Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1873-11-27
A FIELDOF TREASURE
Discovery Of Silver Mines I'm Ohio.
Traditions Verified-An Old Min
er, with the Aid OF a Mineral
Ball, Locates the Mine.
Searchig for Buried
.... tr .-.- Coin. .--al ... ID 70


: 4 "a. f-..rr -o-O .-l..F 4rr.-
| Information, from an enterely relia
: bic source, having been received at tn
+ Pittsburgh Leader. Office a few day
since, that rich silver lode had beeI
recently discovered in Belmont county
, Ohio, a reporter, well acquainted viii
|, the the territory in which it was sait
: to be. was dispatched to visit the plac,
and gather all the facts relating 10 III
discovery, the probable richness Of tht
tl0de, and the manner of working it,
, "A pleasant run of four and half hour:
on the Pittsburgh, Cleveland & Wheel
ing railroad brought our prOspectOr tt
the smoky little city of Bellaire, with
4 its furnaces, rolling mills, glass-houset
for the train ON the Central Ohio Divis.
ion of the B. & o. X. r.
A CAPrEENER
was discovered in arrovision store try
ing to sell q load Of country produce.
These "Capteeners ," are the inhabi-
tants Of the Captina Valley, = rich
scope Of country extending from Pow
hatan, on the Ohio river, to Barnes
1 vile, on Centrtl Ohio Railroad. 1t is
on the Piney Fork, or branch, of Cap
tina creek, where the silver mine is
located. Almost the first thing spoken
OF by the farmer, after starting up a
conversation, was the immediate pros
pect of untold wealth out in his "dees-
trict." He gave all the necessary di-
rectiOns for finding the exact spot
where, onlya few feet under the sur
face, lay = untold millions.n Another
run OF about thirty miles, and i a2 3
H1los BARNFsvILLE T." "i' q
was reached. This is the nearest rail-
road station to the argentiferous re-
giOns. Should the mines prove as
| valuable as is anticipated. this stirring
little town will be the railroad head
quarters of the diggings. From here
stage line is run TO Woodsfeld, the
county seat of Monroe county, and
passes within few miles of Bealsville,
the nearest village to the mines. Our
reporter waited not for slow coaches,
but started out on horseback, following
the muddy roads, winding along the
sides of the oak and the pine covered
hills, from which Il grand view of the
country, with its, beautiful undulating
surface, dotted with cozy farm-houses,
well-filied barns, contented fOcks Of
Sneep ana neauS OF cattle. -4-....--4
Jogging along in a .sontherly direc-
tion for the space of about for hours,
the cone tops Of the white pine began
to appear on the ridge in front, indica.-
ing that Piney, the stream which leaves
the silver ledges, was near at hand.
Scramblins down rocky path the
stressni WAS reached, and by the direc-.
ton of the, Pineyite the horses were
headed for ,..--. ....i.;r II
:, RAVEN ROCK HOLLOW. si.g I'd
This hollow, or glnch, has long been
noted for IFS remarkable wildness, the
peculiar of the rocks, which
form the high and overhanging walls
on either side. a little stream gurgles
and tumbles along over falls and un-
der archWays, the Oaly sound heard,
save the signing of the wind among
the pines, until it reaches the main
stream. At one point the rocks almost
meet DER head, and it is said by some
of the oldest Inhabitants that not many
years since man could leap across
from one wall to the other, and that
the regular deer and wolf trail crossed
at this point. Judging from the ap-
pearance of the hugh blocks of granite |
lying below, one would be led to con-
clude that this place had been an i'm
manse cave at one time, and owing to
the softness of the rock had been grad |
ually worn away until the roof finally |
yielded under the accumulated weight |
of earth and tree above. .a0a- ID !
-aia THE SILVER LODE sf3Efs
is situated at the mouth of this giuch,
and appears, from its indications, to |
follow it to its source. The "hole in |
the ground" as the shaft is called, was
found to be nearly full of water, the |
prospectors having ceased operations |
for few days until they could get |
their arrangements-perfected for taking |
out the ore. The shaft is only twenty |
feet i'm depth, but the men said they |
had worked almost ten weeks at it.-l
The rock through which they hal to |
dig was one of unusual hardness, some |
times requiring whole days blasting |
TO get out a bucketful of "chips." At |
last Il light gray rock, Of a somewhat |
different texture, was struck, in which |
was a plentiful sprinkling of hard !
metallic substance. This, the miners |
say, is a very pure silver ore. They |
at once applied the usual tests, but were |
not able to tell the richness of it. Spe- |
cimens were sent to Woodsfield and st. |
Clairsville, where it was examined by |
experts, who all ageed that it was the |
genuine stuff, and very rich at that. I
JOHN GRANT, - 5.,,s
the discoverer of the mines, is an old |
California and Navada miner, and |
claims to have worked mines in nearly
all the silver regions Of the far west. !
He says he never yet has seen
better prosect than this, and calculates,
with the aid of three men, to be able
to take out and melt two hundred dol
lars day, if the lode holds out as we'll
as it ''shows" at present. He estimates
the metal found i'm the rock to be at
least eighty per cent. silver, tho residue
being principally antimony. At the
pont where the shaft WAS sunk the
d" lead" is about seven feet wide, and
enclosed on either side by hard granite
walls, somewhat similar to the rock
through which the shaft passes. Mr..
Grant claims to he relative of I'D
, PRESIDENT GRANT, s17S'
aud judging from personal resemblance,
his statement could not be doubted, as
he iscof very much the same build and
general appearance. Yet, he say, he
has never been appointed to an office.
He live at preseat on farm near Gar
rick's on Sunfisa, but the principle
part of his life has been spent in the
mining regions Of the west. He is
possessor of q 79f.sH /
- 70 MINERAL BALL .i" '-lt
which indicates the presence of kind
of mineral on the same principle of tho
divining rod and d"g ater witch" 1t is
a ball, composed of some substance
known only to tile 'initiated, fastened |
on to the end of wire, or small iron
or copper rod. The other end Of this
rod is divided into two branches, one
of which is taken in each hand, hold
ing the ball up. Whenever the pros