The Iowa transcript. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1858-1866, 1865-10-04
'a'ssE rsT. GENES STORY.
Alleged Discovery al Diamonds
and lsrrcs0f~ Sfeescs.

In place of our accustomed story, We pre-
sent the following statement. the most sensa-
tional of the day, in which, however, we
think there is vastly more fiction than in onr
usual narrative. We find il in TIE Nev York
Iorid, Of the 22d inst. which contains a
lengthy letter from Arthur NJ. Ieary, an en-
ginccr Of New York, inclosing the sworn
statement of Picrro Tagliare. in reference to
discovery of mineg of jewels while bur-
rowing the Mount Cents Tunnel through the
Alps, between France and Italy. Taglare
has been arrested Ivy the Italian authorities,
and is coniineiin The jail nj Susa. and it is
alleged that there are strong corrohora,ng
circumstances "a the truth 1T the statement.
The 'nnnelng has hcen stopped. and il is said
the French and Italian Governments are di-
yiaing the spoils. We omit the beginning of
Taglarc's statement
The great event came of on the 10th inst.
WAS at work with Bacco in the advance
chamber. and we talked, III the patscs of the
drilling. of the disappearance Of the English
traveller. Stanewold. Who hal been lost on the
neighboring Mount Cents, with many yalua-
bles in his possess on--among others, some
diamonds which were largely advertised by
his friends rs family heir looms. His body
had been found crushed to pieces at the bot
tom OF the pass. and some OF his possessions
were missing. The murder had been laid to
the laborcrs on the tunnel, rs We had many
bad fellows, and the hard life they led was
n1cel temptation 10 any profitable crime.
Baeco. who was cruel, greedy person. treat
ed the alleged murder as possible enough.
and half excuse The commission OF it, There
were with us onlytwo laborcrs, thick headed
Picdmontese. animal enough to love drinking
and sleep, but very stolid when mt work. and
without sympalhies oi any sort out of their
poor, bruised earcasses.
recall the moment we'll 1t was close to
o'clock; we took note Of the time carefully,
! because at o'clock We should be done for
the day, and with u triiing intermission for
supper, the work would be commenced for
the night by relief party. The advance
chamber in which we wrought was closed by
pivot doors from the completed tunnel with
out, where the masons were pricking up the
sides and the engineers laying the rails; we
could see through the creyiccs Of the gates
the lamps Of gas flaming in wayy lines as far
as the outlet, and our own close and rock
strewn recess with jagged ceiling and sharp
pointed sides, recently blasted, was lit by
mingled lamps Of oil and gas, so that it was
titfully luminous, but damp rs the cavcrns Of
the Alps could well be, made supportable on
ly by fresh air pumped in from the reservoir
III the mouth OF tho minc and delnged with
lets Of water which necessarily played
against the sharp tips Of the periorators. In
this damp chamber the crouching figure of
Bacco and our aids, STOPPING against the
rock, threw prolonged and crossing shadows
upon the granite surfaces, though the entire
cavity was scarcely erect enough to permit
one to stand, rs ii is the rule only to blast n
portion of the surface to be excayated, and
to complete the rest with the slcdgc, shovel
and pick Tho huge frame. proppcd to its
place. and fed with air and water all the
while, hcaycd from its pistons the ringing
drills necessarily, and made the excavation
echo with sharp revcrberations. Todrivc to
sufficient depth nine paltry holes, with all
the power at our command, required fifty
nine thousand five hundred blows, and rs
many revolutions Of the little rotary engines
behind each piston.
Suddenly Bacco stopped the engines.
"Corpo IL Dio!' he said; ssthrce Of the drills
ire quite crushed; we must have been pound
ing upon adamant."
Directly the frame and engines were with
\. drawn we charged the pcrtorations and ap-
z piled our slow match, and fled behind the
pivot doors for protection.