The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-07
Exposed BY 'QUAKES.
vsrFR1oUs UNDERGROUND
= pTvER DISCOVERED.

LlA0 - an Abandoned Quicksilver
oDa-' =, Recent Seismic Shocks
nnser FOSSILS and Footprints Founo
in It's Bed n..
~, -+,, that went up to Rocky lnyon
Nv Is9i,,s mo Intain week ago to lnVestl-
on 49, nba,omena following the recent
s.tbouakes has returned.
salnDl',- ,rera seven members of the party,
luS- u-os headed by James Bordwell, the
"HI ,t.,-rar who first brought the news to
GU Of the strange actions OF the
L in the old quicksilver mine in Rocky
canyon. y.L,+ +uar.v p,iIas
.-.L1vast of Ell Verano. and Is the loftteSt
IN the range of Sonoma mountains.
Po1 'iias are very steep and rocky, and are
~ U.s., ,a with a heavy growth of pine, red
c. ,nanzauita and madrona, which,
49, 49,, the last two years, has been turned
dullLI coal Goal nv venturesome Americans,
Italians and Portuguese .. -,
IT, trail M this mountain is slnuous ana
ir if h.ing absolutely impossible to get
Iot5n, Ave miles of Rocky canyon on
t VIM, or with ans kind of conveyance.
nhac coal burners are obliged to carry the
+rodncr of their pits to what they term
ding in sacks d long baskets hung
Of the ends. of poles resting across their
"S,nIIars where it is taken in small and
SlouirI v'hniit wagons drawn by mules to
tsreiiyvav sta ions in the valley below.
Tho Marty of explorers we up this trail
fsr a; nossible in the saddle. After
o,orr climb of two days they left the
torSo, in charge of an Indian boy who had
noooynranied them and started to cover the
~ost If the distance on foot. Each man
oorried a mack of provisions on his Shout
Sars and heavy stick in his hand, which
answered the purpose of an alpenstock, and
in many instances these STATS, armed with
a sharp spike at one end, saved man an
nnnleasant, and, perhaps fatal, tumble
down the side of the mountain.
It wa day and a nights journey from
+be horses to the coal pits, and the explorers
iabored no the trail without sleep. stopping
only TO unstrap their packs and lunch on
the co tents 1t was wild country, and
three ii mes was the progress of the party
iuneded by bears, which, in each Instance,
were laid low with a bullet from the rifle
Of Bordwell the guide. The nights on the
mountain we're made bright by the light of
the moon, but the wild screams of noun
tain hos and the weird boots of. owls
tended to keep the ghost of slumber from
the eYelids of the explorers, who were men
uaccustomed to the strange sounds of the
mountain wilderness.
TIE coal pits of Bordwell were reached
on the morning of the third day about 2
o'clock without accident to any member of
the rarty excepting a broken finger that
the Ecuminer correspondent got by falling
down a decivity about 20 feet into pile Of
legged rocks. Bordwell's fellow work man,
whose leg had been broken by the powders
shake loose by the earthquake that crashed
through the hut in W ich he was sleeping,
was und to be suffering intense pain from
the Inflammation caused by the fracture.
The sufTerings Of the poor fellow were less
ened by DR.. Ordwell, q member of the
party, who reduced the fracture and ad-
mustered soothing potion to the patient.
In he shadow of the smoldering coal
pits the wearled explorers tire w themselves
down, wrapped in their blankets, and for
the first time since they left the horses en-
j0yed sleep.
1t was past o'clock when Bordwell, who
la risen with the sun. called the party up,
and IN ten nlnutes each man was washing
piece If broled venison down his throat
with cupOf deiici us coffee prepared bya
coal-bucneF, who had come over from the
neighboring pits to remain with the man
with the broken leg until Bordwell's return
These coal pits were located on the north
side Of Rocky CANYON, which is deep cut
or deiile in the side of tne mountain, run
llng from narrow point near the top to
the valley below, where it broadens out in
the proportions Of narrow valley, rich in
vegetation and valuable grazing ground for
stock
AL the head of TINS canyon are several
ever moving springs whose waters unite,
forming Stream of considerable propor-
IONS that flows through the CANYON into
tae valley, and at last debouches into Sono-
ma creek Near these springs years ago a
pGrtf OF Spanish prospectors discovered and
"ofAed quicksilver mine, only abandol-
Iug IL wheA they had penetrated the noun
Sall nearly ~ feet, aud were driven back
ny eSstless flow of water. For thirty
!ea'S Vhe shalt OF this NINE had stood full of
wafer un II the recent earthquake, whea it
gusAed out IN a torrent, as described in a
previous Issue Of the Examiner.
hen tue party OF explorers visited the
ellalO On the morning of their arrival there
Se'e no Indications that water had Il wed
from JUS mouth within the past twenty-four
uouFs' as the earth was dry. From within
Cpe Shatt came murmur as of escaping
elealh IN the distance; q sort of a mufflsd'
iolTacIed hiss, with now and then a swash
IiHe tle stopping of waves against the face
VI d clin on the seashore.
Hhen the proposition was made that the
S Suaiy 3e explored, but four of the party
tb eol1el 70 enter it. These were Bordwell,
W. coal burner, DR.. Ordwell, Charles
rnooYer' merchant, and the Examiner.
d., ''sp- noent. The pro pect was rather
' sapi US out the party had come a long
n ~,
b ~ NE NINE, and it would not do to turn
,poft win simply having looked into the
49, or%iI, 50, enveloped in suits of rubber. and
sc ranGa WIN pixies, the party OF four de-
MOI ,li ~' INTO the darkness of the shaft each
uiah ce'ryi G lantern.
Ton, 90 tn q party advanced toward the bot
b oni VI the shaft the Kissing and swa hing
Ioo",-le more apparent, and it at last
na rt'nio necessary for the members of the
Will W out at the top of tAeir voices
,oiyo9 I Il Verslng in order to make them
ran ~ lo ~ or bottom of the shaft. which
d d. oo VAe mountain at a decline of about
that baG was wet and covered with slime
YEAR 10 az probably accumulated during the
and H. me water had stood in the shaft.
slipperv ~ ana ud-jumpers glided up the
aterhs dissipated the darkness ~ '1
shaft tJ HD ioO feet from the mouth of the
sometbinC luwel struck his foot against
unon it'hs nalf buried in the mud. winch
Of ~ va nVestlgation, proved IN ha a ,,ort;on
Of SON. was presumably once the law hone
inches T. lgantlc animal 1t measured 10I[
cvlindriaIite lgtn, and into it were set fonr
perfact teeth Teeth a inches long. 1t was in
the va sCate OF preservation. and from
mud !; III which it was buried in fine