Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-04-24
THE ROMANCE OF ACCIDENT,


d'Argent, cavern on one of the
mountains with sides SO precipitous
as to be almost inaccessible, and
which no one was ever known to have
reached. The Commissioners of Po-
lice of Sister0n, after extraordinary
labor, succeeded in scaling the noun
tain, and penetrated to the mysteri.
GUS grotto, where he discovered an
immense quantity of plumber Of eve-
~ description. The way having
been once found, the vast cavern was
Afterwards explored by savants; and
their researches brought to light a
number of Roman medals of the third
century, flint hatchets, ornamented
pottery, and the remains of rumi-
nants OF enormous size. These in
teresting discoveries, however, OBJ
tained no indulgence for the accused
(inadvertent) pioneers Of science. who
were sentenced to twenty years. hard
labor.
The discovery of gold in Nevada
was made by some Mormon immi-
grants in 1850. Adventures crossed
the Sierras and set up their sluice-
boxes in the canons; but 1t was gold
they were after, aud they never sus-
pected the existence of silver, nor
knew it when they saw it. The blu.
ish stuff which was SO abundant and
which was silver ore, interfered with
their operations and gave them the
greatest annoyance. Two brothers
named Grosch possessed more intel
ligence than their fellow-workers,
and were the real discoverers of tho
Comstock Lode; but one of them
died from pick-ax wound in tho
foot, and the other was frozen to
death in the mountains. Their secret
died with them. When at last, in
1859, the surface groupings of the iode
were found, they were worked for
the gold they contained, and the sill
yer was thrown out "a being worth
less. Yet this lode since 1860 has pro-
duced large proportion Of all the
silver produced throughout the W orld.
The silver mines Of Potosi were dis
covered through the trivial circum-
stance of an Indian accidentally pull
ing up q shrub, to the roots of which
were attached some Particles of the
precious metaE
During the Thirty Years War in
Germany, the little village Of Cose-
row in the leland of Usedom, on the
Prussian border of the Baltic, was
sacked by the contending armies, the
villagers escaping to the mountains to
to save thoir lives. Among them was
o simple pastor named Schwerdler,
and his pretty daughter Mary. When
the danger was over the villagers
found themselves without houses
food, or money. One day, we are
told, Mary went up the Streckelberg
to gather blackberries; but soon az
terwards she ran back Joyous and
breathless to her father, with two
shining pieces Of amber each of very
great size. She told her father that
near the shore the wind had blown
away the sand from q vein of amber
that she straightway broke of these
pieces with stick; that there was
an ample store of the precious SUBJ
stance; and that she had covered it
over to conceal her secret. The am
ber brought money, food, clothing
and comfort; but those were super
stitious times, and q legend goes that
poor Mary was burned for witchcraft.
At the village of Stumen, amber was
first accidentally found by rustic
who was fortunate enough to turn
some up With his plough.
A cooper in COrniala having one
evening placed q new tub under .
spring, in order to try if it
would hold water, when he came in
the morning found 1t 30 heavy that he
could hardly move it. At first the SUI
perstitious notions that are apt to pos
sess tho minds Of the ignorant made
him suspect that his tub was bewitch-
ed but at last perceiving shining
fluid at the bottom, he went to Lau-
bach, and showed it to an apothecary,
who Immediately dismissed him with
q small gratuity, and bid him bring
some more Of the same stuff whenev-
er he could meet with 1t. This the
poor cooper frequently did, being
highly pleased with his good fortu,. q !;
till at length the affair being made
public . number of persons formed
themselves into q society in order to
search farther into the quicksilver de-
posts, thus 80 Unexpectedly discov-
cred, and which were destined to be-
come the richest Of their kind in Eu-
rope.
Curious discoveries by ploughmen,
quArrymen and others, OF caves. coins.
urns and other interesting things,
wonld fill volumes. Many valuable
literary relics have been preserved by
curious accidents, often turning up
just in time to save them from crnmb-
ling to pieces. Not only mineral but
literary treasures have been brought
to light when excavsting mother
earth. For instance, in the founda-
tions of IN old house, Luther's Table
Talk was discovered dying in deep,
obscure hole, wrapped In strong linen
cloth, which was Waxed all over with
beeswax within and without" There
1t had remained hidden ever since it's
suppression by Pope Gregory XIII.
The poems of Poropertius, . Roman
poet, long lurked unsupported in the
darkness Of . wine-cellar, from
whence they were at length unearth-
ed by accident just in time to pre-
serve them from destruction by rata
and mildew. Not only from beneath
our feet but from above our heads
may chance reveal the hiding places
of treasure-trove. The sudden fall
ing in of ceiling, for example, of
some chambers In Lincoln's Inn re-
vealed the secret depository Of the
Thurloe state papers. Other literary
treasures have turned up in an equal
ly curious manner. MiltOn's essay
on the Doctrines Of Chrstianity was
discovered in bundle Of old dis
patches; . monk found the only man
uscript of Tacitus accidentally in
Westphalia; the letters of Lady Mary
Montague were brought to light from
the recesses Of an old trunk the man.
uscripts Of DIR. Dee from the secret
drawer ofan old chest; and II is said
that one Of the cantos Of Dante'a great
poem was found, after being long
mislaid, hidden away beneath win
dow sill.-Chambers' Journal.
Looks Good.
State Register.
The ten thousand dollars in gold
piled up on the counters of the Iowa
National Bank Of Des Moines yester-
day looked old-fashioned and good.
This bank is now redeeming all its
notes In gold. The Citizens Nation
al Bank, Of this city, has gold ON the
way In large amounts, and will com.
mence paying Il out in few days
tor checks ON dep0ist ~ we'll % for
the redemption Of its notss.