Iron County register., 1891-06-04
OX-EYE CANYON.
Clearing Up Ghost Mystery at
Barkerville.

clearing Up Ghost Mystery at
Barkerville.
Three years ago / spent a week at
BarlzerviIle. in Cariboo of British CO.
lumbia, and singular incident hap
pened in which | had a part / was
with Roman Catholic missionary, who
had been sent from the south to look
after certain of his fellow-churchmen
in this remote and desolate little place
My friend was known in Barlzerville,
and was welcomed with heartiness
that showed how dull the unfortunate
citizens found life in general in their
isolated settlement among the noun
tains- He soon had little programme
of work mapped out for him. There
were two marriages for him to solemn
ize; three little children had been born
since the last mission visitation, and
had therefore to be baptised: and if he
would only consent to tarry two or
three days, he was assured he would
be able to brighten the last hours of a
certain weather-worn and time-chaS-
tened old settler by promising to read
the burial service over him at his grave.
A most forloi.n place this Barker
Vile seemed to me in A. ID. 1887. The
sidewalks of its streets We're some six
feet above the level of the roadway
so called by courtesy alone-which,
when the rains descended, was a rag
ing torrent, to be crossed only by light
bridges. 1t was October when we
were in the place, and they had already
had their first severe frost of the sea-
son. The snow lay in the noun
tain hollows pretty thick. A
thermometer of thirty or forty de-
dress below zero was, we We're told.
nothing out of the way as an expert
ence; and the summer came so late
and departed so quickly that the life
seemed all winter.
The industry of Barkerville is gold
digging. That explains all. The few
score SCARED and wrinkled inhabitants
of the town would have stayed here for
nothing in the world but gold And
vet they confessed that the palmy days
of Barkerville seemed quite gone.
Not now. as in 1858, could they afford
to give the mission priest a fee of two
hundred dollars for performing a mar
riage ceremony. The gold pieces which
they contributed at the missions collec-
tions were now very, very few. Exist
ence, from being lively, had become
fat. The river beds and the rocks
Welded them enough gold to keep them
alive, but not enough to enrich them.
Everything of merchandise was fright
fully expensive, because OF the difficult
ties of transport for more than three
hundred miles over the mountains.
Thus luxury was at a low ebb with
them. l have seen more comforts
among rough islanders of the North
sea than among these Anglo-Saxons of
British Colum bia, whose finds gave
them an income of from two to five
hun red pounds year
The yarns the veterans of the place
had upon their tongues were of kind
tn which the Californian writers have
accustomed us. They reeked of muir
der for gold, the pistolling of one man
bv another with asolittle remorse as If
the man killed had been dog instead
of a human being, and of dark deeds
done in secret for the sake of women
as well rs lucre. d aresay with little
tricl<ing-up they could be made to ap-
pear delightfully."- romantic Told as
they were. however, in wretched
shed which passed as a tavern, with
dozen or more disappointed and lndlf-
ferent miners, grimed and ragged
crowding round a big stove, smoking
bad tobacco, splitting and drinking
rum. they did not have very exhlla-
rating effect. They all seemed to harp
upon one KEY. Nature led those poor
mortals dance after dance in quest OF
the gold: from river mouth to river
source: from alluvial plains to noun
tain tops: now humoring them with a
prospect of wealth enough to turn their
ardent heads, and now setting them
face to face with death from starva-
tion. though the gold pouches on their
backs were heavy enough TO gam Iheih
eternal credit from any baker IN thrls-
tendom-and generally, at the eno'
snufsiup out their lives before they
could return to the homeland where
wife and children awaited them.
..Sir." said one old graybeard In a
faded red and black check shlrt-you
bet vour life these here hills could tell
some fine tales about them times.
There's many and many a poor de'i' Vi
a fellow been lost in them as knows
of. with and without his gold. Ihe
darned redskins amt far wrong In say.
ing they're haunted-that's my oelle1'
That's stale rubbish growled an
other, with an impatient start OF ms
shoulders.
"Oh, you, jeff Perkins," observed the
,zraybeard, with a thin smile OF sar-