The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1881-10-13
The "Honest' Miner,

are one TO every 800 honest miners. lie
has not brought in returns from the
Territories, aud there Is, in conse-
quence. broader sweep for imagination
in the undeveloped region, where min
ing is yet partly an experiment The
fortunes OF two or three millionaires
balance the losses of thousands, like
the many deaths which go 10 make up
victory. Are you the 5O0th or S00th
happy child Of destiny, the victorious
Captain for whom the unnamed heroes
feliP Your OF the bonanza king we
daily hear by telegraph, photograph,
autograph. OF the vast army of the
defeated--nothng. Singly they tramp
back home, steal in darkly at dead of
night, ravage the pantry, and, having
slept off fatigue, are ready to deny hav-
ing thought of Leadyille or Golden.
One OF the cheapest and easiest ways
of reaching mine is bya "grubstake."
This euphonious word means certain
sum (say $500 advanced to man by
another, with more money and less
time, and the prospector has an inter-
est in whatever he may find. You
meet him in every road, every high
way, every bywav, and where there is
no way in the Territories. The pros.
pective millionaire generally wears an
outrageous hickory shirt, sleeves usu-
ally rolled to the elbow, exposing arms
not the fairest, buckskiu or brown
duck pants, or a readymade suit, ready
TO be unmade at the seams, and a hat
of superIative slouch His head sbag-
gy as buffalo's, with sun-scorched
hair, and his face, lined with fierce,
sunbeat and wrinkling wind, is a CLOS
sy red, as though it had been yeDeered,
sand-papered, and vanished He car
ries = striking hammer weighing from
five to eight pounds Does it look like
an enchanter's rod? In his hand it may
prove a fairy wand potent as the
double headed hammer of Thor. His
burro, or donkey, is not much larger
than sheep, yet able to bear 800
pounds weight, On the patient, long
suffering brute is strapped blanket.
Above it are piled ratons OF bacon,
sugar, crackers, a pick and shovel, and
tin pot for boiling coarse brown
powder, called in bitter very bitter)
sarcasm, coffee. In seeking claims, he
is oftenest attended by q partner, fam.
iliarly and aGfectionaly called "my
pard." In this land of sudden death,
where every man carries pistols and
loves TO use them, one lone prospector
may be picked off almost anywhere,
and his bones left in deep canyon or
lonesome gulch. and no questions
asked II is best to hunt in couples.
Like the intelligent and reliable contra
band of other days, the honest miner is
forever bringing in good news. Lee
is Just where we want him! The latest
find is prodigious, the best thing yet,
and lacks nothing but capital for deve-
opment to equal anything in the Com
stock lode or Santa Eulaliar' This last
is mine worth having, where the early
diggers set no value on common ore,
but sought pockets rich with silver;
soft yellow clay, scooped out rapidly
and easily with horn.spoons. Some
times they were of immense extent re-
requiring years to exhaust.
have not been able TO learn why the
miner is always named the "honest'
miner but such is the fact. To this
well-worn adjective are sometimes adj
ded retcent and successful, when the
speaker wishes TO be unusually impress
sive. II has been written that mining
speculaions, like transactions in horse
flesh, Lave tendency to blunt moral
perceptions, and sourcd politicians in
sinuate it was first phrased by ambi-
tious patriots who were anxious to Sc
cure his suffrage. Be that as it may,
the honest miner is our man now.
Though he does not pretend t. be a
poet, bis is the vision and faculty di-
vine. He is attended by prescnces to
other eyes unseen, like the inspired
sculptor, who is in heavenly feryor of
inspiration hewed the rough marble by
the roadside and let the imprisoned
angel out. BY break of day, while the
warm valley still holds tue night in its
bosom, he is up and on the march.
ing pine has been his shelter, the over
arching blue canopy his tent, the world
is his field For his un(ailing appetite
there are crackers aud bacon and coffee.
Like Macaulay's fellow-traveler, he
breakfasts MS if he had tasted the day
before, and dimes as though he had
never breakfasted. His burro is happy
as the melancholy beast can be on
little grama-grass (Elheroma oligi-
starchon) or twigs and leaves Of scrub
oak, He wanders from the borderland
northward, among cold, sharp, icy
crags, where desolation dwells in
matchless state; where among treeless.
bald peaks, she holds and guards her
paradise, perfect even to the grim,
painted savage, who, with scalping
knife, instead of flaming sword, does
the duty of the sentinel angel at the
gate. Lava-beGs do not stop him, nor
chaparrel, me2quit, or cactus Jungle, or
the picking Spanish bayonet" In
whitening wind, in binding snow and
drifting sand. the undaunted fellow
pushes his search for rich leads Such
persistent energy directed 10 any other
business would command success; but
will it in prospectiDgP That depends.
Ii he fails in findings good thing (say
lode worth n million or so)in a given
district, he makes new deal and be.
gins again, for he is "bound to spot the
treasure"
The claim-stake is usually a pine
board. marked with certain Inscriptions