The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1890-04-16

Thirty-fye years ago Evan Bowen and David
Thomas opened drife in the north west portion
of Palmyra township, on what is known as the
Whippoorwill Hill, for the purpos eof mining
coal. They applied themselves assiduously to
their industry, buoyed with the bright visions
OF wealth which they fondly anticipated. gath
ering to themselves with their golden rakes.
Aftermeeting AMI subduing the multiplied diff
fcuties that lay between them and the first
sight of tine black diamonds, tn y were reward
ed by striking their picks against the captive
sunlight, vulgarly called coal, With redo ubled
exertions they pushed to their goal and soon
exposed to view what appeared to be u fine vein
of the mineral. But a new obstacle presented
itself, and with persistent flow, impeded their
further progress. They could meet and over
come tn hardest stone barriers by patient Ia
Dor, but now they were brought to the painful
realization that after so long and arduous labor
their eXertions were crowned with an 6 advent
OF waters.'' that despite their attempts 10 con
troll, literally drowned them out and drove them
from their field of action. To these sturdy
pioneers, the song of the poet. whose eye in a
fine frenzy rolling,' speaks OF ripping
streams. - purling brooks and the " melody
of waters.' was then thing of impossible ap-
plication, and sadly they turned thei. backs on
the golden harvest That lay, as they supposed,
buried in liquid depths They did not possess
facilities sufficient to relieve the mine of this
new enemy, and so abandoned it, leaving the
results of their labor to stand as q monument
of their enterprise, much the same as the i" hole
in the ground - on l.. S. Wards lot in this city
bears testimony that monev ard muscle were
there expended in unstiuted quantity. But let
Il diamond be buried 10000 fathoms deep i'm
prisoned beneath the adamantine hardness of
continuous granite ami man. possessing that
knowledge. will commence his assaults on he
almost impenetrable layer, although possessing
no force beyond his own feeble powers. and no
implement but the rudest and crudest kind.
Thus it was with the hidden treasures OF Whip
poorwill Hill. Men were irr si,tibly drawn to
it, in obedience to the same law that attracts
the poor moth 10 the fatal glare of the lamp
light.
Since the time first m entioned, many attempts
have been made by venturasone men to extort
from the depths of this famous hill its boarded
wealth tsupposed) which. like grim old miserly
giant, it retained in its strong tenacious grasp
One man, William Olra. leased the Will o'-the
wisp for five years. and only at its expiration
in less than one year ago-did he forsake his
labors. Then W. B. Wilson. owner of the now
defunct Wilson Mine, and nr. Osborne. a
wealthy coal merchant of Cleveland, combined
their capital and enterprise, and sunk a shaft
over 100 ft in depth. a short distance from the
drift where the two men made the first attempt
at mining coal on that barren area The work
was under the supervision of one of those very
men, Mr.. Bowen. After expending thousands
of dollars and working for six months with all
the advantages of modern machinery and equip
ments, they struck foot vein of coal. But
this " fnd'' proved as tickle as the balance Of
the indications implicitly relied on by their
operative predece ,sors, for the vein was of ir.
regular formation and now the sun shines, the
rains pour and the winds blow upon deserted
camp of former industry, and naught awakes
the stiffness of the spot save tho voice of the
owl, that, complaining of g,ief AMI woe, pours
forth in muflled boots its dismal tale at uncanI
hours and atlunes its weird utterances to the
mournful winds that, sounding curious notes of
faraway climes, sweep over Palmyra's Sahara,
chanting the death song of hope and labor lost