Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-07-07
MARK TWAIN.
How He Narrowly Missed Discoy-
e<tng a Fortune.
A. later esaiax ksssaEassesacs - the ris4s
.hsa hs 8As . Foskst-aiaer Ia csi1-
hsrni4-aaFs's Lask of Bzak-
eoss 81 . crffiesI Period



business DC follows also has several points
u resemblance u that Ok Ehe -Aantsr.
The trail f0llo~sd by oas leads hIm 20 the
Hss stored With sweets, aad that Of the
ether ends ia a pockst II s~sstest gold
fhs man who becomes an expert bes-
huntsr is liksly t. remain = bes- hunter al
his days, aud the sane may be said of Ehs
pocket mIR1r.
Mark f~ain's narrow escape from be-
coming q pocket -miasr has never been
sold It b worth recording, As it gave
aim ths story Of the ''Jampiag Frog" and
sent him on along the line OF the literary
lode aud SOC him - scratc hing therein for
pockets az fun
La ls65 Marx weAried Of Bohsmian life
In San Francisco, and went up into the
mining regions Of Calaveras County 20
rusticats with some old friends-Steye,
Jim aud billy ellis. Jim ellis was, and
Still "a, one OF the most successful pocket
mlnsrs in California Although educated
with a vte~ eventually 90 fight the battle
of life as physician, aud though stili
finding soiace Ia his leisure moments in
IA works Of Greek and Latin authors re-
pssing on a shelf in his cabin, Jim Gillis
= booked for life as n poeket-minsr. The
business has charms for him that he can
aot break away from-he Is bound 20 it
Ia chains OF gold. Show him a particle OF
quartz gold On the side Of q mountain, and
4 it ceme 20 where twas found through
the process or accidents of ature undis-
surbed In any way by the Interference of
man, he will as unerringly trace it TO its
source a. the bee hunter will follow the
bee 10 its hoard OF sweets
Mark Twain found the Bohemian style
of mining practiced by the "Gillis boys"
much more attractive than those more
regular kinds which call for alarge out ay
OF muscle. He and jim ellis took TO the
hills in search OF golden pockets and spent
some days in working up the undisturbed
trail Of an undiscovered deposit. They
were ON the golden ''bee line" and stuck
% IL faithfully, though IL was necessary TO
carry each sample of dirt 20 a small
stream in the bed up a canyon in order TO
pan it out Each step made sure by golden
grains, they at last came upon the pocket
which had thrown these grains of. II
was a cold, dreary, drizzlng day when the
''home der osit' was found. The first sam
pie carried TO the stream and washed out
yielded but few cents. Although the
right vein had been discovered, they had
as yet found but the tail end" of the
pocket. Returning To the vein, they dug
. sample from Il new place, and were
about TO carry il down to the ravine and
test IL when the rain began to pour down
heavily. With chattering teeth Mark de-
clared he would remain no longer He
said there was no sense in freezing TO
death, as, in day or two, when il was
bright and warm, they could return and
pursue their Investigations In com fort.
Yielding To Marks entreaties, backed as
they were by his blue nose, bumped
back, and generally miserable and
detected appearance, jim emptied the
sacks OF dirt upon the ground, first
having hastily written and posted up a
notice OF their claim To a certain number
OF feet on the vein, which notice would
| hold good for thirty days Angels
Camp being at no great distance from
the spot, while their cabin was some
miles away, Mark and Jim struck out
for that place. The only hotel in the
little mining camp was kept by one Coon
Drsyton, an old Mississippi River pilot,
and a. his house the half-froze pocket
miners found shelter. Mark Twain having
| formerly followed the business of pilot on
the Mississippi River, he and Coon were
soon great friends, and swapped scores of
yarns. It continued 10 rain ior three
DAYS, and until the weather cleared up
Mark and Jim remained at Coon's hotel.
The story of the jumping frog" was
| one of the yarns told Mark by Coon dur
ing the three days session, and ID struck
| him a. being so comical that he deter
mined 20 write it up. When he retur ned
| TO the ellis cabin, Mark set to work
upon the frog story. He also wrote
some sketches of life in the mountains
and mines for some Of the San Francisco
papers.
| Mark did not think much of the frog
story even after il had received the finish
ing touches He gave the preference to
some other sketches and sent them to the
papers for which be was writing. Steve
| ellis, however, declared that the frog
story was the best thing Mark had writ
| ten. and advised him 10 save it for book
OF sketches be was talking Of pub ishing.
A literary turn having been given to the
thoughts OF the inmates Of the ellis cabin,
a month passed without a return TO the
business Of pocket-mining-
While the days were passed by Mark
and his friends in discussing the merits of
the Jumping Frog and other literary
matters. other prospectors we're not idle.
| A trio of Austrian miners who we're out in
search OF good bearing quartz happened
upon the spot where Msrk and Jim had
dug into their ledge. Il was but a few
days after Twain and Oils had rstreated
| from the place in the pouring rain The
Austrians were not a little sstonished at
seeing the ground glittsrlng with gold.
Where the Dirt emrtied from the sacks
had been dissolved and washed away By
the rain. lay some three ounces Of bright
| quarts gold. The foreigners were not long
in gathering this, but the speedy discovery
of the notice forbade their deIvinz into the
deposit whence il came. They could only
wait and watch and pray This hope
was that the parties wbo had posted up
the notice would aot return while is held
good.
The sun that rose on she day after the
Twain ellis notice expired saw the Aus
srians IN possession ef the ground. with =