Loafing along Death Valley trails : $b a personal narrative of people and placesCaruthers, William
History
Loafing along Death Valley trails : $b a personal narrative of people and places
Caruthers, William
Death Valley (Calif. and Nev.)
Oakes noticed Herman’s Ford. Then he pointed to the $20,000 worth of
long, sleek Rolls-Royce. “Herman, I’m going back to New York in a plane.
I want to make you a present of that car.”
Herman Jones, dumbfounded for a moment, looked at his Ford, smiled, and
shook his head. “Thanks just the same, Harry. That old jalopy’s plenty
good for me.” No amount of persuasion could make him accept it.
Knowing that Herman Jones could use any part of $20,000, I marvelled
that he didn’t accept the proffered gift. Then I remembered that the
Redwing had produced only sweat and debts and Jones had paid the debts
through the bitter years.
In the little town of Swastika in the province of Ontario, Canada, you
will be told that Oakes was booted off the train there because he was
dead-beating his way. The country had been prospected, pronounced
worthless and nobody believed there was pay dirt except a Chinaman.
Harry Oakes had an ear for anybody’s tale of gold and listened to the
Chinaman. He was 38 years old. Lady Luck had always slammed the door in
his face but this time, (January, 1912) she flung it open. Eleven years
later Oakes was rich.
He had always talked on a grand scale even when broke at Shoshone. With
a taste for luxury he began to gratify it. He bought a palatial home at
Niagara Falls and served his guests on gold platters. As his fortune
increased he gave largely to charities and welfare projects such as city
parks, playgrounds, hospitals. These gifts lead one to believe that the
belated payment of $300 borrowed from Dad Fairbanks was a calculated
delay so that Harry Oakes could enjoy the little act he put on at Baker.
During World War I he gave $500,000 to a London hospital, was knighted
by King George V in 1939. He became a friend of the Duke of Windsor and
at his Nassau residence was often the host to the Duke and his Duchess,
the amazing Wallis Warfield, Baltimore girl who went from a boarding
house to wed a British king.
Sir Harry Oakes was murdered in the palatial Nassau home, July 7, 1943,
allegedly by a titled son-in-law who was later acquitted—a verdict
denounced by many.
_In connection with the story of Helen Holmes told above, it should be
explained that the original title was “Hazards of Helen” and following
an old Hollywood custom, Pathe produced a new version called “Perils of
Pauline.” In this the heroine’s part was taken by Pearl White._
Chapter XIX
Death Valley Scotty
A strictly factual thumbnail sketch of Walter Scott would contain the
following incidents:
He ran away from his Kentucky home to join his brother, Warner, as a cow
hand on the ranch of John Sparks—afterward governor of Nevada. He worked
as a teamster for Borax Smith at Columbus Marsh. He had a similar job at
Old Harmony Borax Works.
In the Nineties he went to work with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. He
married Josephine Millius, a candy clerk on Broadway, New York, and
brought her to Nevada.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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