Newspaper Clippings - Volume 56 - Volume 58

[Headline typeface is that of the Daily Reveille. The wife of Sen. James G. Fair was granted a divorce in Virginia City on May 12, 1883.]

Dives in the Divorce Court.

The Salt Lake Tribune, which takes a sentimental turn whenever a moral has to be pointed or a tale adorned, finds in the Fair divorce case opportunity to say something upon what it calls the "poverty of riches." Under this heading the following appeared in its issue of the 10th instant:

The pending divorce case between Mrs. Senator Fair and husband ought to make poor people more content with their lot. Senator Fair's fortune is estimated all the way from $15,000,000 up; probably $20,000,000 would be a fir approximation. When the couple were married twenty one years ago, both were poor; both expected to pass lives of toil, and we believe that the dream of both was that after a while by hard work they might be able to purchase a modest farm somewhere in the Golden State, which would be a home to them so long as they lived. But Mr. Fair was both a miner and a thorough mechanic; he was, moreover, shrewd beyond the majority of his fellow-men, and when the Comstock was discovered he went there prepared to reap the advantages which it was to present. He had no money, but he had a brain and physical frame which together were probably better equipped for the task of wresting a fortune from the stubborn rocks than any other man had who went there. He worked for thirteen years, and in that time probably accumulated $600,000. Possibly he had more, but even this amount shows that the man possessed the faculty of acquiring wealth in an extraordinary degree. Moreover, he had acquired a local reputation of being one of the shrewdest of all the Comstock manipulators. By nature he possessed a physical stamina which knew no such thing as fatigue. He could work all day and all night; he was not content to exercise a general management, but every detail of the work was in his mind. At last, when the firm of Flood, O'Brien, Mackay and Fair was established, and a drive was started north from the 1300 level of the Gould and Curry to explore the north country, could it have opened up a $3,000,000 bonanza, the firm would have been amply content. The drift was driven through the north end of the Gould and Curry, entirely through the Best and Belcher and into Consolidated Virginia ground. There is penetrated the great bonanza some few feet below its crest. The more it was explored the more tremendous it grew. From it $116,000,000 were taken, and the man who, in youth, had dreamed of making money enough to buy a farm, found that he had enough to buy a German Republic. Then, like Solomon, he built houses; he had men singers and women singers; he sought office and obtained it; and, most pitiful, the peace of his home passed away; wealth and pleasure became stale; an old wound which he had received on the head years before commenced to plague him; travel, the world around, had brought him no pleasure; never putting much faith in his fellow men, he became with failing health more and more suspicious; and now the wife who never faltered amid the hard struggles of the long ago, draws away from him in despair. It would have been better for both had their fortune been limited to the little farm which they dreamed of possessing when the prattle of their first baby kindled the love-light in their eyes. It was a wise man who prayed that he might be spared from both poverty and great riches. When a man get sufficient money to relieve him from the petty cares of life, and sufficient to secure his independence from want and unusual hardships, he is just as rich as he ever can be, though his gold may be piled mountain high; and after independence is secured, every added dollar is but an added care.

If we catch the drift of the foregoing homily, it is that Senator Fair's fortune is accountable for his domestic misfortune. Very likely our esteemed contemporary is correct, but the difficulty would be to prove that the conclusions are well founded. There are a great many couples not endowed with earthly riches who have invoked the power of the law to uncouple them. And the records of the California divorce courts will probably show that many husbands and wives who have been put asunder had already realized their dream of "a modest farm somewhere in the Golden State." Who can tell how many of these would never have seen a divorce court had they succeeded in amassing great material wealth? While riches have a tendency to corrupt and debase the natures of men and women, they are not in themselves the source of domestic estrangement. A want of worldly riches is at the bottom of much of the misery that produces incompatibility of temperament between husband and wife. There are more divorces obtained by those who are poor, as the world goes, than by those who are rich―by those who ought to be, but are not contented with their lot. The extremely rich class and the extremely puur class are seldom found seeking to have their marital bonds set aside by the process of law,

But, as we have already intimated, the Tribune is very likely correct in its assumption. Enormous wealth acquired after a struggle with poverty certainly brings with it cares which must sit like monsters at the threshold of him who has scaled the topmost hights of Mammon. Perhaps none so intensely realize this bitter truth than those who have succeeded in amassing a magnificent fortune only to discover that it conjures up a vast brood of cares, and drives out from their hearts the good angels of their poorer yet better days.

