The Montana post., 1869-03-26
UP IN THE PO-GO-NIP.


an article under the above title in the !
Overland Monthly for March. 1t is des>
criptive OF trip from San Francisco to
White Pine:
FROM HAMILTON TO TREASURE CITY.
We have almost reached the summit
at last; q few more steps and our weary
journey will be over. The sun, which
had been shining in an unclouded sky
suddenly becomes obscured, and with a
sharp, rustling sound the snow-wbite
frozen cloud, the dreaded Po-go-nip,
drifts swiftly over the crest of the noun
tain and sweeps down upon us. The
infinitesmRl particles of ice, sharp as the
point of the finest cambria needle, sting
the eyes, the nostrils, and even the
lungs. We bend our heads against the
storm, and in a minute a wondrous
change has come over the entire party.
Grizzled and white haired as an octoge-
marian is every man; moustaches and
whiskers are masses of ice, and every
one wears q sparkling suit of silver
gray. .... .....
What shapes are these which like
phantoms of the air come silently to-
wards as moving with the storm? A
knight, clad in armor of frosted silver
mail, on milk white steed, with silver
bride and housings. rides forth from the
clouds and dashes down the steep accliv-
ity at gallop, while his trusty squire,
carrying his broadsword of Damascus
steel, follows at his horses heels at
run. Thus rode we forth in our child
hoods dreams to rescue distressed dam,
sells, uphold the Right and do valiant
battle with the giant Wrong.
Another Knight,and yet another, all in
silver harness mailed. Four milk-white
stee6s drawing a silver chariot, coach-
man in white livery with silver whip in
hand, and a fair>faced woman wrapped
in Siberian furs upon the seat. 1t is Gins
derella, with her fairy gift outfit. on her
way to the ball at the kings palace. We
saw her thus in the colored wood cuts
in our primers long ago.
An old man, bowed down with the
weight of huge bundle on his shoul-
ders, moves painfully along, with eyes
bent on the earth. 1t is Christian go-
ing to cast the burden of his sins at the
foot of the Cross. A dozen men with
uncouth wrappings on their limbs and
strange weapons in their hands, follow
on in Indian file; they are the sad rem
nants of the Crane Army of Napoleon
making their disastrous retreat from
Russia in midwinter, 4 little round
faced fellow, with twinkling eyes, mirth
and good humor breaking out all over
his whimsical visage; a short body and
thick, and protuberant belly, round cap
which conceals his ears, large woolly
overcoat, which drags on the snow, and
and q bag thrown over his shoulders
comes next. 1t is blessed Santa Claus
with Christmas presents for the chils
dren; wonder if he knows how good we
have been and If he has got that silver
bar which we dreamed we found in our
stocking? And here comes the Queen
of Fairy Land, clad in robes of silver tis-
sue and bearing her wand of magic pow
er in her band.
The procession has passed, but the il
lusion is not over. Tell me not that the
knights were but Mexican odcquer0s on
halt>starved mustangs, going down to
the valley after more stock for the
slaughter-house on the hill; that the
first knights squire was q carpenter go
ing down to Hamilton to have his hand
saw fled in milder climate where il
would not be so likely to break in the
operation; that Cinderella in her char
lot was q woman from Montana, whose
steps take hold on the bottomless pit,
going down to Hamilton in the public
hack; that the grim veterans of the Old
Guard coming back from Moscow were
honest miners going out with pick-ax es
and shovels, and with barley sacks on
| their feet to keep out the snow, 20 jump
| a lot on the hill side; that Santa Claus
was little German clothing dealer from
Montgomery street, San Francisco, with
similar pedal attachments and sack
of specimens on his back, and the Queen
of Fairy Land an honest old lady OF sixty
from Athlone who does washing for q
A Ill. e. ge.I-- \ \
is going out with a revolver in her hand
to drive off "the dirty. murtherin' scum
| who should lie afther stealing away the
bit ov land poor lone wildly has
worked hard and paid for, bad luck to
thin, for blackguards, every mothers
son of thimi"
4 THE EBERHARDT MINE
! The Eberhardt is the representative
mine OF this wonderful district. and see>
ing ii we have seen all the rest concen-
trated in one. Provided with a pass
\ from the Superintendents Office, we de-
scend the hill TO the works and enter
the building. At the door pack train
of Mexican mules are being loaded with
the precious ore for the mill two miles
to the southwest, and two thousand feet
lower down. In the shed men are busy
at great pile of brown, blue, red, green
and black rock, breaking it to pieces
and sorting 1t, the richest being thrown
aside for the crucible and the rest go>
ing into the sacks to be packed away
to the mill. There is princely fortune
in this pile of ore, which TO the unini-
tiated eye is but heap Of broken rock
fit only for building walls or macadam>
izing public streets. . ..-
Over one of the koisting shafts there
is large wooden bucket with rope
and rude windlsss such as you might
see on the prospecting shaft of the poor
est miner. 1t has served for hosting all
this wealth to the surface. In this
bucket we descended into the mine A
long, narrow chamber. with dull. dark
walls, and few men at work with pick