The Humor of the Gold Rush (Part I)

The gold blitz canicule of California were not after their humor, and some of the belief are funny abundant that they are able-bodied account repeating. Now the blitz for abundance in those canicule brought out both the acceptable and the bad, the honest and the deceitful. Not all antecedents were harder alive and honest. Because it was (and still is) harder to acquisition a drop of gold, there was a appeal for acceptable gold mines. A aciculate barter was apprenticed in mining claims, with a thousand dollars getting frequently paid for a section of arena alone thirty anxiety square, and this at a time if gold awash for alone about $20 per ounce.
One claims broker, Moore Lerty, was decidedly acknowledged in affairs his claims. His operations were bold, and conceivably for that time, original. He would pale a affirmation on bearding arena aural the around of some added mines, digging it down to the layers of attractive dirt, and then, if no one was watching, he would amount an old blaster with gold-dust purchased from addition miner, and shoot the arena abounding of gold. It is said that he had been accepted to abuse a affirmation with two or three hundred dollars account of gold in this way. If he did not advertise the claim, he could ablution the dirt, and balance the dust he had absolute the affirmation with. He awash a affirmation for one thousand dollars in this way to Henry Jones, again advised the sharpest mining man in the old boondocks of Volcano. Jones was actual accurate not to be taken, and activated the affirmation for a day or two afore purchasing, it is said, even traveling into the aperture at night to get the dirt, so as to be abiding that he was not imposed on. He begin that all of the clay was affluent in nuggets, so he went advanced and bought it.
With banknote in hand, Lerty ample he had absolutely pulled on over on Jones, in animosity of Jones' acceptability for ability about mining properties. The fun of the amount was in the actuality that at the end, the abode accepted to be absolutely rich, one of the best in the camp, and Jones had the endure laugh, as he after extracted abounding bags of dollars in gold from it. Addition of Lerty's absolute claims, this one amid in China gulch, aswell accepted good, but for Lerty's mining affirmation sales, affluent claims were actual abundant the barring and not the rule. Most buyers got little added than the gold he absolute assimilate his claims. With several of his swindles advancing to ablaze and affronted miners appropriate on his heels, he fled the California gold country afore the acrimony of the law began to apparent itself, abrogation the country for good. Meanwhile old Henry Jones, with a sack abounding of gold nuggets was bedlam all the way to the bank.