The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-09-03
A MYSTERIOUS NINE.
THE STRANGE EXPERIENCE OF A
PARTY OF TEXANS
who Entered It's c. vernous Depths-A
story That OUT, .ggards Haggard-
The Truth OF This IL yoaohed For.


IL was tie fortune of the writer, few
DAYS ago, while on a train running between
III Paso and San Antonio, 10 meet Colonel
ID. Rs well-known and respected
citizen of the former place. When short
distance from the little town of Warwick,
the Colonel, pointing to the cloud-like forms
oftbe Sierra Santiago mountains, exclaimed:
"Do YOU see those peaksy Well, IL was there
that had, about thirty years ago, an adj.
venture that equals anything that Haggard
ever wrote" Pressed 70 tell the story, he
said: III have had such hard work in con-
yincing those TO whom | have already re-
lated it, that was not, to say the least OF
il. the victim of deusion. | rather dread
the task. but assuring you that every word
il the solemn truth will put your faith M
me 10 the test.
at was i'm ls6O-late in October, if re-
member rightly that was paid visit in
nv office by man who gave his name as
Miguel Romero. This man. seemingly q
Mexican with a good deal Of Indian in him,
with "A cautious and mysterious air, having
won my promise Of secrecy. informed me
that he had discovered in the Sierra SANTA
90 mountains a silver mine. II had been
worked TO some extent by the Aztecs, but
enough of the ore remained to make both OF
MS milliOnaires hundred times ever. re-
fused to believe in his story, when, from MS
pocket. he drew a lump of ore, which even
nv inexperienced eyes told me was rlch IN
silver. =,
"Romeros object in telling me of his dis
cOyerv was to secure my help in working
haf W.Is
needed to begin operations. | then tOld
him that if things were rs he stated them
would have no difficulty whatever IN FORM
ing a stock company 10 work Il on shares,
but that before ! made a move about II
would have TO view the mine for myself.
To this he readily agreed only stipuating
that should allow myself 10 be blindfOlded
wien introduced into the place, in order
that might not act unfairly toward him,
and on my demurring TO this condition,
quietly pOcketed his specimen and turned
TO leave the room.
Not wishing to lose possibly good thing.
called him back, agreeing 10 the blind
folding, but. on my side, claiming the right
to take a friend with me, lie was quite
willing. and the next mornings sun iOunt
the Mexican, myself, and an old friend who
had sOldiered with me in the Mexican war,
named Will H., whom | had chosen 10 ac-
company me- on the road 10 the mountains.
We reached them about noon, and entering
a gorge, followed it for several miles; then,
striking of into a sort Of cleft, rlght through
the side of one OF the knobs, were halted by
our guide. who announced that We were mere
TO dsmOunt and tie our horses, after which,
if we would kindly allow our eyes TO be
bound. he would lead us into the mine.
"After blindiOldng us, Romero took Us
by the hands, and. with verbal directions,
also conducted us along a very narrow "a
vine. as | could tell from our cchoing
voices. then up a steep incline for some
minutes, after which we descended. Al
last we paused. and were directed 10 get
down on our all-fOurs. This we did. and
crawled INTO a hole about three feet across,
| should Judge, n. leading, gong next ana
Romero bringing up the rear. we were III
a small low passage, which, dipping some
times suddenly, often necessltated our
ducking our heads and wriggling along Nat
to the earth. But few minutes OF TINS
sufliced TO bring US into large cavity, a. !
could tell by the air aud sound, and here
we were told by Romero that syc might Re-
move our bandages.
Clearing them away, we found ourselves
in cavern some fifty by seNenty-nNe leel
in size. with a low ceiling, which barely
allowed of one standing erect. 1t was
lighted by a rude lantern, which Romero
must have brought with him, and which
showed us piles Of earth, pickaXes OF a
strange and awkward make, buckets oil un-
familiar shape, and as many as ten human
figures living about. 80 llle-llke were ihe
men VINO, in various attitudes of despair
and horror were scattered around, that put
for the gray aspect or the faces and the
rigOr Of the limbs, ] could have sworn they
still lived. "AZtecs,' Romero told me, see
ing me bending over one. but that they were
not / was convinced for several reasons.
In the first place, the facial angie and the
features told me that they were OF CaucAslal
origin. and i'm the second. the buckets ana
pick-aXes were of iron, a metal unknown 10
the Aztecs. had no way Of knowing ol
what complexion these dead men had been.
but their dress resembled that Of the ancient
Egyptians. except for the head dress, which
consisted Of a sort o! skull cap. Their attl-
tudes seemed 10 indicate that they had been
suddenly surprised by some fatal catas-
trOphe, which only gave them time to realize
the hOpelessness Of their situation. Inc
tools. the piles Of earth and the men, TO-
gether with the floor and the sides Of the
cavern. were ali covered with thin, dust
cOlored film, as hard as stone, though slight
" translucent. What Its nature was /
cannot tell.
THE air Of the cavern was suflOcatingly
hot, indeed so hot that we were bathed IN
perspiratiOn. and soon became sensible Of
real discomfort. do not cN9ggerate when
say that the temperature was about ~
degrees Fahrenheit. Romero was very i'm
patient for US 10 iinish our inspection OF th's
chamber. from which led a gallery about
six feet in width. so we did not linger
thinking TO examine it at our leisure, but
pushed on down the gallery. The heat
grew greater, and the Mexican began 10
grow worried. 1T was not 80 when | came
last week. he said 10 me. / put out my
hand and touched the walls Of the passage.
They were so warm that could not sustain
the contact, but | could see that the indica-
tions of a rich vein Of silver were present.
"After following this gallery for nearly
hundred feet, our progress was abruptly
checked by huge rock, which had evil
deatly been sucked in or driven in by some
tremendous force, and which completely
closed the passage. and as tightly as a cork
in bottle. This, Romero informed Us, had
prevented him from further exploring the
mine. but that we could judge Of the prob
able richness of it from what we had already
seen, and that he thought no difficulty could
be found i'm removing the rock by blasting.
Here he placed his hand on the rock, bur
recOled with Il shrek, for the skin
had been blistered in an instant. And while
we stood nonplussed we became aware that
a certain dull faint roar we had scarcely
perceived before, was growing into rumb-
ling that promised 10 deafen US, and accom-
panied. as it was, by fierce Kissing and
boiling, was horribly suggestiyeof a lake Of
liquid metal buDbling up from some I'M
imaginable legion. | suppose there va, no
real danger OF it, but il seemed to ~ that
the boiling flood was coming through the
rock, and il was certainly rising. for the
noise grew louder every moment, while !the
heat increased percep!ibly.
"Will X. here tried TO call 10 me, but sank
down in a heap, fainting, and il was with
great difficulty Romero and got him back
to the ante-chamber. felt myself also be-
coming faint and dizzy from the heat, and
was Just able 10 request the Mexican 10
take us back 10 the surface Of the earth
when my limbs failed me. ! have faint
remembrance Of being dragged and pushed
for some distance, but when ! at last recOy-
cred myself | found that Il. and | were
lying close to where our horses were tied.
with Romero bathing our heads with wa
ter. He must with incredible difficulty
have brough us through that under
ground passage and TO the place where we
found ourselves. When we recovered he
took us to his house, cabin near the foot al