The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1878-03-13

to be again sDoveie0 into q square
hopper from which il falls into bat
teries where twenty greatiro7 stamps
Jump aud turn ia regular rotation,
while a constant stream of water
flows 10 aad on the broken rocks IN.
til it is crushed into impalpable pow.
der and is..washed down through a
fine sieve, and falls on q silver plate,
where ths quicksilver gathers most
of the gold. while the rest is washed
down into sluice boxes to the anal.
gamating tubs. The motive poser
of this mill is steam. and great wheels
spun round on every eide, while rub
Der bands looked like streaks of gray
smoke as they sped past from one
side of the mill TO the other, and all
the while the heavy stamps were ri
sing aud falling one at a time. regu-
lar as fate and reminding me of the
quotation, The mills of the Gods
grind slowly, but they grind exceed
ing small" This mill runs twenty
stamps, and the uproar is beautiful,
as they keep up their chatiering and
stamping on the hard rock. They
are placed in a line and are merely
long iron rods with o large weight at
the bottom, and another at the top
shaped like a spool of thread, and are
raised and turned half round by a
curious wheel for that purpose, and
only n rises al a time, SO that the
noise is continuous.
| sat and watched the workings Of
the varied machinery until / seemed
TO loose nay identity, or the recollec-
ton of place, and | was with Asmo-
deous in the centre of the earth,
where the life power of the universe
was controlled, and the bands and
wheels represented the threads of
life and their turnings, and the mer-
CHESS stamps, the blows dealt by
death. The great whirling tubs of
muddy pulp vas the mslstrom of sin
and the amalgamating tub was where
the saving pc wer of quicksilver, like
true religion, garnerd the worthy
from the unworthy, and the retort
where the good came forth pure and
bright while the worthless were cast
10 the winds. | could have staid
forever and watched the wonderous
power of mind, over matter, the
great rending of the golden king
dom from the grasp of the Ainty
rocks, but fate, in the person Of the
superintendent. interposed and took
me over to another building to see
the shaft and hosting works. | found
this also a very interesting sight and
| could but admire the sturdy mi
ners, muddy and ragged though they
were, for the true courage and per-
severance they show in overcoming
all obstacles. The shaft to this mine
is square across the top and meas.
ures about fifteen feet, and is down
two hundred and sixty and then tuu-
nels are run in different directions.
They have also a retort for burning
the sulphates aud obtaining the gold
used to be considered worthless rub.
bish, and it is worked by a new pro-
cess that is eminently satisfactory.
Many people have the idea that the
quarts mines are all "wild cat" or
worthless or that they are yet await
ing development. but there are many
that have been in successful opera
ton for a number Of years, but the
stock Of such mines are seldom for
sale.
luDehed with the miners, and we
had pork and beans, good bread aud
butter, a nice roast of venison and a
plum duff. They had no tea and
they were very much distressed BY
the fact, for they imagined no wo-
man could do without that article
without intense suffering.
As we started back, | thought l
would trot my horse q little for a
change, as his walk was O cross be-
tween the motion of a ship in a
storm and the halt of a three legged
chair, but after trotting for about a
hundred feet, | was thankful for him
10 subside into a melancholy walk
The name of this Anticipated
specimen was Abraham Lincoln, and
| must say that be was as full of an
gularities as his illustrious ~namesake,
and | was sure that | detected q shy
trinkle in his eye as though he had
perpetrated a joke ON the community
when hey took him for a saddle
horse.
Coming down the bill from the
mine, We met a funeral procession
going to the grave, and | think it was
the most pathetic sight | ever saw.
The man had died the night before
and they were thus hurrying him in
to the ground. There was not one
to mourn, non to go, even the under
taker and the grave digger and they
shuiied him into the ground without
q prayer to c~onsecrate the
grave. This man had been
once young, once had a home, friends,
and children, but at las. was thus
hurried alone and carelessly; TIC
ssddest of all things to be said Of
him None to mourn for Logan
The noble and illustrious red men of
the forest had a grand war-dance
the afternoon of my stay 10 this
town, and it was a most amusing af-
fair. The indians made their appear
ance at the west end of town end
danced before every house in the
principal streets, and after each dance
q bright looking "Mahala" or young
passed a hat around receiv-
ing considerable loose change. There
were ten Of them that danced, and
about thirty big and little Of both
that followed after and looked
admiringly on. suppose the dan
cers we're the "big braves" of the ma
lion, men who can lay around longer
and with less fatigue, and can eat
more grass-hoppers than any of the
rest.
Their dress, though grotesque
to be very stylish, did not
strike me as being very elegant, as it
mostly of stripes of red,
black and white paint over a very
lark brown skin; not to put too fine
/ point upon it, a very dirty skin.