Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 121, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 October 1903 — STARTLED THE CAMP [ARTICLE]

STARTLED THE CAMP

A PRANK THAT ENLIVENED A BNOW BOUNQ MINING TOWN.’ - Tt»- Resurrection ot a Supposed Dead Lawyer Was a Mutual Surprise to tlie Ccenmunity and to the Victim of the Tricksters. “Life in a mining camp when it is snow bound,” said a prominent mining man of Chicago the other day, “is a dreary time, and men will do anything for the sake of a little amusement. The story I am going to tell you actually did occur, and at that time we all welcomed the Joke as a godsend and made a hero of its perpetrator. “The winter of 1893 rested an appallingly heavy hand on the Coeur d'Alene. Buried many feet deep under a mass of fleecy snow, the country lay prostrate. So intense was the cold and so heavy the weight of the snow that it was possible to work none but the richest claims. Ingress to and egress from that bountifully rich territory was a feat that none but the hardiest man dared essay, for it was an even chance that death from exposure might be the lot of the one who attempted it. “Wallace at this time was a thriving, busy, prosperous town where the artificial excitement of a mining boom everywhere betrayed Itself. The shutting down of many of the mines had left a large number of men living In Wallace with nothing to do. Time hung heavUy on their hands, and nothing was of’ too small importance to attract Interest provided it held out the hope of killing a few hours of the dreary time of waiting. “Just at this period the most prominent young lawyer of the town fell ill. There wasn’t anything particular the matter with him except a heavy cold and impending fever; but, being somewhat o's a hypochondriac, he at once believed himself to be In a dangerous condition. He promptly took himself to his bed In the rear of his office, denied himself to all but two or three of his Intimate friends, Installed 4 nurse to look after his wants and promptly gave himself over to that luxury of believing himself to be really ill which is so dear to the hypochondriac’s heart.

“The three men who were his friends and who were admitted to his apartment took advantage of the conditions surrounding him to perpetrate a practical joke that has since become famous in the northwest. They gave out lawyer, one Jack Greene, had died, and as hTs mourning' friends they received t-he camp, which called in a body to express its regret. “In the meantime Greene, in the next room, heard nothing, the visitors being naturally quiet in the presence at death. One of his friends went to the local undertaker and. Informing him that Jack was dead, purchased a coffin. Alleging the hard winter and consequent hard times, he beat the undertaker down one-half in his price.‘ The undertaker, however, got even by supplying a plain pine box painted a deep black. This was-placed in Jack’s office, and in the dead of night lumber carefully weighted to the weight of Greene’s body was packed inside it by the three conspirators. The lid was then screwed down, and the following day John Greene, followed by. the entire population of the town of Wallace, Ida., was laid away in the cold, cold giound.

“About ten days later Jack, having entirely recovered bls pristine health, appeared upon the street. To say that bls advent created a sensation is to put it mildly. Three or four superstitious miners, thinking it was his ‘ba’nt,’ straightway took to their cabins on the hillside and to prayer and fasting. The only woman in the camp had a fit of hysterics and fainted dead away. Greene, however, stopped the general panic that bls appearance was precipitating by stepping into the Crystal Palace saloon and there absorbing his four fingers of ‘red eye’ in a perfectly natural and earthlike manner. "It was hard to tell whether the town of Wallace or Jack Greene was the more astonished by the explanations that there ensued. At length, when those present had become convinced beyond cavil or doubt that it was Greene In the flesh and not Greene in the spirit—although by this time it must be confessed that spirit In great plenty was In Greene—they sent for the three conspirators. “ ‘What did you do It for?* was the question addressed in blunt and simple terms to the ringleader. “ ‘Well, I’ll tell you. You see we wanted to run Jack for a town office and we thought in this way we could get a line on how he stood with the community. But’-and here be slapped a wad of newspaper clippings down on the bar In front of the astonished wd aggrieved Greene, ‘Jack, you won't do. Just read those obituaries and see what the people think of you. Why, after, such a send- off as that we wouldn't dare to run you fdr the office of picking fleas off a yellow <Jog that was locked up on the town farm ’ ”