Stewart Edward White

“ John Gates suffered with the rest. His was not the nature to submit tamely, nor to compromise. He had made his farm with his own hands, and he did not propose to see it destroyed. Much money he expended through the courts; indeed, the profits of his business were eaten by a never-ending, inconclusive suit. The Hydraulic Company securely intrenched behind the barriers of special privilege could laugh at his frontal attacks. It was useless to think of force. The feud degenerated into a bitter legal battle, and much petty guerrilla warfare on both sides. ”

“ Nowhere in the domain and at no time in the history of the law has technicality been so valued, has the game of the courts possessed such intellectual interest, has substantial justice been so uncertain as in the California of the early fifties. The lawyer could spread himself unhampered; and these were so doing.
In the height of the proceedings a man entered from outside and took his position leaning against the rail of the jury box. That he was a stranger was evident from the glances of curiosity cast in his direction. He was tall, strong, young, bearded, with a roving, humorous, bold eye. ”

“ TO this quarrel Charley had been bred up in a consuming hate of the Hydraulic Company, all its works, officers, bosses, and employees. Every human being in anyway connected with it wore horns, hoofs, and a tail. In company with the wild youths of the neighborhood he perpetrated many a raid on the company's property. Beginning with boyish openings of corrals to permit stock to stray, these raids progressed with the years until they had nearly arrived at the dignity of armed deputies and bench warrants. ”

“ Roughly speaking, this period commenced about the time he began to be known as "Chuck" instead of Charley.
There was no real harm in the boy. He was high-spirited, full of life, strong as a horse, and curious. Possessed of the patrician haughty good looks we breed so easily from shirt sleeves, free with his money, known as the son of his powerful father, a good boxer, knowing no fear, he speedily became a familiar popular figure around town. It delighted him to play the prince, either incognito or in person; to "blow off the crowd"; to battle joyously with longshoremen ”

“ Put your team on here."
"But my wagon is all I've got in the world!" cried the other, "and we've got near a keg of water yet! We can make it! The oxen are pulling all right!"
His companion turned away with a shrug, then thought better of it, and turned back.
"We've thrown out all we owned except bare necessities," he explained patiently. "Your wagon is too heavy. The time to change is while the beasts can still pull."
"But I refuse!" cried the other; "I won't do it. Go ahead with your wagon. I'll get mine in. John Gates, you can't bulldoze me." ”

“ He had put four years of his life into making this farm out of nothing, four years of incredible toil, energy, and young enthusiasm. He had a good dwelling, and spacious corrals, an orchard started, a truck garden, a barley field, a pasture, cattle, sheep, chickens, horses—all his creation from nothing. ”

“ FOR three years more Charley ran his father's cattle in the hills. Then he announced his intention of going away. John Gates was thunderstruck. By now he was stranded high and dry above the tide, fitting perfectly his surroundings. Vaguely he had felt that his son would stay with him always. But the wave was again surging upward. Charley had talked with Cathcart.
"This is no country to draw a salary in," the latter had told him, "nor to play with farming or cows. It's too big, too new, there are too many opportunities. I'll resign and you leave, and we'll make our fortunes." ”

“ It grew. Band saws replaced the old circulars; the new mills delivered their product into flumes that carried it forty miles to the railroad. The construction of these flumes was a tremendous undertaking, but by now the firm could borrow on its timber. To get the water necessary to keep the flume in operation the partners—again by means of "dummies"—filed on the water rights of certain streams. To lake up the water directly was without the law; but a show of mineral stain was held to justify a "mineral claim," so patents were obtained under that ruling. Then Charley had a bright idea. ”

“ The great central offices in San Francisco were very busy—all but the inner rooms where stood the partners' desks. One day Cathcart lit a fresh cigar, and slowly wheeled his chair.
"Look here, Charley," he proposed, "we've got a big surplus. There's no reason why we shouldn't make a killing on the side." ”

“ Ninety-five per cent were men, of whom the majority were young men. A year ago the percentage would have been nearer one hundred, but now a certain small coterie of women had drifted in, most of them with a keen eye for prosperity. The red or blue shirt, the nondescript hat and the high, mud- caked boots of the miner preponderated. ”

“ Charley broke the news to his family, packed his few belongings, and the two of them went to San Francisco.
Charley had never seen a big city. He was very funny about it, but not overwhelmed. While willing, even avid, to go the rounds and meet the sporting element, he declined to drink. When pressed and badgered by his new acquaintances, he grinned amiably.
"I never play the other fellow's game," he said. "When it gets to be my game, I'll join you."
The new partners had difficulty in getting even a hearing.
"It's a small business," said capitalists, "and will be. ”

“ As soon as motor cars came in Chuck had the raciest possible. With it he managed to frighten a good many people half out of their wits. He had no accidents, partly because he was a very good heady driver, and partly because those whom he encountered were quick-witted. One day while touring in the South he came down grade around a bend squarely upon a car ascending. Chuck's car was going too fast to be stopped. ”

“ The teller of tales, anxious to escape from restriction, but not avid of being cast into the outer darkness of the taboo, can in self-justification become as technical as any lawyer. The phrase "a single episode" is loosely worded. The rule does not specify an episode in one man's life ”

“ At first they lived in the wagon, which they drew up under one of the trees, while the oxen recuperated and grew fat on the abundant grasses. Then in spare moments John Gates began the construction of a house. He was a man of tremendous energy, but also of many activities. ”

“ No man could have been more zealous in performing his duty; yet he never would mix in the affairs of foreigners. Invariably in such cases he made out the warrants in blank, swore in the complaining parties themselves as deputies, and told them blandly to do their own arresting! ”

“ Charley and Alice Gates grew tall and strong, big-boned, magnificent, typical California products. They went to the district school, rode in the mountains, helped handle the wild cattle. At the age of twelve Charley began to accompany the summer incursions into the high Sierras in search of feed. ”

“ Have a seegar; they cost me a dollar apiece."
The sum invested was quite absurdly small.
"It'll have to spread as thin as it can," said Cathcart.
They spent the entire season camping in the mountains. By the end of the summer they knew what they wanted and immediately took steps to acquire it. Under the homestead laws each was entitled to but a small tract of Government land. However they hired men to exercise their privileges in this respect, to take up each his allotted portion, and then to convey his rights to Cathcart and Gates. ”