_July 24th. Cheyenne, Wyoming._
Dan came in last evening quite disturbed over his failure to collect his
wages on the completion of the work. He worked very cheap for this
contractor, who seems to employ many floaters, and now he is refused the
little money that is due him. He went uptown this morning, and returned
about four o’clock enraged and disheartened. It seems that his employer
makes a business of hiring men who drift into town, at as low a wage as
possible; then beats them out of the money altogether, if he can. At
times some unfortunate, whose spirit is not yet broken, threatens
violence, in which case a trip to jail and a month on the chain-gang
curb, if not cure, his desire for justice. When Dan hinted at reprisals,
legal or otherwise, it was suggested that the Cheyenne climate was wont
to prove unhealthy for such as he, so it would be well for him to seek
new fields while the going was good. Inasmuch as we have no standing in
this community, besides possessing less than three dollars in cash,
which would not go far toward lawyer’s fees or bail money, it would seem
that this advice, bitter as it is, should be followed.