The Placer herald., 1856-02-16

AN w give DeloW SOllc Interesting ltells
in relation to the discovery, etc, of the gold
mines in the vicinity of San Antonio in Ala
media county. The account is taken from a
letter by wag, who says he is the special
correspondent of the Tom Talk, from which
paper of the Sth inst, we make the extract
The information is given by us out of pure
devotion to our duty as a public journalist,
and with many misgivings that we shall lose
the society of great numbers of our miner
friends, by their migrating to this new and
unprecedented opening, for acquiring wealth.
"a few weeks ago, three Frenchmen named
Jean Baptiste, Francisco Boulon and Felix
Lamonte, all old residents of this vicinity,
were out on hunting excursion. They
were sitting on a log one beautiful afternoon,
disposing Of some fine crackers and cheese,
and thinking of nothing but sport, when one
of them suddenly raised his gun and shot
large bird which had unfortunately attempted
to sail over their heads. On examining the
feathery songster, the startling fact became
apparent that its feathers were covered with
a bright, shiny substance, which was soon
taken for what it really was, gold. The bird
not being entirely dead efforts were at once
made to resuscitate him, in order, if possible
to have him fly in the direction of the spot
where he received his valuable load. One
of the party, after being sworn to eternal
secrecy respecting the discovery, was imme-
diately dispatched to the village for medical
aid, and in less than half an hour two of the
very best physicians in the place were on the
ground. A consultation was had-the wound
was pronounced the natural result of a sud
and unexpected pressure Of gun-shot upon
the soft part of the body, which had evident
ly been caused by too close proximity to
powder. The cavity was probed the shot
extracted, various scientific experiments
made, and strange to say, i'll less than two
hours the bird flew. Its course being up
ward, the entire party at once concluded
that the upper air" contained gold, and that
it was there the bird filled its feathers.
Thus matters remained until quite recent
ly, when the Frcnchmen made arrangements
with gentleman to 90 up in balloon and
prospect the air in the neighborhood of Oak
land, Contra Costa and San Antonio. You
perhaps may remember the excitement caused
by this balloon ascension. The whole thing
fell through for want of gas. In the mean
time, others had got hold of the gold dis
coverv and while the Frenchmen were build
ing their castles in the air, more sensl le
heads were digging in the ground
The story, which l suppose has by this
time reached your city, that the gold was
discovered by some men while sinking a
well, is far from being true The physician
who attended the sick bird knew from the
like coming down to rest They consequent
ly kept a sharp eye on it, followed it about
two miles and saw it descend to the ground.
1t was a charming spot, and was covered for
some distance with the identical stuff found
on the birds feathers. The physicians feel
ing satisfied that this was the place, at once
prepared to commence operations. On their
return to the village to procure proper i'm
plements, | made their acquaintance, and
learning that | was the special correspondent
of the Iown Tall, offered me a claim to ac-
company them. We worked three days and
nights going down some ten feet through
the hardest kind of rock, iron ore, coal
banks, watermelon patches, &c. On the
lOullH uty, lIdNelllg agent Ol one Ol your
city papers-the Alta, | beleve-came along
and asked if we would like to take cheap
paper. He then inquired what we were
doing, when one of the party informed him
that we were sinking well. He made an
other effort to get us to take his paper, when
| told him he was very annoying, and would
do us favor if he would 'crculate." Not
understanding my>request, he turned abrupt
ly on his heel and replied that he had been
circulating all through the country, and that
he would bet me years subscription to the
paper that it had the largest circulation of
any morning paper in San Francisco. 1t is
unnecessary to add that | soon informed him
what | meant by requesting him to ''circu
late" Here is where the story about the
gold being found in the well originated.
We have been panning out our dirt for the
last three days, and as there are various state
ments as to the richness of the dggings, /
enclose the following as our experience:
First pan 90 90