Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1881-11-17
SPECIMEN. THIEVES.

Most mining companies whose ledges con
tain what is known as Specimen ore" sustain
heavy losses throug the tricks of dishones
employees. Numerous cases are reported II
Nevada, where miners working for So day
and supporting large families, have accumu
lated wealth with such remarkable rapiditJ
that in very few years they have been ena
bled to retire from the field of active labor
and live on the fat of the land, and this wher
it was positively known that they had not
been dealing in stocks. The "tricks of the
trade" are numerous, and in view of recent
happenings it may not be amiss to describe
some that are connected with the history o.
gold mining in that locality: g..
One trusted employe Of well com
pany that frequently developed pockets in the
course of its operations had practice ol
lighting his tobacco pipe every time he was
coming off shift, and enjoying smoke as be
rode to the surface and walked homeward
The pipe had bowl that held almost hand
ful of tobacco, but despite this extravaganza
the man, in addition to having a snug bank
account, lived in good style, dressed his fami
ly nicely and gave his children quite an ex'
pensive education. How he could do so
much on So day was mystery for several
years. Finally, one morning, as he stepped
into the dry-room after ascending to the sur.
face, the bowl of his pipe separated from the
stem and fell to the floor. The superinten'
dent of the mine happened to be there, and it
rolled to his feet. He courteously stopped to
recover it for the owner As he did so he
observed that it was very heavy, and turned
it over in his hand with curiosity. The miner
saw the motion, and got nervous. The su--
perintendent noticed the peculiar action OF
the miner, and ray of suspicion entered bis
not over. astute mind. He walked out of the
room with the pipe, leaving the miner in a
greatly excited condition. When he got to
his office he made an examination. In the
bowl he found a rich specimen covered by a
thin layer of tobacco. The smoker never
worked in that mine again.
A miner, who had always enjoyed spot
less reputation for being upright and indus
trious, went to Grass Valley physician some
years ago to he treated for what the patient
claimed was "blind piles" An examination
showed that the patients only chance for re-
covery was to submit to surgical operation.
The operation was performed and ragged
chunk of gold was found in the anus: The
man died, thus paying the penalty OF his dis
honesty.
Another instance was where miner, who
was regarded as eccentric because he let his
hair grow nearly to his shoulders. used shoe
makers wax to fasten specimens close to the
roots of his hirsute covering, and ne is sup
posed to have carried on the robberles tor
some years before being detected.
Another was the object Of frequent jests
because of the size of his nose in the vicinity
of its bridge. The nostrils were contracted
at the outlet, and expanded as they went up
wards 1t was not until some one finally de-
tected him in smuggling nuggets out of the
mine by putting them in his nostrils that the
advantage of such nose was fully apprecis'
ted by his fellow workmen. -.
A dentist in Nevada recently had a call
from a miner who was suffering with the
toothache. While examining the offending
ivory, which was hollow one, he pried out a
small piece of quartz, heavily charged with
gold. He accepted it as pay for bis work
and considered himself we'll remunerated.
1t is probably unnecessary to add that the
quartz was not put there by dentist.
There are other lodges daily resorted to by
specimen thieves. The cases we have refer
red to are those of quartz miners.