The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1888-08-02
Gold Dlgger's Luck.

me TRAGIC PHASE OF MINING IN rtLiroI.-
went to California in l>:,G. and served there
As Il gold digger for eight or hnc years.
In 80 the cream of the diggings had been
skinned of. The l9-cr> had found the richest
''rrc>ice>. ''rot-hole>'' and '.ritlle-,' cleaned
them o.lt and spent the money. A few went
back east with small fortunes. but the majority
got no farther than the nearest camp contain
ing = saloon and fandan@o house. in which the,
deposited their dust. Others reached san Fran
cisco with the intent of taking steamer home.
but concluded to remain awhile lon-cr in the
country after san Francisco had >coopel in
their plies These sadly returned TO the
mines, and wears atterward boosted of what
they had done to '.bud up the State.
My fist mining experience was in '.crcyi c-
ing." This meant >crapint collaborating dirt
from the cracks i'll the rocky banks of the
Tuolumnc. Bat before the dirt could be scrap
ed ont il had 10 he reached. and 10 reach il Il
@rc3t dca. OF pounding with >lcd.e hammers
and pryin- with "rowhar> was necessary. he
sides M III rramird-Gl positions for hours.
drawing up small quantities of dirt with
spoon or hit Of hoop IRON bent III ore end. The
sun WA not. the rocks were hotter. our bread
wa> Of our own baking. and consequently very
poor bread. car meat wa bacon. Cur >tvni-
ach>. after h few daN> If thi- diet. were cX-
trrmolN billions. cur hoa~r wa> Il liIcrr shelter
"f >',cl hru>h II w could recoccr. our land.
or rather bare r"ch. >lopc,l toward the river 80
>tcoplN thai We could with difficulty keep our
footing, AMI We're Obliged to ''cliork" ourselves
IA while We slept. or tried 10 sleep. at night
with peg At our feet. II au-ht Of our Jew
a.. liz 4
wer, IA any degree reliable. ten 20 one they
rolled into llr rive. oitr Nv, ntl-foot preci-
I.i'y.
g. iui- pli-m h,aN. rain caught H. one
li-hi. W. "piil Gui .'t tAat iU thu dark. for
ihr hIilAs Wer, .iiiiculi of passage in the day
lime. W. kiud,d lire. nnI q heavier out
pour Than ever immediate Il l'ur il out. lurin.
"a" remainder Of that long nigh; ". al. or
Stood. and took il IL II came. ! Wa not only
-o;k'r IN III. morning. hat dlr'l. for the bless
eel rain TOOK iiu~l of The colurin- out Of Il blue
'Hp I wore. and rolled il ia >ir,f,k> over M,
face. fact III which ! Wa, not aware until
reaching 1A'nI'>oii'> >i"r~ urNt morning.
w.i,Ir The crowd at the door made remark,
humorous and sarcastic AZ the change the cie-
nrai> nad wrought IN my counicnance. My
-ha4t ui that week. work on the rocks
amounted 10 $50.
have been through the Nliolc school of
surface mining" | worked the river bed.
was drowned ou, hy the usual fall frc>hci. two
months earlier than il was expected and. with
The rest of our company. helped bankrupt the
>tor'kccrcr who charged IL with our summer.
prov i>ipn>. have worked ''pot-hol.>" Worn
IN the solid granite by stones revolving for
a-c> in Il water whirl -''poi-hoc>' rs smooth
and round IL a >tovepipc and Il long a. my
arm. hicn yielded nothing, because the gravel
IN them WAS Il recent DEPOSIT. and the gold and
gravel once in them had been taken out wears
before 10y some early bird Of ''i?-er." have
worked over ''taiin">" with ii rocker. and
made Ia, II and Sl.5o per day. | have work
cd river bank claims. spent days i'll >hovcling
on the barren top dirt. got down 10 the ledge
where il ought to have paid, and found il not.
| have struck" collaborating quartz lodges
and found all the gold ut the top. and the lead
''pinchng ont at the depth of three feet. l
have seen fortunes in ancient dead river
channels under Table mountain, but never real
lied them. ! have often been rich in imagina-
ton. without whole suit of cloths OF my own or
any ones else. ! have lived in small camps
with a crowd OF my own ilk. such as at llaw-
kins' Bar, in 1850. which boosted twelve resi-
dents and one decent suit of store clothes, own
ed III sections and held rs a sort of communal
When one of us wished to 90 forth
into the world of a more refined and aesthetic
civilization. where pOstotlicc could be found,
where people slept in sheets and lived in houses
with a ''hard finish on the walls. he collected
this camp suit from the various owners, get
from b, the coat from c, and SO dressed up AS
he made the tour of the hamlet.
1t was an over-rated country. Perhaps one
in twenty Went back with fortune. and, as
fortunes are estimated nowadays, it was small
one he took back. Perhaps one miner out of
ten made decent wages; that is. from 81 to 50 n
day. Nine out of ten grubbe1 along from year
to year making bare subsistence and risking
their time, their strength and what little money
they had in hazardous and extensive mining
which generally left them poorer
at the end than at the beginning.
Where mined a ''$3 claim was thought a
good piece of property. That meant Il claim
paying the worker So per day after expenses
had been deducted. We worked ten and some
times twelve hours per day, summer and Win
ter. We paid So per day for a working stream
Of water. We lost an average of two and Il
half months out of the year through the water
supply giving out. We had to spend days OH
lays in cutting tail races" through rock. re-
pairing our reservoirs or other work incidental
to mining. which yielded no direct returns.
We went tagged ont to our cabins in the
evcnin" and split wood, carried water, kindled
A fire. baked bread and cooked our evening
meal. Cooking. perspiring and attending to a
red hot stove on Il red hot day, after ten hours
Of dirt shOvelling and rock pitching, is the last
straw OF the human camefs back. Supper
over. we might trudSe couple Of miles to the
Bar grocery, meet the other nnfortunates, dab
Die over greasy pack Of cards. poison our
selves with more or less corn whiskey, and
cave for home about ten O'Clock with five
bounds Of flour and one pound Of bacon to sus-
ain what passed there for ''life.''
When ! speak Of - or 81 per day AS
decent wages" ! mean decent wages for that
period. \ decent meal cost II. a shave twenty
Ave cents, the stage fare from our camp TO
stockton, distance Of but eighty miles, would
now carry one from New York to Chicago, and
no man could safely treat himself at the saloon