Horace Austin Warner Tabor

            Leadville is a unique and highest city in the United States. It is about 10,000 feet above sea level. It is in the Rocky Mountains. It is an old city. It has long story. In the late 1890s, there were 40,000 people living in there. There are romantic and glamour stories from the city. The big hotel, Tabor Opera House and saloon are the glamour.

            The story began from a man named H.A.W Tabor. He had a second wife. Her name was Elizabeth  Mc.Cart, known as “ Baby Doe”. Tabor and Baby Doe were the legend of the old west. Horace Austin Warner Tabor was a schoolteacher in Vermont. He went to Homestead in Kansas by covered wagon in 1855. He might be lured by rumors of fortunes in Colorado mines. Few years late he moved to a small Colorado mining camp. It was called California Gulch which he later renamed Leadville when he became its leading citizen.

            Tabor was not a miner. He opened a store. He sold everything. He sold salt, sugar, tobacco and boots. Tabor also supplied “grub” for miners who were looking for ore in return he would get a share in the mine. He got no one found a mine.

            The story started from 1878. Two miners asked for grub but Tabor had stopped supplying it because he spent too much money on it. The two miners insisted to get the grub. In the end, Tabor had seventeen-dollar worth of supply in return he would get a one-third share in the two miners finding.

            The two miners began to dig. After nine days, they struck a rich vein of silver. Tabor bought the shares of the other two men. Finally, he owned 100 % of the mine. It was called Pittsburg Mine. It was worth $1,300,000 in return for seventeen dollars.

            Tabor bought the Matchless Mine for $117,000. It became bigger than Pittsburg. It produced $ 35,000 worth of silver per day. Leadville grew. Tabor became lieutenant governor of the state.

            He met Baby Doe, a girl with blonde curly hair and big blue eyes. He got divorced with his first wife and secretly married Baby Doe. He gave $ 1,200,000 as divorce settlement.  Later he was the United States senator. Tabor and Baby Doe married publicly in a big ceremony in Washington. Mr. Chester A Arthur , President of the United States attended the wedding party.

            Tabor was 53 and Baby Doe was 21. They spend $ 10,000 for honeymoon. Tabor  gave Isabella Diamond for Doe as a wedding gift. He wore $ 250 nightshirt. He and his wife moved to Denver where he built million-dollar opera house.

            In 1893, the United States no longer used silver as coinage. The price of silver was down. Tabor could not afford to run the Matchless Mine. He got bankrupt because he spent all his money in glamour. He had to work as a day laborer while his first wife lived comfortably with $ 1,200,000.

            In 1899, Tabor died. He said to his Doe to reopen the Matchless. Baby Doe did what his husband told her. In 1935, a 73-year-old woman died in the mine.

The story summarized from   Language and life in the USA. Gladys G. Doty, Janet Ross

Happer $ Row , Publisher 1968. 

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Collection of ice breaking activities for classroom use 3

Icebreakers are easy and short games to lead students concentrate in the classroom. You can start a lesson with ice breaking activities. This is useful to make students ready to receive lesson.

1. Hand pistol

This is suitable to young children. First, you point your hand with fore finger pointed like holding a pistol. Walk around the classroom. Shoot “ DOOR” to a student that does not concentrate. Ask a funny question to him/ her. You can ask “ how many legs does a goat have?” Find other students! When class becomes crowded and entertained stop and start to open today’s lesson.

2. Meditation

It is good for teen or adult students. You can set the meditation affirmation “ close your eyes, sit straightly, take a deep breath, breath in, breath out, feel the wind blows, relax!” you have any ideas to lead a meditation. This is very comforting when you want to start a class at the end of the school day.

3. Write words

Write on the white board a sentence for example” My mom is cooking chicken soup” ask all student to write down how many words they can write from the alphabets available in the sentence. They may will write “ nine, pass, go, sing, etc” give compliment or reward to students who can write the most words. Don’t forget to use stop watch to limit the time!

4. If I have one billion dollars\

This is an interesting game. Ask your students to take a note and write five things they will do if they win a prize one billion dollars. Check the answers of each student. Give reward or appreciation to students who will spend the money wisely. Most my students spend the money for shopping and buying they need but only few of them who save the money in a bank and give a charity. You can see various lists and it is fun to know your students lists.

5. Linking sentence

You must say a sentence. Then your students continue to make a sentence from the last word. For example ; you say “ My friend is from Italy” choose one student randomly to go on with the word “Italy” he my say “ Italy is a big country” then choose another student to make a sentence from the word “ country”. You must use time to create spontaneous response. You sometime will find funny sentence from your student.

6. Solving problem

This is a group task. Make a group of four students. Ask the entire group to find solution to a problem. Give one problem to all groups then match the answers of each group. For example “ you can ask your students to solve the problem what to do if they are flying a plane. Suddenly the plane lands on a desert island where there is no electricity, telephone or communication service. Give 15 minutes to write down in a note and read all the group solution in front of the class.

7. Write some words

Students must write some words from a certain letter to start. You decide the first letter, for example; you write a word “ B”. All students must write words that start with letter “B” They may write “ BOOK, BALL, BANANA, BED, BAD and other words. They will explore their memory. You must limit the time so the children will focus and try to do the task as quick as possible. After the time is up, you must check your students’ work. Give reword to the students who can write the most words. You also must check the spelling.

8. Blind painter

Children must draw a face. They must follow the rules to draw the face. Here are the rules. You must make sure that all children close their eyes. All children must follow your instruction. You give instruction to draw parts of the face randomly for example ; first you ask “ draw the left ear, draw the nose, draw the mouth, until children draw all parts of the face. You will see the result. There will be children who draw nose on the forehead and mouth on the hair. That could be fun but remember to make sure all children eyes closed.

9. No yes or no

Children must answer your questions but they are not allowed to answer with “yes or no”. This is the illustration. You ask :” Do you have brother?” ask a student to answer. He / she may respond quickly “ yes/ no” but the answer is wrong in this game. He/ she must answer “ I have no brother”. You can ask another question like “ Do you like cats?” the correct answer is “ I like them or I don’t like them” choose the students randomly to answer the question. One of them will be slipped, they will answer “ yes/ no” a student who answer “ yes/ no” will get a funny punishment. You can ask him/ her to sing or act out in front of the class. Remember to write list of questions you want to ask.

10. Massage

Line up in a circle. You can divide the class into groups. Each group lines up in a circle. Put each of the children’s hand on their shoulders. You give instruction to massage gently. This is good for relaxing. This can be practiced for adult students. Let the students massage their friends for one or two minutes. You can also join in this game.