Telegram-herald., 1890-07-11
JEWELLERS IN MINES.
beasts. Snakes asd ssrrslu Ihst LARK IA
Asgsnssr3ois Darxsess froPhles
S~fhsrsa ~ ysrlsas FlAess -
MisiaE ExPsrt

misiag ExPsrI
Nothing tries mans nerves more
than the glazing sseS u some unknown
animal that has taken up It's abode Ia
the dark and deep underground work
ings OF the gold and silver mines OF the
Far Nest Often bears. mountain lions.
dogs. eats. rats, birds. snakes and aany
such things are found In the mines and
make many an interesting story. Ar.
A. r. Nuenseh, now Of Deayer, but
Who for several years was the mining
editor OF the Leadville Herald and DeEl-
ocrat. and who has examined and report
ed on about 1900 mines between Brit
ish Columbia and Old Mexico, recently
tod the Denver correspondent OF the
Karsas City Journal somo interesting
stories about animals be has found in
the mines. These were all IN gold and
silver mines, and not coal mines.
~ once went to Mineral. !. D."
said Mr.. Wuensch, "to make q report on
the Black Maria mine. On entering the
large tunnel that leads 10 the workings,
j stopped 20 strike = match, and, in SO
doing. placed my hand on one OF tho
timbers Of the tunnel. Don't do that
said the superintendent to me, and then
further explG ined to me that / was in
danger Of being bitten by a rattlesnake.
He said that rattlesnakes were
quite numerous In that section,
and that thoy sometimes crawled
into the tunnel. Rattlosnakes sleep
during the night, and are not dangerous
then. But early in the morning they
/ crawl out and bnsk in the sun, and in
the evening seek secluded spot for the
night. 1t was owing TO these habits Of
tho rattlcsnaks that the superintendent
gave me the warning. was at first
/ surprised, for IL is an unusual thing to
/ find a ratlesnalIe in mine. But the
warning WINS timely, for we had only
gone a short distance before we ran
across large snake that was uncoiling
itself from behind tho timbers TO mako
it's way TO tho sunlight at tho mouth OF
the tunnel. We soon killed tho reptile.
which was large one, and secured as .
trophy eleven rattles from the tail"
| MIR. Wuensch was sent out by tho
Union Pacific in 1888 as a geologist
! through Oregon and Idaho. Every
night he and the party slept on the
ground and never once thought OF
snakes, for the reason that even in
those sections whore the rattlers are
quite numerous these snakes usually
sleep in the night time. This suggests
to me story which q cowboy once told
me. He said that although the rattle
snake is not often used for food, yet he
liked them. He says that q tender
rattlesnako's meat is as white and de-
licious as that Of frog. He claimed,
strange as 1t may appear, that the
whipping OF q snake with a switch,
when no club is convenient, paralyzes
the reptile so that 1t is easily killed.
According TO his idea it is not the
quality of the meat, but prejudice, that
keeps more people from eating rattle
snakes. Always be careful, though"
added the cowboy, "snd do not let the
rattlesnake bite itself and thereby
poison its own flesh"
Rattlesnakes are sometimes captured
for the museums by placing a forked
stick on the neck and holding the rep
tile down until the snake is safely Sc
cured, but no one not accustomed to this
should attempt so dangerous an expert
ment. / have often seen large ratio
snakes coiled up under the sage brush
on the plains, or along the mountain
gulches, but never bad any desire to ex-
pertinent with them. "Bears and
mountain lions are suspicious" oontin'
ued the expert, recalling other stories
OF his experience In Western mining
camps. "Hence they arc not often found
in tunnels. They rarely take up their
abode in workings made by man. l have
seen their tracks in tunnels whore pos
sibly they were compelled to seek shell
ter. but not often"
Mr. Wuensch says tho most annoying
circumstance OF all his experience il
the mining regions of the West was IL
somo mines In Old Mexico. Hero art
found owls. bats and rats. Some OF these
famous old mines have inclines from
tho surface workings, and here anC
shere large chambers, worked out mani
years ago, as large as the rotunda o
many well-known hotels. Tho length
OF time in which some OF these mines
are idle causes them to be infested witt
rats, owls, bats and other animals.
81 had quite an experience witt
rats" said the expert, 'in the SAINTS
Barbara district in Old Mexico, nea
the boundary line between the State
Of Durango and chihuahua. 1t was th'
most uncomfortable sensation / eve
had in tho gold and silver mines Of th'
West. tied my broncho TO a post nea
by and had descended the shaft alone
1t was not very deep, and from the bot
tom OF the shaft | followed a drift
about three hundred feet II was jus
vide enough for a narrow-shOuldere'
Mexican 70 work in cramped position
Near the top OF the drift and about tn
height OF my head was streak o
quartz four 20 six inches wide, in
horizontal position. This had bee
washed out, leaving a kind Of groov
on both sides Of the drift. Well, thi
groove had become tho abode Of thou
sands Of large. lonT-tailed rats, whic
bad probably not been disturbed 70
many a year. Feeling my way care
fully along this drift, with = foebl
candle light. I seemed 20 aroase ever
rat. Their tails would strike ne IN "a
face. and when / would dodge - IN
opposite side Of the narrow drift it rs
only % encounter other long tails tia
would sweep ever the groove. was !
no danger. bHt that nest of rats in TIA
mine in Old MEXICO made ne NOR
nervous thas ali ny experieace in ia
mining regi8us-"