The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1879-11-07
DOwN IN THE BONANZA NINE.
Gen. and Mrs. Grant. ina Miners carb, Go
Down and Inspect the Wonderful Bullion


Lode.
Letter f.om Virginia City. New
After breakfast mt the Savage man.
sion the party were driven over the
high bluffs of the town and down to the
immense building covering the &C" and
I'D" shaft. Here. after being shown,
by Mackey and Fair, the pump which
throws eighty gallons at every stroke,
and which alone cost 100000, and the
hoisting works, with their gigantic
wheels and iron cables, we were sent to
. our apartments, the ladies in one and
the gentlemen in another. Here we
were ordered to remove every shred of
our clothing, and then attire ourselves
in coarse stockings, cowhide boots, a
pair of blue flannel pants and jacket.
And that was all.
When the General appeared outside
in the miners suit, with his pants tucked
in his stocking tops, and with the old
est slouched hat in the building on his
head, the party greeted him with
"bravos" and hearty laugh, and Grant,
looking with amused astonishment on
himself, declared he was ready for Elan
nigan's ball.
When the ladies appeared in mems
suits the laughter was turned upon
them. Mrs. Fair had been down be-
nifcantly that we all knew the reason
why, for in her jaunty sailors suit she
made pretty picture. The General
saw the point, and, stepping up, cigar
in hand, he said L want to offer this
young gentleman cigar" Who has
said that Grant is reserved and silent?
On the summit of the Sierras and sail
ing over the blue depths of Tahoe, he
was always appreciative and asking all
sorts of questions, and to-day, in his
miners suit, and when sure he had es-
capped curious crowds, 2,l00 feet under
the ground, he was chatty as boy, and
with dry humor which did not need
Grant behind it to make it good. He
was sure that Mrs. Grant would not go
down the mine until finally Mackey
offered to bet 81, 900 that she would go.
In the same joking way the bet was
taken by the General, but he did n OF
have the money. 1t would be useless
to apply to newspaper man for money,
he said, and no one else would loan it
to him; SO, Offering some old Japanese
coins for security, we started down.
But Mrs. Grant did go; and, descend
ing swiftly in the iron cage, we COM
miserated the General on his loss.
"Well," he said, "a thousand dollars
is good deal of money to lose, but
guess it will stop Mrs. Grants shop
ping while, and it is the first bet I
ever heard Of where both sides were
winners"
Down we glide as smoothly as in one
of your hotel elevators, to the first level,
| 1900 feet below. Here we leave our
overcoats, which we had put on for the
cold ride down the shaft. AS the
General starts off ne calls back to his
son:
Bud, bring some cigars
"You cannot smoke here" says Mrs.
Grant.
"Well, I'll try" answers the General
in so emphatic a tone that some one
raises laugh by adding, IF it takes
all summer"
Through subterranean and devious
paths we follow Mr.. Hugh Lamb, the
obliging foreman. We examine the
vast bodies of ore which we encounter,
and Gen. Grant splashes through the
water, knocks pieces of the ore off with
a pick, and is full of curious questions
about the cost of mining and milling,
the character of the rock. the yield per
month, etc., etc. We are getting so far
down now that the natural heat of the
earth is becoming unpleasant, and Mrs.
Grant does not seem to enjoy it.
Mrs. Grant wants to go back to the
surface, but the General says she must
not put them to that trouble, and, as all
good wives should, she yields, and we
leave the ladies in the cleanest place we
can find, and go on down. We are
soon where the thermometer marks %
deg. Fahrenheit, and the sweat pours
off us. We examine the immense sys-
TEN of timbering, and learn that it has
required over 100000 to put this gil
gantic mine of gold in shape for work.
We examine the pumps, and the steam
drills with their noisy CHATTER are
stopped and run so that the General
may see how they work. Mr.. Mackey,
who has been through this many times,
says it is not warm, but the rest of Us
sweat and gasp. The General is de-
lighted with the "good sweat he is
having; and, getting the attention OF
the crowd, he says to Mr.. Fair: There
are two newspaper men here and plenty
near at hand. Find the hottest place
you can and let us leave them there and
let them get used to what they must
come to-"
The newspaper men say never a
word. Again we take the cage, where
it seems cold as a winters day, and
down 200 feet deeper into the earth we
go. Here it is 100 Fahrenheit Work
men, bare to the waist, come forward,
saying:
General, we have got you here, and
you will have to shake"
II like to shake healthy mans
hand" the General says, as he looks at
their muscular development.
The water coming from the earth is
so hot here that you can not bearSyour
hand in it, and men can only work a
few minutes, when they are cooled of
with ice.
The General thinks it would be q
good plan to sentence convicts to work
! eight hours n day down here "Any-