The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-10-04

The result was generally q Judgement o
Of the ARK" quarter of mile below
its starting point ou the opposite side, and
suspension of all Wang Chu's Other
business until it was towed by hand
against the current back again
All the white men on the river were
agreed on one point, that the "Ark'
would drown somebody ere its mission
was ended. On this being told Wang
Chu, as an additional precaution, he
painted another eye in the stern, sacri-
feed pig to somo Mopgolian marine de.
ity, burnt more joss sticks, and terminated
the ceremonies with another outpouring
of gin apd opium,
In the summer time California
mountain river is an attenuated, feeble
stream, that one may ford at every one
hundred yards; an alienation of rivu
lets, motionless pools, bouder.covcred
islands, and great granite boulders rear.
ing themselves high out OF tho waters
But when swollen by the long continued
rains of winter, or the melting SHOWS oil
the Sierras in the spriug, its quiet peace.
fu character vanishos it becomes tur.
ISi0n+, -o~-ias. troaoheivus t,ivnrte- IL
sets death traps in every direction Here
a whlrliug eddy. smooth enough on its
surface and seemingly harmless, yet pos.
sessed OF invisible arms, more powerful
than those oil the devil fish, to suck and
carry men down into its lowest depths ;
there a maelstrom, raging and roaring
over the rocks hidden beneath. During
the freshet the banks quiver and tremble
as the immense power whirls and foams
past, and your voice is caught from lips
and hurled into indistinctness. From
"49' upwards, every one Of these noun.
tain gold bearing streams had claimed o
long list OF victims, ana many brave
fellow has been caught in their deadly
embrace never to be seen afterwards.
The Stanis!aus was "booming" one
spring afternoon at its highest water
mark, when five Cinnamon. encountered
with their blankets, bundles, rockers,
jacks pans and shoves, came stringine
down the Park Hill trail. They stopped
and refreshed themselves for time at the
china store, and then, accompanied by
Wang Chu, placed themselves aud bag.
gage in his boat to be ferried over.
A quarter of a mile below their start.
ing place was the Black Rock, gigantic
boulder. which for centuries had pitted
Itself against the stream. 1t was not more
than ono hundred and fifty rods
from the shore, and the Stanislaus
at tins point was not more than
double that distance in width. Here the
waters, suddenly narrowed to this com.
pas 6efwix; rocky walls, rushed rather in
a succession of great waves or burts.
than a regular current. This. in fact
was the upper entrance Of the Big Canon,
Two miles iu length. and by reason of the
rocky walls and raging current, no min.
ing could ever be successfully accom-.
plished here at the most favorable season.
Directly opposite the Black Rock, on
little knoll, was the cabin of Timid Sims.
tic, in company with chance partner,
was working on the bank near by.
Sims was always picking up the waits,
stragglors and castaways drifting about
-
er were ever open to them. He took |
them as partners. and trusted them as
freely as though they had come burdened
with trunks full of endorsements of good
character. Sometimes they robbed him
sometimes they got drunk and made nis
house q pandemonium sometimes they
affected the same result without tho aid
OF whisky, by gradually developing sour.
surly, ferocious dispositions The best of
the lot carried the gross result 10 gold
dust of weeks washing to Columbia for
the purpose of turning it into coin, and
after waiting many days therefore, Sims
received letter from the delinquent.
stating that be was overwhelmed with
shame and remorse, but he had given
away to his besetting sin of gambling
and the dust had ell gone into the nav
of the "tiger." He had not proved an
able workman either. His hand seemed
mover before to have grasped pick and
shovel, and after mornings gasping la.
Dor, Sims would often insist that he
should remain at homo during thr, ~f.~~-
noon and mako himself comfortable, for
it was a sore distress to see q man pant
ing and struggling with work to which it
was very clear hc was unaccustomed
You'll get your throat cut one of these
nights by some of those chaps you're al.
ways picking up" was the rough and
condescending advice of Jim Freemantle
to Sims. Sims looked as if the idea was
entirely new to him, but the next strag.
gler was as readily taken in.
1t was about eleven o'clock. Sims
and his cooperative straggler had put
through their last run of twenty Eve
buckets, and were washing down" to
see how it had yielded. The sieve and
apron of the rocker were taken off. There
was great deal Of black sand 10 the bot.
tom Of the apparatus. This Sims was run.
ming of by means Of successive streams of
water poured from bis long haudled dip
per, aided by peculiar rapid rocking of
the machine. Slowly at the upper end the
black sand deposited assumed the shape
of point, and near the apex one after
another came little run of golden yol.
low fakes.
"Iakes good deal OF dirt 10 make
little gold, doesn't it?" said tho strag.
gler. "When l was on the North Fork |
of the Yuba, in 81, got six ounces once
out of twenty-five buckets. Them was
the times, though"
"There's about two bits here, guess"
said Sims, "Well, that's better than
nothing, and we amt beholden to any one
for it,cither. like gold claim for one
thing. Itpays you just the same whether
you're Jew or Gentle, Catholic or Prot.
estant, Republican or Democrat. | say,
Tim, if those Chinamen start to cross the
river in that old boat of Wang Chu's
they'll drown"
The boat had started aud wa, gliding
up au eddy in direct opposition to the
course Of the stream. For the immense
masa of Watar rushinI down md atr;Lino