, 1872-12-19

| = gutter. The 1spiday continued that he rnads
the stones to order, and three others at the samo
| time, about month before, but declined to teA
ne for whom they TeIe made. s. Ihey Me5e , msde
of potash, oxide Of lead, bora1, and sila1~ Neaty
all artificial gems are made OF st1asa. and the
! co1ors are obtained By adding cartain oxiaaz
while the substance is IN state OF fusion Dis
OF strass may decivo novice, and even be
! made 60 ekilfully as to require careful test
before deciding On their other character, but You
can no more sell them for genuine to regular
dealer than you can make butcher buy poodla
| under the belief that he is bulldog.
returned the gems to- the Professor that
evening, with the brief explanation that my
friend WIS averse to speculation on account
; of lack OF funds, and that an unexpected de-
velopmeut had rendered it impossible for me- to
invest. He did not press for an e1planaaon,,
and We separated with mutual regrets.
OPERATING IN COPPER.
Another time man who had been for several
years on the Pacific Coast came to New York and
lived month or two at my hotel, without aaY
appearance Of business. formed an acquaiut-
ance with him one day at the table, and found
mining mskterz. Our acquaintance ran on 4
week Or 30. and ono day he invited me to his
room, and showed me some specimens OF copper
ore. They we're, OF wonderful richness, and
while I Was looE,g at them he o1plained that he
knew where there VAS 3 vein six feet wide and
q half mile long OF just such ore: He said it
in the most careless way imaginable, and re-
marked that he thought he had about as good
thing as there Was going;
conversation We sepsrsted- Nothing more was
said for several days, whom finally he asked II I
knew anybody who wouh like to join him in
working the mine and shadng the profits. There
vas more than he wanted for himself, snd he
would like to be relie7sd Of the trouble Of look
ing after it. The mine Tas On the Colorado
River, IN Lower California, and was very easy
one to work. took Some OF bis samples Of orc
and showed them to speculating friend, Who
is no end Of money in it, if he is talking the
cautious"
Ten OF Us formed company, and agreed to
pay him s100, 600 for half-inte1est in the mine.
It it turned out as he represented. He described
it minute1y over and over again, and his story
appeared perfectly plausible. He VAS ready to
80 there with any Of ns, show US the property,
and satisfy that be had told the truth We sent
one Of our number to California with him, and
at San Fl lancisco couple OF gentlemen, to whom
We had written, Joined the twain, and made q
party Of four to go to the copper-mine. All the
way he talked about the mlne,-from N5W York
to San Francisco, and from tho latter city 10 the
Colorado River. Several copper mines had been
opened in that region, and he spent day es~
corting the party among the reduction Tork1 Of
led them about twenty miles from the last Of:
these mines, and then acknowledged that tho:
whole thing Vas deception, and that he had nd:
mine to sell.
The two Californians proposed shooting him,
on the spot, but the New Yorker had prejudice:
against shedding blood, and persuaded his
friends to let the scoundrel escape. He did.
not return with them, and he never reap.
peared in New York, but he did turn
up in San Francisco, where he sold, tor $4,000
(and obtained the money for it). = quarter inter-
est in mine to which he had no more title than
I have to township in the moon. lie was q
plausible wretch and could look you st1aight in
the eye while telling lie as big and as plump es
the swelled head OF an Iishman the morning
after wake.
believe he Was subsequently mistaken for
coyote, and shot by miner whose claim he had
been endeavoring to steal and sell The miner
regretted the mistake, or, at all events, said that
he WAS sorry that somebody else had not mada
the mistake and made it earlier.