The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1889-06-13
puvoLl.s LUCKY STRIKE.
He Made and Lost q Million Dollars with.
ia Six Months.

Sonora, Tuolumne county, Cal, was
at one time the liveliest and richest
mining camp in the Golden state, says
the New York Herald. Gold was found
in the very streets and the supply
seemed inexhaustible. For the past
few years, however, Sonora has been
on the down grade. A few mines are
worked in the vicinity, but the town
itself is about as dead as door nail.
One of the best-known characters
of the town, and who may be seen any
day leaning up against some post and
gazing into space, as if he had no
further use for the scenes about him, is
a Frenchman by the name of Duvoll.
Duvoll is about Sc years old and is q
very fair specimen of the busted
MINER type so prevalent among the
mining districts of the Pacific slope.
No one would suppose by looking at
him that only q few years since he
counted his gold by Che hundreds OF
thousands, yet such is really the case.
Duvoll sprang into wealth and
prominence in the fall and winter of
lS84-5. He made in those few months
something like 81, $50, 600. To-day he
has not a cent to his name. 1t hap
pened this way:
About four miles from Sonora some
men were sinking prospect shaft
when they struck rick "pocket, yield
ing some $4,000 or more in gold.
They ''drifted" about after that in the
hope of finding more. but concluded
finally that there was no more in it.
Duvoll had been prospecting around
and working in the mines, and had
saved about $500. He had heard of
this pocket, and thinking it Il good
''spec," offered the men his $500 for
their claim, which offer they jumped
at. thinking Duvoll crazy to want to
work the claim any further.
This didn't seem to phase" Duvoll
any, for he went to work steadily, and
day after day for about a month he
welded his pick and shovel at the
bottom of the shaft, until (the ground
he was working in was soft, decom-
posed quartz) ne found a narrow
thread of quartz showing a consider
able quantity of free gold.
That night Duvoll procured some
heavy timber and some lumber and
built cabin over the shaft. A nephew
of his was called to his assistance, and
one of them was always at the cabin
after that for a period of six months.
That narrow streak of quartz soon
began to widen and the gold became
plentiful, until an ore chamber was
reached. containing perhaps the great
est amount of gold in a given space
| that ever was discovered.
The gold was taken out in bucket
fuls. At every stroke of the pick
great chunks of quartz that were al
most solid masses of gold would be
loosened, and this was kept up until
they had taken out altogether some 9,
600 pounds, which yielded upward OF
| 81, 000,0 900.
This sort of thing, of course, could
not last always, and SO when the
''ind" petered out Duvol and his
nephew went down to San Francisco
to invest their money and enjoy them
selves. The nephew had, believe, q
tenth interest in the pocket.
A million dollars wasn't enough foI
Duvoll, and in order to increase his
pile he took ''fier" at stock specula-
ton. He took several ''fiiers," in fact,
and so did the nephew. In about
sixty days the nephew was ''busted, y
and Duvol's pile" had been diminished
to about 100000.
| Duvoll's next step was to invest
about $780, 900 in dwelling property on
Haight street, San Francisco. He then
| returned to Sonora. After several dis.
astrous mining speculations. he was
induced 10 go into a big irrigation
scheme which almost broke him and
compelled him to mortgage his San
Francisco property.
| After number of other adventures
the Haight street property went by the
board, and Duvoll, without even hil
original $500. found himself skirmish.
ing about Sonora for job at So a day,