Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1884-11-22
mo 8. FROSTBURG, MD, NOVEMBER %, 1884.
SELECT STORY.
The Mystery of the Mine,

tie draw that ran down from the
Caballo mountains. It had been
taken up in first claim by Lon How
ard and "Crib" Lewis, two preposssss-
ing men who came "out from the
East" as the phrase ran. Aaxgre
the fact that the prevailing mining
| fever made q granite ledge seem
scarcely an irrational site for prospect
holes, the p-oprietors were ridiculed
| no little for their choice of location
during their occasional visits for sup
plies or other business to the neigh
boring mountain towns.
1t was assumed that they had in
dependent sources Of income, since
the mine certainly would not yield
them the nscesssries of life.
"She wouldn't buy her own fuse,
let alone her blasting POWDER" said
one mining sharp, soidisant. "Sucb
| tender-feet couldn't locate grave
yard for ME. They had better cut
their shaft into three foot sections
| and peddle it to the new telegraph
company for post-holes."
The partners were reticent and
salf-coutained about their business,
| and bore well the attempted face
tiousness Of the camp.
At last there was the inevitable
gratifed flutter of fulfilled prediction
| among the prophets, when "Crib"
Lewis came to make his abode in
| town, with the announcement of his
partners departure for their former
home.
"Len was not fitted for rough life
like that" he said, in casual ex-
planation. "Now, if we had made a
! big stake, he might have stayed with
it for awhile. But how he did hate
! this part of the world! All you fel-
lows know how often he used to
swear he was going to break off and
go back to Gods country l miss
| him, of course; We have been to-
gether ever since we could run
| alone"
Howard's absence was regretted
less than might have been had not
Lewis so freely alluded to his part
uer's sense Of superiority to the Sec
ton. There was no doubt that Lewis,
left to himself, changed most unfav-
orably. He coarsened and roughened
day by day, and settled through low
er and lower social strain, until the
most depraved and vicious Of the
camp were his chosen associates In
the wild debauches for which, with
out labor, he had always ample funds.
1t was at this time that my father
coming home to our late dinner, an
nounced the arrival on the evening
coach of fellow Californian and old
time neighbor of our family. Mr..
Walter made one or two brief expe-
ditions into the outlying region, and
then quietly stated to US the conclu-
sion of negotiations by which the
"Fraternity" mine became the prop
erty of a wealthy California company
as whose agent our friend had come
hither. The terms of the sale were
so considerable as to give the trans
action an Importance beyond any
other that had taken place in the dis
trict for q twelvemonth past. There.
fore, Mr. Walter, spprehending a rush
of claimants to "the extension"
thought 1t lte1pedlent to fix accurately
the boundaries of the original mine
before knowledge Of the unexpected
purchase should transplre. For this
purpose the expert, my father and q
young surveyor prepared to drive out
to the mine, and Mr.. Walter, with
whom I was a favorite, suggested that
l should make the fourth in the car.
riags.
We made late start, but driving
easily the 3O-odd miles we reached
the mine a little before night. 1t
was not too late to view the place
certainly As little as we'll might be like
any preconceived idea of a valuable
mine. A little draw running down
from the low mountains, league
away, with only an occasional scrub
by tree dotting its arid border. A
small tent on the slope near the
| run, and some rods distant, half way
| up the incline of the mound-like hill
| = primitive windlass, in no wise diff
ferent, save i'll point of msssiveness,
from the apparatus at the we'll in
| many an old fashioned farmyard.