The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1870-01-07
Pocket Nisejssl.

OEEH LOD6E CITY, FRIDAY, JAM.
Pocket Mieia0.
fxark Twaia, I. Buffalo Expssn. Dss asdl
In one litik corner of California 10 found
sspecies of mining which 10 seldom or nev.
er mentioned in print. It 10 called ''pockel
mining" and ain not aware that any Of /,
10 done outside Of that little corner. The
gold 10 not evidently distributed through
the surface dirt, % In ordinary placer mines,
but 10 collected in little spots, and they sre
very wide apart and exceedingly hard to
ind, but when you do find one you reap 4
rich and sudden harvest. These are moi
now more than 0pocket miners in that en-.
tire little region. think I know every one
Of them personally. have known one Of
them TO hunt patiently about the hill.sides
every day for eight months without finding
gold enough to make SNUFF. box-his gro-
Gerry bill running up rclentlcssly oil the time
and then have known him find pocket
and take out Of it . thousand dollars in two
dips Of his shovel. have seen him take
gut e3000 in two hours, aud 60 and psy up
every cent Of his Indebtedness, then enter
on dazzling spree that finished the last of
his treasure before the night was gone. And
the next day he bought his groceries on
credit % usual, and shouldcred his pan and
shovel and went of to The bills hunting
pockets aesin happy and content. This is
pcrhsps the most facinsting Of oil the diff
fcreot kinds Of mining. and furnishes .
very handsome percentage Of victims to the
lunatic asylum. Honest toll and moderate
gains In shops sud on farms have their vir.
tues and their sdvantages When . man
consents 10 SEEK for sudden riches he docs
itat his peril. mo charged
Pocket hunting 10 "a ingenious process.
You take spadetul Of earth from hill.
side and put Il in large tIn pan and dis.
solve and wash it gradually away till moth.
Ing IL left but teaspoonful of fine setli.
mcnt. Wl,saevcr gold was In that earth has
remsined, because, being the heaviest, it
has sought .he bottom. Among the sedi-
mcnt You will find half . dozen shining
particles no larger thsn pin heads. You
sre delighted You move of to one side
and wash another pan. # you ind gold
again, you move to one side further, and
wash third pan. II you find 10 gold this
time. you arc delighted again, because you
know you are on the right seent. You 10y
IN imaginary plan, shaped like fan, with
Its handle up the hill-for just where tile
end OF tho handle 10, you argue the rich de-
post lies hidden, whose vagrsnt grains of
gold have escaped and been washed down
tho hi'l. spreading farther snd farther
apart ~ they wandered. And 20 you pro.
coed up ,he hill, washing the earth and mar.
rowing your lines every time the absence Of
gold In the pan shows that you are outside
the spread Of the fun; and at last, twenty
yards sp the hill your lines have convergcd
TO apoint--s single foot from that point you
cannot ind any gold. Your breath be-
c"mcs short and quick, you arc feverish
With excitement; the dinncr-bell may ring
Its c'srpcr of, you pay no attention friends
may die, weddings trsnspire, houses burn
down. they ore nothing 70 you; you sweat
and dig aud delve with . frantic interest
and oil At once you strike upon III Up
c"ncs spade full! Of earth and quartz that
10 oil lovely with solid Jumps end Ieavcs and
sprays of gold. Sometimes thst one spade.
full il all--e500 Sometimes tho nest con.
tains $4,000, and It takes you three or four
days 10 get It al out. The pockct.msners
tell Of one nest that yielded eoo, 600 and two
men exhausted It In two weeks, and then
sold the ground for $4,000 to . party who
never got $500 out Of it af,crward.
The hogs arc good pocket hunters, oil
the summer they root around the bushes,
and turn up thousand little piles Of dirt,
and then the miners long for the rains; for
the rains beat upon these little piles and
wash them down and expose the guild. pos.
slbly right over . pocket. Two pockets
were found In this way BY tho same man In
one day. One had o5 900 In II snd the 9th.
q $4,000 That man could appreciate 1t,
for he hadn't had . cent for year.
In Tuolumne lived two miners who used
to 20 to the neiehboring village In the Of.
ternoon and returned every night with sup.
plies. Part Of the distance they travessed
. trail, and nearly always est down to rest
an great boulder that lay beside the path.
In the course OF thirteen years they had
Worn that boulder tolcrsbly smooth. sitting
on It. by and BY two vscrsnt Mexicans
came along ard occupied tho scat. They
began 70 aisuss themselves by chipping of
dakes from the boulder with slsdge ham
mer. They examined one Of these fakes
and found Il rich with gold. That boulder
paid them @ao0 snerwssd. bat tho sGgss.
vsting circumstance was that these ''gTsss.
ess' knew that there must be moro gold
where that bouldH come from, and % they
went panning up tho hill and found wbse
w. probably ths richest pocbss that region
has JET produce.l Il took three months 70
exhaust l. md Il yisldsd ei9o.ooo The
two American miners who used y ut on
~ boujdss AZ poor yes, snd Dig taks
turn IN getting up sasly il he morning 70
cusse those Ncxicaas-aud when Il COMES
down 10 pure ornamental cursisg, ~ ~.
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