Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-12-15
DAINING THE SACRAMENTO


DAINING THE SACRAMENTO.
| Away up under the shadows Of Mount
Shasta, plunging down to the south,
foaming, shouting, laundering down the
| laDd rs if to shake the mountains loose,
the newborn Sacramento river is as
Geld and clear and white as the eternal
SHOWS that feed his thousand gold-bear-
ing tributaries.
Long ago, III the early days of Califor-
MIA, when all the rivers there were
thought to be full of gold, it was consid-
Sacramento, far up at its source, was al
SO gold-bearing, and that it only needed
men and little labor to ewing dam"
| the stream some summer, and find vein
OF gold almost as rich as the famous de-
posts OF the Feather and the American
rivers, which feed the Sacramento and
drain the melting snow of the Sierras
far away to the south.
| And SO it was il the spring CT IS,
with this purpose in view, that party
Of strangers in San Francisco hastily
| pooled their fortunes, consisting mainly
Of hope and muscle, and, ascending the
Sacramento river to within thirty miles
Of its source, settled down there and be-
gan to cut ii in two with q wing-dam.
How. IN one short and yet uncomplet-
ed summer, these ten men had managed
to 90 the amount OF work which they
had, it is hard to say. Winter was not
far off a. the farthest in this altitude,
but then how man working for himself
will strike out, with the thought con-
stantly before him that the next blow of
his pick may mean to him wife, chill
aren. father, mother, home, or, what is
the same thing. gold that would pave the
read leading back to these and all else
dear to him
Late one evening, as the brawny,
hairy, half-robed miners still wrestled
with the powders down in the bed of
the river, which as yet had yielded no
secrets, pale. slim boy stood on the
bank and inquired in helpless way,
and with weak, tired voice, if they did
not want "to hire help"
The men stopped, looked up, then at
each other, then at the boy above them
Oh the bank, and then they roared with
laughter.
Hire help! Look here, are you the
help?" howled the strongest of them,
called Samson.
eyes, sir"
Again the ragged men leaned on their
picks and shovels, lifted up their heads
and roared.
Say, are you an orphan?" laughed
"Col. Lasses, turning Guild. "We're
al orphans here, and long ways from
home. Are you an orphan and long
way from home ?"
"No, sir" piped the tired boy. eel
am not an orphan, but I am hong way
from home"
"Well, you better start home, then.
It will be dark by the time you get
there. I guess. From the Flat, eh?"
From the fat, sir? What is that? ~
"Why, Portuguese Flat" chimed in q
tall fellow, with touch Of gentleness in
his voice. "It's four miles down, the
only mining camp on this end of the
river. Where did you come from, my
kid, that you didn't know that, eh ?"
"Why, sir, I came from the other
way-down from Oregon"
Some Of the men caught their breath
and looked at each other, and others
shook their heads. But the very tall
and ragged one, who was called "Nut
Crackers" leaned soberly aside on bis
pick.
At last one of the men, sprightly,
handsome young fellow called Timothy,
threw down his long-handled shovel
and, coming up out of the mine, said:
"Well, my kid, you may not be an
orphan, but you're a mighty long ways
from home about thousand miles,
guess. And as you can't get back there
tonight, you'd better bunk with us-eh,
boys?"
"Bet your boots I" cheerily cried Nut
Crackers at his side, as he twirled a
finger playfully through the boys yellow
hair.
A heavy-booted, half-bear creature,
that came crawling out of the mine after
his young partners, grunted out quail
lied assent, and the party went slowly
stringing out toward the bush shanty of
the company. which stood little way
back from the foaming river. Others
followed. for the sun was down, and it
! was time to "klock off.
The boy was weary and altogether
wretched. He was tall and pale and
thin, like a weed that had grown in
shadow, and was not likely to be an
addition to the working force of the
mine but he was reserved and respect
/. ful, and so eager to help about the camp
Ia BRINGING wood and water. ard 60