The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-05-21
GOLD-MlNING ADVENTURES
,ovaycE AND REALITY or TN
"" ,IIEORNTI MINERS LIFE.

~ a
tJrs,s unr, the Deserted N'il"sr. NV '''
rinu Of All, and the Billiard Iho'''
Two-thirds of the rich "strlkrs u, '""-
torp,a we're purely accidental Aman III ''''.n-
bia. out OF luck for years, stroheu ou' w
one Gay In state Of utter despair Se'''"A ,'.
col, under the ,h de Of tree he began pohu'E'
O'' - ,,ov at A black boulder before
49,, ia vcigbt attracted his attention l.
80, ., h,, n lump Of gold worth ten thousahu
dollars .,,,s,,o,,s
,no ,,ai loading from Marposa 10 lup-
linn. coupty. lie sat down on wmte i"'N
600, bI. dinner. and after having eaten H"u
xbue smoking the postprandial pipe ana Won
daring how many more years must elap7e oe'"'e
~ ,,,,d make a pile which should guarantee
him an honorable reception by his Easter"
relatives, his experienced eye was attr"' Gu "
mo dull yellow color Of gold in the rock ABOUT
him. lie was sitting ON his fortune one Oh '"s
richest quartz leads in the country
There used To be among us much ear"eu va"
about gold formations" wise men ''"o ',,"
the East. who. II was presumed could see iur-
ther into the earth than ordinary men, iuey
to,d ma where gold should he and where IL
.ho,,id mot be but seldom were their predic-
t,,,s verified. The most wonderful men for
o,ding cold unsclentincally were drunken sail
ors generally from Boston, who. staggering
forth from their tents and cabins. with pick and
pm In one hand and bottle oi whlskey III we nS
other would alght IN an uniccouhtaple hhu
mysterious n amer upon
niCu LEADS AND POCKETS.
An ee became ri last household word
among the miners u the enect INIT " COLO was
vnere tou founi IT," II was plentiful IN one
n tAnd barren In tue next. one hill TOP near
Chiusse Cnmu uuid Tor years. No other hill top
IN the vicinity Welded color. Generally. the
- GOLD ~ y
sometimes the light alluyiM on the surface
yieided the heaviest metal.
A. to Indications OF the presence OF gold,
ey,ry locality w "a study IN itself. On the hill
sides bordering tho Tuoiumne river. smoothly
rounded pebpic suggested hidden wealth To the
proprietor. A thin stratum Of gravel fifty ur
one hundred feet b1Vr tie present level OF the
river excited hun. Ibat mlg9t ind,c an old
channel The history OF Indian Bar on the
1uoluune Ia one OF old CHI nnes. he first was
discovered at an early day; ny 1879 gravel
back, nfie, feet above the river level. had been
completely worked on. lndian - was sun
posed 10 be worked out. All save half dozen
miners left. Pat Gibbons and his gang re-
named. These four men were content to work
for grub n I'd whiskev money. They gathered
w the sleanings. one DAY San Jones com
enred pick ing Il thin streak nf gravel left nv
the Point Company in n bank thirty feet above
the river. A painful welded three cents. lie
That was better. The gravel streak increased IN
thickness, and the bel rock iitched Hwav from
the river and into the mountain. Pat Gibbons
and his drunken crew Immediately took NJ
Their claims FOL several buudfed lcet. They bad
now three and -FOUR dollar per day digglnEs
This was wealih-drunken wealth. They
worked as little and drank ms much rs possible
Two DAYS labor 10y the gang would furnish the
means for weeks dissipatiOn
Meantime, John Sauborn, a prudent man from
Massachusetts, tidinR patiently his time, APP
prnnched one member after another of THIS
reckless gang and bought their claims for sums
ranging from $1,000 To SSU. When he had Be-
cured nearly the whole frontage he went 10
work system ucally, and the res II was some
times n Wild OF forty ounces per day. In two
years time he took out near S.NonD. Pat Glib
soon DRANK themselves to DEAN. Patrick killed
hs wife. Jones survived II oil, and 10 PROBABLY
1" day shak M his rocker in some FORGOTTEN
dav
10 the earlier dlvs of California gold mining
any Of the larger nuggets were accidentaliy
thrown away. tey would not pass through he
rccker and " Long Tom" sleeves, ana mixed with
stones were IT On the 81 Hing" heaps. These
pieces Ut gold we're often black and rusty, oein.:
q III 'uit to distinguish from the surrounding
gravel. In after years men averaged good wage
by cnlling over these heaps OF stone and picking
OUT the rejected nuggets and pieces OF quartz
necked with GOLD.