[Reno Gazette]

THE HYMENIAL ALTER.

Another of Reno's Fair Ones assumes Marital Obligations.

Miss Lora Cross was married at Vacaville, California, last Sunday to Andrew Stevenson, Superintendent of the Vacaville Railroad. When she left here a couple of weeks ago, she went ostensibly to assist at the wedding of Mr. Stevenson's brother which took place on Sunday, and after that ceremony was performed, the guests were astonished by the announcement that another couple were ready to be married by the same minister, who then and there made Andrew and Lora one. It was quite a surprise to their friends, although it was known that they were engaged, but no time had been fixed for the wedding. The marriage was perhaps hastened by the presence of the mother of Mr. Stevenson, who had journeyed all the way from Texas to see her first son married, and no doubt the young folks thought it better to save her another trip. The many friends of Miss Lola will be glad to learn that she has married a very estimable gentleman.

[Undated. Typeface is that of the Daily Reveille. Doten notes at the bottom of the Journal that this is the last page of Journal 57.)

GOOD SPORT SUNDAY.

The Fall meeting of the Austin Driving Park Association will be held at the Reese River Track on Caton's ranch September 14, 1884. H. T. Creswell, President; C. P. Soule, Treasurer; L. B. Ball Secretary. Judges―A. C. McCafferty, D. A. Dunlap, F. W. Dunn. Two hundred dollars will be given in prizes. The day's sport will begin with National Guard shooting―first prize $7 50; second prize $4 50. Glass ball shooting, free for all―first prize $7 50; second prize $4 50. Running race, single dash, one half mile, free for all, three to start. Entrance fee $5. First prize $25; second prize $15. Citizens purse open to all colts under four years old owned and raised in Lander County for a purse of $20. Entrance fee, $5, to be added to purse. Best driving team. Purse, $10. Trotting race, half mile heats to harness, best two in three. Purse $15. Entrance $5, to be added to purse. Single dash 440 yards. Free for all. Purse $10. Entrance $5, to be added to purse. All entrances close at 10 A. M. Sunday, September 14th. Entrance for the above purses can be made with Captain W. B. Newell. All can rest assured that everything will be conducted on the square. Admission to the grounds, $1; railroad fare for the round trip and admission included, $1. Trains will leave Main Street at 8 A. M. and 12:30 P. M. rain or shine.

[In the margin of the clipping Doten has written "Douglas Dingle tender and true.]

IN SOLITUDE.

I miss you, my darling, my darling; the embers burn low on the hearth; And stilled is the stir of the household; And hushed is the voice of its mirth; The rain plashes fast on the terrace, The winds past the lattices moan; The midnight chimes out from the minister, And I am alone.

I want you, my darling, my darling; I am tired with care and with fret; I would nestle in silence beside you. And all but your presence forget, In the hush of the happiness given, To those, who through trusting have grown To the fullness of love in contentment, But I am alone.

I call you, my darling, my darling, My voice echoes back on my heart. I stretch my arms to you in longing, And lo! they fall empty, apart. I whisper the sweet words you taught me, The words that we only have known, Till the blank of the dumb air is bitter, For I am alone.

I need you, my darling, my darling, With its yearning my very heart aches: The load that divides us weighs harder; I shrink from the jar that it makes. Old sorrows rise up to beset me; Old doubts make their spirit their own, Oh, come through the darkness and save me, For I am alone.

The San Francisco Post says Miss Blackburn, who figures so conspicuously in New York in connection with the suicide of Salmi Morse, is well known in the State of Nevada. She was at one time accorded the title of the belle of Gold Hill. She married a newspaper man. It is the fate of belles to marry newspapermen. Her husband was Harry Norton, who was prominent in Nevada journalism at one time. He removed from Nevada to Black Hills, and thence to Leadville, where he died of pneumonia. Miss Blackburn, before her marriage to Norton, was known as Nellie Ash, which, we believe, was her step-father's name. Her real maiden name is Blackburn.