Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 February 1903 — VOCABULARY OF MINERS. [ARTICLE]

VOCABULARY OF MINERS.

..Idaho Delvers for Gold Hava Oaa of Their Own. The excitement over the new gold fields In the Thunder mountain district of central Idaho has attracted many strangers hither. One of the things that strike them first Is the vocabulary that foyms a part of the daily speech among the natives. “To Job” Is a favorite expression for getting the better of a person In a deal or for playing a practical joke on him. If one is telling an«xtravagant story somebody Is sure to ask, “What kind of a box of salve are you trying to open now?” A person who' is always trying “to job” his fellows is said to be “peddling the bull.” This expression originated with the cattle rangers who tried to dispose of fractious steers. And the “box of salve” was considered particularly apt for those who considered themselves "smooth.” Tenderfoot is, of course, the general appellation giveen to every newcomer, though It is not extensively used. The man going over the trail for the first time Is frequently called a sheepherder by the old mountaineer. In fact, sheepherder has come ta be a term of contempt, for the reason that when a man has proved his utter unfitness for everything else in this western country he tends sheep. Then, again, if he is trying to tie a diamond hitch and finds his fingers all thumbs the packer will call him an alfalfa shoveler. The alfalfa shoveler Is a very necessary man about a big hay ranch, but among packers and log drivers he is the butt of many jokes and gibes. When the tenderfoot gets among real mining men and begins to learn how to swing a drill some one is sure to tell him that he would do much better to be out “pitching a camas hook.” This refers to the people who work the camas prairies In northern Idaho. Another similar term Is Palouser, which is the name given to the great farming community living In Palouse County, In Southeastern Washington, toffee is called berry juice. Beans, which are the staple food for those of the hills, have received the name Idaho strawberries. The bread made in the mountains, says the Philadelphia North American, Is a queer mixture of flour, baking powder and water. This Is baked In a skillet or frying pan before an open camp fire and is generally flavored with a liberal quantity of smoke and ashes. Often the fire Is too hot and causes the bread to crust before the inside has been thoroughly “doned,” leaving it a pasty mass. Such bread Is called a “dough god” and the hungry prospector eats it In spite of its failing. Then, again, the baker sometimes gets too much grease In his skillet and the bread will not hold together when baked. The result Is known as “shorts,” because it all falls to pieces. Good camp fire bread Is regularly called “bannock,” a term generally used In the west. Everybody calls potatoes “spuds.”