The gold dust Of contiguous localities often
varied IN value Dust from the Columbia dig
Rlngs aud Spriuehel ID Flat was worth az more per
Emne liver, Gfteen miles distant. The cold
buyers could readily distinguish gold from OFF
1erent camps. River dust Is smooth and haky
having been polished 10y attritlon with the NOV
ing gravel for centuries. Upland or Dry dig
Just as II has fallen from the decayinR quartz
hedges.
"PANNING oUT"
clay WAS one 81 the gold diRger's enemies. Be.
sides the difhculty experienced In IT'S wash ~,
IL would roll through the sIuices in sticky balls,
picking up the gold dust already DEPOSITED In
The rifles and carry ing IL on out Of the sluices
mouth Black sand Is an invariable aocompani-
nient of gold. 1t was the last deposit found Ia
our pans, rockers,and sluices, before sighting ne
yellow ore. when plentiful, II Is very annoying
TO the miner In pannlng out. Being very heavy,
only a few grains VIII wash out at each dip or
shake, thus rendering the process OF freeing &c
A 90
Planning out" may be termed simple ope-
ration, Yet T. Il not easy Of performance or de-
scril tion. You take your pan Of Dirt TO the
nearest puddle. over his you must squat, your
back oen! 10 In t angle which quickest devel-
OIL, an ache, your arms stretched TO Their ut
NOS length while holding the pan, and every
unnccustomed muscle brought into action. No
labor Is more tlr some. some miners never ac-
CURE the peculiar rotary shake necessary for
k,epingtte DIRT well stirred up In the water
while at each semi revolution OF the pan por
ton - sent over its eide.
How do you wash dirt7" The process is
ever gong % about US. Look IN tue street gut
Ing IN the crevices rusty mails, tack-, buttons
pins, and needles. The dirt has been washed
away the metal rem ms. The whole principle
actly IN this WY has the god-hesrln9 dirt been
" sued along the river bed. and n Ike, NUGGET
Gr MANI cuispi deposited 10 the crevices oil the
bed rock.
"cREvICING IN THE POT HOLE"
Here is man lying In AN intentionally
cI"inped position on the steeply -lnclined banks
hiii'N ubTNtI Tie luNluulue. The sun beats
down hercely. An egg will Quickly cook in the
whiie, hot . nd. bne Of his arms reaches 10
&c elbow down hole Ia the solid rock. Inc
mole "a ~ round and smooth as If made by A
gigantic drill. With uece u iron hoop bent Al
one end ne DIR VS. M Tit after bit Of gravel or
ytllo" uould. II may require the labor of half
uhY u MI MS gold pan. The dirt when washed
nay il.id I'VE dollars. 10 may yield afty Mining
Is lottery
ih.t hole s made ages ago. A pebble Law in
the cddyi ana the whirng waters turned il
~ ma Hnd round. Year alter year IL kept on
turning ana slowly grinding particles from the
b"d rock. 80 II wore rs way IA deeper and
uctpei, uhtl IL bored tins hole. II I'd il been IN
a. Nu--rs the cavity would Quickly have
MED M with sand But the furious current
wnrl Il The and out ~ fast IA came in. Only
tnr heavier dritt black irOnstone md an occa-
- 'nal Dlt uf god, would reuiaIu at the bottom
lac ne slowly a cuuula iug deposit was
H"d almost IA hfmly as cement This is a
"pn h3le,' aud our miner Ii "crevicinR." That
III tue ealier and PALMER days OF California
a. al--.ul, was tue simplest aud most pronta-
u ftu Of mining. For machinery IL required
O. Is The rick, pan, and spOol Thousands n
n'i - have been taken in a few hours from
Poi holes out "a lew leet in depth and IA lew
4hch IN diameter.
O. Nrln- was my nrst experience In min
10 licked up a woe-Degone man az Haw-
kiu-'s Btr. We bought "A few dollars worth OF
pfu'isi1ns anu went up Quartz Rock canon. The
r'N'. was dlnicult and dangerous. Much Of IL
Mas IKE promenade along the steep slope OF
n 'n-ud root We built for ourselves brush
use he foundation rock was inclined at an