Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-10-04
LUCK IN 4 TUNNEL.
AN OLD MINERS STORY.

aShoe and Nevada stripe. put an old forty
Line california miner. ] have been engaged IN
ali descriptions OF mining transactions, except
the new-fangled one OF mining stock in c9mpa-
nies-"feet' | believe they call it. Among my
varied undertakings was one operation III a
tunnel, In which and my partner engaged in
the Summerlof 1852.
one afternoon in that year. as 1 was carrying
up bucket OF water from the river to our tent
al the toy OF the bank, my foot caught under a
large stone, and my perpendicular was at once
ehaageG 10 norI0ntsi p"Safe we Ghe
II various directions. With few expietiveS of
rather forciSle character, quite customary
ana common in that region and PERIOD raised
myself 10 my feet again, and, picking up the
bucket. was about to retrace my steps TO the
river, when my attention was attracted by a
folded paper, which had been placed under the
uipped, the stone was overturned, and the
paper, folded in letter form, lay exposed to
eeeded TO examine it. IL was written in pencil,
In characters very irregular and stifliy formed,
as if made by person with a wounded hand.
The contents we're as follows:
'.If this letter should fall into the hands OF
any person, | wish 10 inform him that have
been attacked and MORALLY wounded by my
money. Failing 10 discover 1t, after wOunding
me, they have fed, leaving me here to die.
Whoever gets this letter will find, buried in a
ravl e at the foot Of 'blaZed' tree, twenty-five
PAGES due north OF this, a bag containing S. 900
in god dust. That it may prove more fortu-
nate 10 him than it has to me, Is the wish Of
stood for some minutes after reading the
letter like ole awakened from a dream. could
not convince myself that the letter in my hand
was genuine, and read 1t over and over again,
thinking might set some clue from the hand
writing OF the real author. It might be a trick
got up 10y my partners TO raise laugh at my
expense. No; the place where it was found, and
the purely accidental discovery, rendered such
a suImiSe very Improbable. / sat down on a
log and turned the matter over in my mind for
some time. AT last got up and pacing Of the
required distance IN the direction mentioned in
the letter, came 10 large tree. Carefully eX-
amining II, discovered a scar clearly tffdicat-
ing that the tree had been 'blazed' at some
remote period. This was confirmation strong
as Holy Writ" and Immediately went to work
10 discover the locality of the ravine. Here
Nothing of the kind was to be seen. To all
appearances a stream of water never had
passed in the neighborhood Of the tree. This
was lot encouraging, and | sat down on the
ground and read the letter again, to see IL |
had not mistaken some of It's directions No; /
was in tie right place, but where was the ra-
vine?
tap on the shoulder aroused me from my
meditation, and, looking up, saw my two
partners. who loudly abused me for having neg
lected the preparation for their supper. AS an
excuse l showed them the letter and detailed
the manner OF my finding It, To my surprise
they were as much elated by its peruSal as |
had been, and we all looked around perSever-
iDgly Tor the ravine, but without effect for some
time. At last Jack Nesbitt, who had been
miner since 4S said:
IL think there has been ravine here, but it
has been filed by the rains
On close examination we decided that his
supposition was correct, and after some consul
tat1on we determined to commence digging
early the following morning.
Morning came and we repaired to the spot
with pick and shovel. Jack proposed that we
appeared TO run into the body Of the hill,
rather than to dig down; for as he said, we
OF the ravine, by following 1t up, than by dig
glng down in any one place. The result was,
that in few days we had formed quite cave
In the side Of the hill.
We worked at this tunnel for four days with
out finding the bag. On the fourth day Jack
proposed that he and my other partner, Bill
waited down to the river and wash 1t, leaving
me TO dig In the tunnel. In that way they
thought they might make grub" while
searching for the hidden money. thought the
idea foolish, but as they entered so eagerly into
my views regarding the buried bag or dust l
made no objections to the play and dug away
with redoubled energy. III fact had thought
so much about the object of our search that /
had become utterly regardless Of almost every
thing else. had dreamed OF it when sleeping,
unused on 1t when waking, and it had obtained
complete control of my mind. Day after day
we worked digging and my companions
washing; yet strange TO say, did not become
OF gold dust, and l asked them nothing about
the result OF their washing the eXcavated soil.
We had worked about three weeks, and had
formed tunnel extending about fifteen feet
into the hill, when, one afternoon, completely
tired out sat down 10 rest in the cave. had
only intended TO sit little WHILE but five min
utes had not elapsed before was sound asleep
was awakened by crash, and found my feet
and legs completely covered by mass OF dirt
and stones. The front part OF the tunnel re-
NAMED firm, and from my observation OF its
structure prior to the accident, was convinced
that had no reason to apprehend any danger
In that quarter. My partners had carried dirt
enough 10 the river TO keep them busy there for
the rest OF the day; so had nothing TO hope
from their assistance. The question that first
presented Itself TO my mind was. how long can
life be sustained in this confined state? | had
read a dozen times statistics In relation to the
amount OF air consumed hourly by human be-
ings' lungs, but. like almost yerybody else, had
merely wondered at the time, and then forgot
the figures.
How much would have given then to be able
TO recall them! The next thought was, how
can proceed to eXtricate myself? This ques-
ton was difficult OF solution. II went to work
with shovel and pick to clear away the dirt
that had fallen, II was very likely that all 1
replaced by that which would fall In from
above. This was pleasant, l racked my poor
brain 10 devise some means OF nberatlng my
self, but without effect.
Leaning against the wall In utter despon-
dency, was about to throw myself down on
the ground and await my fate, when observed
that quite stream or water, on a small scale
was making its way down the side OF the cave
Al frst was alarmed, as ! thought It might
loosen the earth above and bring another mass
down on my head. The next moment the
thought struck me that 1t might be turned to
my advantage. Why could / not direct il so
that II would wash away sufficient earth In Its
progress TO The outlet or the cave to make an
opening large enough TO allow me to crawl
through IT? Even II only succeeded In making
an air hole it would enable me at least to exist
until my partners could come to my rescue
Carefully examining the course OF the water,
l succeeded in finding the spot where 1t entered
the cave, and to my great joy ascertained that
could easily direct It by cutting channel out
OF the sides OF my prison to the mass or earth
that blocked up the entrance OF the tunnel
The air at this time was quite hot and sitting,
and became aware that whatever was done
must oe done quickly, or / should perish for
want OF oxygen.
AFTER cutting channel for the water to flow
SoMaius the entrance, | enlarged the opening
ny W4ieh Ine stream entered the cave and re-
lolceu 10 observe that 1t flowed with redoubled
Iorce. Iaklng my shovel. pushed IL through
tne molstened earth as far as was able aud
then awaited the further action OF the water
IN rev minutes could push 1t further, TIL at
last II was out or my reach. Then PLACING the
pick handle against 1t, pushed both as far ss I
could. With what eagerneSs did watch tn see
the first opening made by the water, But 4aS
soon gratifed by observing that 1t nowei In a
steady stream in the direction In which pushed
the pick and shovel.
In few minutes discovered a faint glimmer
iDg In the distance, which might be an opening
or the erect OF an excited imagination. /
scarcely knew which. But the doubt soon re-
N 49,,