The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-01-09

had. The subject was the gold mines thai
have recently been discovered In Idaho
He was bent on going there in the spring
He had had his fortune told when he wei
a Young man, and It decreed that fortune
awaited him, and no thought that Idabt
was the place TO find It. He Ia now herd
ing cattle at $50 q month to get money t
90 on. 8 s..5
THg RULING PASSION.
II Is astonishing how these people viii
still cling 10 mining until they are ruined
financially, In body and In mind. Wher
they give up, 1t is complete; but, some O.
them are as uncomfortable as Frederic thu
Great. They will not yield, but still try
to find the wealth that has eluded them al
their lives. e5s5 Sis.
Last spring, while we were encamped
on Twin Meadow creek, on the Upper San
joaquin, company Of miners stopped
one night and wanted 10 sleep by our fire.
We gave them permission, and they I'm.
packed their horses. They were on their
way to q canon, some fifteen or twenty
miles distant, where they expected to open
gold mine. They were led by an old
man, who had discovered the mine. He
had not been to 1t for twelve years. He
had been hunting for gold In every part Of
the country, and had now come back to
work this mine.
That night a snow storm came up. II
storlned fourteen daye, and not till II was
over could the miners cross the mountains.
But they finally got over, and found their
mine oil worked out. Some one else had
found it, and had dug It as long as It paid.
This was as much us the old man could
bear. He had built his hopes on this
mine, and when no found 1t was exhaust.
ed he had no other plans Of life. lie came
back with his party, and stopped at our
camp. His companions were all younger
men, and the disappointment did not set
go heavily upon them. But, he seemed ut.
terly crushed. l felt sorry for him, aud at
the same time despised him for ioolng all
his lie away instead Of doing something
for himself and his country. He sat by
the fire, saying nothing for a long time.
Then looking up, like one awaking from
sleep, he asked: "Has Dinky been PROF.
peeted2' Dinky was a creek twenty. five
miles further back in the mountains, and
the old man seemed 10 think that he was
again in early times, aud that new gold
fields might yet be found, and that all was
not yet lost. Bnt Mr.. Stephenson told
him that Diuky had been mined twenty
years ago, and that every stone had been
turned over by gold seekers. This news
fell on the old miner like tho sentence OF
death, and drawing bottle OF whisky from
his pocket, he emptied it down his throat,
with the exclamation in Spanish "a Dios,
amego" (God be with you, friend.)
THE HOPELESS FIGHT.
This was another specimen. He was a
brave man, and fought oil destiny a long
time; but doom came at last. The next
morning the company packed their plum.
der on their horses, and filed away through
the meadows toward the settlements. The
old man walked along behind the train,
aud did not speak; and, as he disappeared
in the distance l could not but think how
much better 1t would have been for that
old man to live on small farm on
The Maskingum, where he would have
some purpose in life, than 10 spend bis days
in the manner he did.
1t ID nothing uncommon 10 hear theee old |
miners boast that they had often made five
dollars an hour, until they got tired Of
working for that wages. Yet they have
none OF 1t now, and are poorer than the
honest laborer who contented with saving
clear fifty dollars year. -. g ~ Il
Before | came to California had an idea
that much oil this country had never been
explored; that valleys and bills, where man
had never been, were still to be found. But
this is q mistake. Every acre has been
turned upside down by the gold seeker.
Away In the settlements, far out in the
deseris, aad along every creek and river
the traces OF the prospector are seen. Little
pits in the sides OF the hills and gravel
shoreled out OF rivu!es tell where they
have been hunting for the hidden wealth.
Where one thinks that surely 10 one has
ever been, there is where the pits should be
most looked for. a.
A DESERTED MINE.
This morning I went out with two
friends TO hunt for deer. We walked sey.
Eral hours along the side Of hill called |
Black Mountain, and by 10 o'clock had
reached its western declivity. A deep val. |
ley lay along its base, and ameng the
thickets Of chaparral we exrected 10 find
DUR game. My friends went down into the |
s9ickets while =! continued around the brow
81 the hill, go that ii a deer should come up |
there could shoot al it. 49,.
proceeded TO my post, where it was ex.
pected the deer would come, and was be.
ginning TO lookfor them when saw, in
the head OF q ravine above me, whore
some digging had been done. l at once
started up the hill, finding footing on
crags OF quartz that protruded from the
ground. l reached the mine, and found
that it had been deserted, probably five
years. The opening wss caving in and
horns were growing wherevera spot OF
soil could be found. BY climbing over the |
debris reached the opening OF tunnel
leading back into the mountain, l went
in as far as daylight went, and reached |
sharp bend to the left. While I was saud-
ing, studying whether or not to proceed, l |
vas startled by screams and yells back in |
The cave. Thoughts OF bears, panthers,
snakes, and OF Satan himself flashed over
me, and before l could take a eecond |
thought l discharged my rifle into the |
lark cavern beyond. The roar oil the gun,
n the confined air, was terrific, and nv
'ars rang with the explosion and the
echoes. All else was still. ,a,I5's,Ti
THE HOME OF THE OWLS.
My gun carried sixteen loads at a time. |
md | could have shot fifteen times more II |
had not forgotten to do 80. But I did |
not think OF my gun. I stood COMPOUNDED,
what was in the mine. ALI at /
'nce thought Of Indians, and then be-
anne excited. Not because Twas afraid
u them, but becaus. feared I had shot |
'ne OF them. Still oil was silent, and l |
vas on the point Of retresting to the light,
when deep in the cave I henrd sound
Ike the rushing Of wings. and Immediately
} iiock OF owls swept by me and flew rom
he nina fnilnwad na nr;al.l.- a. -: