit i utm i i kb I Bl Wiill al I Bll' wli ll s' 4:30 am 120th meridian time Austin Nev 58 37 Beatty Ney 68 38 Bishop Calif 68 27 Donner Summit 46 32 111 Elko Nev 54 33 Ely Nev 57 31 resno Calif 71 47 Hawthorne Nev 72 34 Las Vegas Nev 68 37 Phoenix Ariz 78 40 Red Bluff 57 47 43 Reno Airport 58 44 Sacramento 65 53 07 Susanville 52 44 01 Tonopah i 58 38 Winnemucca 59 44 Yuma Ariz 81 52 '2 1f.