The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1869-05-12
ACaIifornia Yarn.
[From The COLLEEN Eral.

There is a fellow over at Groundhog's
Glory who has rich claim for sale. Sam
Hodgers heard of it the other day and went
over there to see what the chances were for
making good bargain. Sam is dissatisfied
sort OF fellow, and is always trying to buy
into something rich So, as L was saving.
he bulged right over to Groundhog's GLORY
the moment he heard OF it.
When he got there he found that the owner
of the claim and his wife had gone on a visit
to another family in the Big Bug canon.
Inc only person about the place was a small
boy, about twelve years old. From him Sam
obtained some Information which the owner
himself might rot have communicated.
Sam went down with the boy and took a
look at the claim. While he was casting his
eye about, the boy sat on a bank waistlIng
"Oh, Gosh, my own JENNA"
Having finished his survey Sam went up
and sat down beside the innocent juvenile.
"Bub," said he, 1--WE heard that this is a
rich claim, and it does look pretty well-noy.
to tell the honest truth, why does your father
want to sell out ii it's SO rich as they saw ?n
The small boy stopped whistlng, cooked
his head on one side, closed one eye and
squnted at Sam with the other.
stranger, have you got half dollar about
you2 Ii you have, perhaps | wouldn't mind
telling YOU"
Sam forked over the half dollar, and the
boy looked at it moment and whistled "Get
out OF the Wilderness"
"Weil, Teller, bein' as it's you, 1 don't obiec'
to saying that the reason dad wants to sell
this ERE claim is cause it's too rich"
Too rich Played out" put in Sam.
"Now, stranger, you jest hold your bosses
till get through, and I'll explain it to YOU
You see this amt like claims where til, gold
is in sandy gravel and mostly in the bed lock
huf the hank n rni ,aa ala ~.
is heaps and gobs of fine gold all through it.
The clay is the ali-firedest, sickiest stuff that
ever wuz, and you can't begin to work it
When dad gets to work down there he natu-
rally gets the darned stud all over him. and
when he comes in at night he's Jest coated
with it six inches deep, more or less, and this
clay is plum full OF gold"
Il don't See that that's any reason for his
wanting to sell out," interrupted Sam.
Well, old boss, you keep cool and don't GET
rampagous and I'll tell you how it is. When
dad comes in at night he's mighty tired; but
nam, you see, is such an awful eco omical
woman that she don't like to see SO much
gold wasted as dad has a. out him in the CLAW
every night, SO man she alters turns in and
cleans him up. At first she used to be salts
Zee With scraping him down with hoe and
panning him out. They made lots OF money
at that. He used to pan out rich, cell you.
But pretty soon nam got unsatisfied cause
1t took too long to pan him out every night
and besides she didn't get half the cold. Ihe
clay was so sticky it wouldn't wash good
Then she got string of sluices out in front
oil the house and put up a little hydraulic
and used TO pipe him Off Dad was dreadful
mad about it. You ought to hear him growl
and cuss. He said it was too wearin' for
man to work in the drain all day and then be
worked hisself at night. He had to give in
though. Nam said he shouldn't board with
her II he didn't, and that fetched him, YOU
bet.
Things ran on in this way for some time.
The old woman made two or three hundred
dollars week regular But, as It'd you be-
lore, she was awful savin', and she found she
couldn't pipe him off clean, and lost ever SO
much in tailins'. You don't know how sticky
the clay is around here. The only way in
which you can work it clean is to chuck it
INTO a Kettle OF bilin' water and bile it for
two OF three hours. That's the way the fell
low that first struck the claim used to work
the rich crevices. Nam heard of this. and
she thought il she could work the old man
III some such way she could save the gold
VI course she didn't expect to bile him right
down, you know; that would not have been.
exactly ON the square, but she thought If she
could let him stand in middIin' hot water for
an hour or two every night she could run
him through the hydraulic then and was
him off pretty clean.
Well, stranger, you mightn't think it, but
dad was SO pesky contrary that he wouldn't
do it. Nam said he'd got to do it, cause she
wasn't going to see money thrown away by |
no such contrariness. Neither one of them
wouldn't give in, so they concluded they'd
split the difference by lettin' dad sell out and
60 below and buy ranch.
That's jest how it :. is, stranger; and il
you ai'nt married, and want to buy
this claim you can make a mighty
good thing out of it, but if you've got wife
she won't let you rest for trying to work YOU
to good advantage"
Here the unsophisticated infant finished
and walked away, calmly whstllng II wish
was.a daisy" while Sam retired TO reflect
on the matter, for he was, and is, married.