The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1853-03-31


mead. SO distracted is he, and unaware Q
his real position, that really believe h.
magines himself located in the ample hol
low of some huge pine. have endeavor
ed to cultivate his acquaintance, but he de
clines my friendship, for when ! stretch
out my hand towards him, he with few
'eisurely flaps Of the wing moves off.
am not much grieved at this repulse,
much fear bis character is not SO reverend
as from the gravity Of his appearance one
would suppose. observe that he shuns
the day. preferring darkness to light, which
in owls or men we have the best authority
for believing is indicative ofevi.
| lam here then all alone, but am very
comfortable by my fire, closed in, surround
ed on all sides by the snow, like the dwell
er in cave, the noise and commo,ion q
The outer world dsturbs me not How in
,ensely silent it is, not sound, not even a
cricket to chirrup on the hearth. What a
glorious chance for thought and meditation,
If nature had only endowed me with the
east bit Of talent for authorship, how |
could astonish the world when emerge in
to day Wight, in the spring. could bea
the man who wrote book on the pleas
ures of sol,ude-I forget his name--all 10
nothing, for he never could have had such
a chance for tasting them, in all their full.
ness, as enjoy. My only mode Of egress
to the upper regions, that is TO the top Of the
snow, is BY a sort of,unnel at the west end
of the wood shed. This is closed up each
night during The prevalence Of the storm,
SO that every morning | had to dig anew
until the opening was re-opened. Day
and night are all the same down here
One night woke up-it was day, by the
way, as afterwards found--dreadful tired
Of lying, hoped it was time to get up, but
as darkness held undisputed sway, conclud-
ed must be mistaken, so turned over and
composed myself for another nap. Woke
up again, still no gleam Of light penetrated
The window. Tumbled aud tossed about
and wondered if the sun had gone on a
journey, or may hap the storm had put oul
his fires; decided it was the longest night |
had ever known, and at last bethough, me
TO look at my watch, jumped up, scratched
ucifer, and found il was IL o'clock meri-
dian, by Jupiter! Scrambled out and
found my tunnel showed full, dug out and
found it was daylight sure enough, and .
furious storm raging. have not been
caught that way since as look at my
watch every time awake.
went one day--,hat clear day | told
you we had a long time ago, with my
neighbor Young to ST. Louis. We came
near walking over the village Of Pine
Grove wi,hou, seeing it, in fact we did not
see it, we only knew it was there "by the
smoke that so gracefully curled" up out Of
little holes in The snow. Each house had
its tunnel or shaft for ingress, but we did
not enter any of them, the risk of ventur.
ing down into such dark, unfamiliar look
ing sbysses appeared too great. The
trail was full of men, on their way to the
lower regions ofhs valley, carrying moth
ing with them but their blankets, leaving
heir claims, their tools, their cabins. their
clothing, everything. Many intending to
return ia the sprng--whch intention in
most cases will never be realized, as new
selt will Gil their goodly places. The part
ing remark Of an acquaintance, whom
met on his way out, most forcibly Illus
trates the precarious nature of miners
location; "good bye" said he, ''if have
bad luck | shall see you again in the
Spring--if good luck, never" Meaning
lha, if he was fortunate in finding good
claim during the winter be would not re-
turn for what he was leaving.
The immense depth Of the snow a, pres
ent precudes all possibility of mining with
advantage, and probably will until spring.
This together with the scarcity and conse-
quent high prices Of provisions, has induced
nearly all the miners to leave. There is
not probably more than one out Of each
company left to take care OF their house and
claims, even these few will be compelled
to leave, should the weather not moderate
soon. Flour is now 60 cents per ID. all
other articles Of food in q like ratio.
But front the most adverse circumstan-
ces some hope for the future may always
be derived. This vast amount Of snow, SO
detrimental to our present interest, will be
highly advantageous next summer, as il
will doubtless furnish an abundant supply
Of water all the season. This you know
is the great want in these mines, to supply
which is the object of the ditch, which is all
completed and will be in readiness to reap
| tdvantage from the earliest return of faII