, 1888-02-11
NOVEL GOLD MINING.
A NEW Workers. METHOD OF saw
ING THE AURIFERoUs WASTE.

Mining Company Crawling into 4
FIume at Dead of Night-A Poetic
R"ctrIbutIon.
Among recent arrivals from the west
was that of n man whose name does not
appear on any of the big hotel registers,
but who is nevertheless pretty wcllknown
about town. He is part owner of n placer
claim in Dakota, and is interested in sew
eral other mining ventures, notably one
whose field of operations is not far re-
moved from that of the great Homestake
Mining company. This gentleman, whose
surname is suppressed here Mt his eaTnest
solicitation, has been nicknamed Zero
cious Fred' by his associates, principally
because he wears mustaches Of n kind
That would hive brought tears of envy to
the eyes of the guardsmen of Louis XIV.
A w%oRBEGoNE APPEARANCE.
Fred arrived in the city and was met Mt
the Forty-second street depot by n party
of friends, who were very much surprised
Mt finding him with one arm in n sling,
with n strip of court plaster extending
ncross his forehead just above his eye
brows md presenting n woebegune mp
pearance generally. Fred explained that
his injuries were received during an alter-
cation he had had with n pack mule in his
mining camp, and his statement was nc
cepted as Il matter of course. Most OF his
friends had read humorous paragraphs in
reference to the foolhardiness of toying
with the pedal eXtremitics of mules, and
Fred's condition did not excite so much
sympathy as it would nave done had his
injuries been sustained in almost any
other manner. Last night, however. it
Leaked out that Fred had deceived his
friends. While in n convivial mood he
admitted he true origin of his d%isfigura-
ton, and this is the story of his latest ad-
ventures:
Once n year for the past four years Fred
has paid n flying visit to the mining
regions Of Colorado and Dakota, osten
sibly to look after mining property, but
in reality to do n little mining Of n very
peculiar sort. Fred, In common with
man. other small placer owners in that
neighborhood, has long cherished n feeling
of resentment against the Homestake
Mining company. 1t is alleged that the
latter has gobhled up all the water rights
in the vicinity of the mines, and refuses
to rent them to such other operators rs
have good paying claims, hoping thereby
TO force them to sell for n nominal sum.
AT DEAL OF light.
1t wns while casting about for n way in
which to "get even'' that Fred hit upon
this plan: The Homestake fiume, a coy
cred wooden gutter about two miles in
length, that carries of the water passed
through the ore crushers, terminates on
the edge of n bluff fifty feet high, down
the sides of which the water gently
trickles when the crushers are in opera
ton. At n certain hour every night the
flood gates bov are opened, and for a
short time thereafter the water rushes
out of the flume in n perfect torrent.
Once n year, for the pas. four years, Fred
has crawled into this 1ume mt dead of
night with n ''gunny'' bag n a tallow
candle N "cleaned it mp" on his own ac-
count. The process, as described by him,
consists in scraping out of the cracks In
the flooring of the fiume the gold amalCam
that escapes the sleeves at the crushers and
settles there. The plan worked success
fully the first three trials, each time net
ting him something like 81, 800 for his
nights work.
Quite recently he made his accustomed
descent on the wooden gutter. Unknown
to him, however, arrangements had been
made to flood the fiume on tho very night
he had selected for his annual visit. Fred
scraped up n considerable quantity of gold
amalgam and was crawling backward out
of the fiume dragging his bag after him,
when suddenly he heard n roaring noise
and n rush of wind e~xtinguished his
candle, \ moment later a great body Of
water came down on him with irresistible
force. Fred and his bag Of RTnalEam were
swept out of the fumc, over the bluff and
down into the rocky bod of N creek fifty
feet 96Nlow. His arm was broken in the
fall, and his head came in contact with n
rock so forCibly as to render him for a
time oblivious Of his surroundings.
When he reCained consciousness Fred
found that the bag containing the ANAL
gam had been split open in the fall and
the proceeds of his "honest'' labor washed
off in the flood. Disguised with his ex-
perience, he dragged himself to the nearest
mining camp, here he explained tina hi
had fallen off n bluff while prospecting
and managed to get his wounds dressed.
Then he started back to New York, hav-
ing made up his mind in the meantime
that the of the Homestake were
too great for him TO cope with-New
York Star.