Daily Yellowstone journal., 1890-05-08
A DECEPTIVE OWNING ROO.
u Worked Well on Gold Coiu. but Failed
To Locate "A Uonauza.

" IL - -" 49,
unwary and u share for the credulous
OF the latter some ten years since |
was a very fair specimen, but my *
p%eriencc with the ''divining rod iieud"
did much To n me of my credulits
in this aud many other respects.
first met him, the ''tiend, summing
himself one day while standing at tho
corner Of California and Montgomery
streets, SAN Francisco. AS he is still
a prominent figure among the hope
iuls of ''Paupcr alley and may be
seen almost any day in his familiar
hsuct near the Stock Exchange. | will
not call him by name. MIR. Dennis,
therefore, will do. That isn't his name,
of course, but it ought to be, as the
following will show.
He was introduced Ia me by friend
as being q man il would be well to cul-
tivate. then had a few thousand
dollars al my command. which fact
Mr.. Dennis was soon aware Of.
He was tall and spare, with restless
gray eyes and an altogether unprepos-
sessing figure: but this made no differ
ence. lie could, he said. put me in
the way Of making millions, and he
was therefore just the sort of man ]
was looking for.
He xnew, 50 he informed me. O
place located hear Los Angeles, where
800, 900 in gold was buried that he
could lay his hands OH at any moment.
There were various other localities ia
the state where gold and treasure were
also buried. but Which he did not &c
after because. Us he explained. he
lacked the means whcrcwith to defray
his travelling expenses.
he looked absolutely destitute and
poverty stricken, aud even struck
me Tor & quarter then and there; but
there was, witial. something soplausi-
bic III his ronIances that | could not
but feel interested in him and give
credcnce To his yarns.
Come with me-, said lac, finally,
land Ill show YOU my apparatus, and
let you see it work" With my curl.
osity greatly excited we thenproceeded
To a vacant room in the Bank of Cali
fornia building, where he produced
from under his coat a V shaped affair
which lac said was a dlvining rod.
AT the point or apex was IA small brass
knob which contained some mysteri.
Gus chemical compound. the secret
of an eminent German chemist, long
since dead" and which, hesaid, would
invariably turn and point to the prec
ious metals.
He then grasped the handles Of the
instrument ia either hand, with the
apex pointing upward, and looked
with wonder at the rod twisting and
turning in his hands, and at his appar
entity futile efforts to prevent il from
moving.
Its no use" said he; I'VE are di.
rectly over the bank vaults, where a
great quantity of gold coin is stored,
and it would be impossible for me to
prevent its turning. then tried the
thing myself, but il failed to work in
my hands, because, as he explained il,
! was not magnetic. Physical magnet
ism, it appeared, was necessary in in
operation.
To make q long story short. | was
soon bound for a locality in FL Do
RADIO county, Cal, accompanied ny
. divining rod man. where, as Mr.
Dennis assured me, he had located a
rich vein of gold bearing quartz that
would yield at least $3.50 to the ton.
] don't know why | didn't first 90 af-
ter the buried treasures in other locali-
ties, but as a $3.50 quartz ledge was q
sure fortune, and Mr.. Dennis had some
ready excuse for delaying our expe.
1ition after these other "~bonanzas,' |
had to be content with the rich gold
mine in prospect.
That | had 10 pay Mr.. Dennis trav-
cling expenses goes without saying;
but the prospect Of "A certain and rich
reward therefor caused me no uneasi-
ness on this account.
The spot might say the fatal spot
was finally reached, and Mr.. Dennis
at once commenced his experiments.
After hunting about for an hour or SO
the rod began to gyrate. and then we
knew, or at least | thought | knew,
that the bonanza was there waiting TO
be uncovered.
After stalking out our claim and
posting up the usual mining notice
engaged the services Of six experienced
miners at IS. so per day, and the work
was commenced. The miners were in
credulous, and even poked considera.
BILE fun at the lightning rod man !"
but as they received good pay for their
labor they wisely concluded TO stand
1t as long as their wages were forth
coming.
We sank Il shaft and struck aquartz
vein at depth Of thirty feet. This
was encouraging, particularly for Mr.,
Dennis. who somehow didn't appear
10 enter into the thing with the same
spir'' as formerly. After several more
days Of digging and blasting, during
which time | watched eagerly for
signs" Of gold, we struck water. We
struck il hard, too, for the shaft, then
over sixty feet deep, filled up to within
fifteen feet Of the top in less than two
days.
To add to my discontinue Mr.. Den.
mis- coolly informed me that perhaps
we had made a mistake, but that If !
would go with him TO Los Angeles
He got beyond hat sentence.
Git" said |, ''as fast as your legs can
carry you, or l pointed signiH.
cantly to the well"
Mr.. Dennis stood not upon the order