Soapy Smith's "STAR" notebook, 1882-83: Part #3 - page 3

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
page 3 - original
1882-1883
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)

THIS POST UPDATED
August 23, 2023

OAPY SMITH'S "STAR" NOTEBOOK
Part #3 - page 3

     This is part #3 - page 3 continuation of deciphering Soapy Smith's "star" notebook in Geri Murphy's collection. A complete introduction to this notebook can be seen on page 1.
     The notebook is in Soapy's handwriting, and parts have been hard to decipher. The goal is to transcribe the pages and receive help from readers on identifying words I am having trouble with. I am including the original copy of each page, an enhanced copy, a negative copy, and the deciphered copy, as tools to aid in translating and interpreting the notes. There are 24 pages meaning that there may be upwards of 24 individual posts for this one notebook. Links to all of the pages can be viewed at the bottom of this post for ease of research. When completed there will be a sourced record of Soapy's activities and whereabouts for periods in 1882-1883.
     Important to note that the pages of the notebook do not appear to be in chronological order, with Soapy making additional notes on a town and topic several pages later.

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
page 3 - enhanced
1882-1883
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
page 3 - negative
1882-1883
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)

Here is what I believe to be the correct deciphering of the text. Do you agree, or do you see something else? There are some words I have not yet been able to decipher. Please take a look and see if you can figure out them out? All comments, suggestions and ideas are welcome! I will update the new information to this post.

Soapy Smith's "star" notebook
page 3 - deciphered
1882-1883
Courtesy of Geri Murphy

(Click image to enlarge)

Page 3.

• Line 1: "First your Business"
• Line 2: "and manner of"
• Line 3: "Conducting it"
• Line 4: "2d [2nd] Zuni Gold and Indians"
• Line 5: "Its origin and"
• Line 6: "first discovery."
• Line 7: "The tests by the"
• Line 8: "Government chemist ? ? record"
• Line 9: "Its usefullness [sic]"
• Line 10: "as armaments"
• Line 11: "and worthlessness"
• Line 12: "as money Rail Roads"
• Line 13: "in old Mexico"
• Line 14: "only difference in"
• Line 15: "weight"
• Line 16: "James E Readan Mfg Co."
• Line 17: "Providence, RI [Rhode Island]"

• Interpretation: I believe the year is 1882. Soapy was known for writing stories and poems, several of which were published.
       "Zuni" are a tribe of Indians famous for artistic metal work.
       Is Soapy copying words of wisdom from another individual, or are these his words for others?
       In regards to the "James E Readan Mfg Co.," Soapy might have come across some piece of equipment he wanted to acquire and had written down the name of the manufacturer for later reference.
  

Visit the Soapy Smith Soap Box blog

 

April 24, 2017
Part #1
Part #2
Part #4
Part #5 
Part #6
Part #7
Part #8
Part #9 (not published yet)
Part #10 (not published yet)
Part #11 (not published yet)
Part #12 (not published yet)
Part #13 (not published yet)
Part #14 (not published yet)
Part #15 (not published yet)
Part #16 (not published yet)

 

"I've often thought, if I got really hungry for a good milk shake, how much would I pay for one? People will pay a hundred dollars for a bottle of wine; to me that's not worth it. But I'm not going to say it is foolish or wrong to spend that kind of money, if that's what you want. So if a guy wants to bet twenty or thirty thousand dollars in a poker game, that is his privilege."

―Jack Binion