Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1891-04-03
FOUND In AN ANT-HILL.

get start. With few thousand dol.
lars man may do almost anything il
he is shrewd. But lie must be indus
!rious and have good judgment.
"Thc cash for Il start is frequently
made by some lucky accident. OF the
men who come West, bringing money
to put into business, five out of every
six lose all they bring within two
years. At least, that is the way it ha.
been for the last twenty years. After
they lose, if they have resolution and
persistence, they may make a start,
and in ten years become wealthy.
know of several such instances"
As the speaker was well known to
be one of those instances himself, the
writer felt interested in noting down
The curious story of adventure which
he presently related to the little party
Of gentlemen in the saloon of the
chair-car, as our train sped southwark
from III Paso to Chihuahua.
"1n 1865" said he, 81 was engineer
and fireman, too, for the people who
were operating a mino away up in the
Mogollon mountains, above Florence,
Arizona. They called it the Twin
Mesa Mine, from two round-topped
hills on the slope of one of which the
mine was located
"There was no railroad then; but
they had hauled four-stamp mill and
boiler up there with mules, and were
trying 10 crush some pretty good
quartz for silver.
81 was twenty years old, fresh from
Iowa, and could find nothing better to
10 than to put grease-wood under the
boiler of this corporation, and try to
make steam from it. In fact, was
expected to help cut the grease wood,
up creek above the mill, and risk my
scalp every day; for hostile Apaches
were roaming about, and every man
of us kept u gun handy, night and
day.
'The mine had lost six or seven
men by these Indians. 1t was uns fe
TO stir ont without strong convoy of
troops or frOntiersmcn. The expenses
of working were excessive on that ac-
count; so that, although there was
ore in the lead, the mine did not pay,
and was abandoned after eighteen
months.
"About six weeks before word
came to stop work, | made little
discovery. The hillside up 10 The
north of the mill sheds was of a kind
of reddish lean, or gravel, packed
hard, with here and there the ragged
points of ledges protruding through
it; while, scattered ever tine whole
hill. were punches of cactus and occa-
sionally thorn bush. You all know
how those Arizona hillocks look. And
amongst the cactus and thorn bushes
were dozens of ant-hills, each about
the size and shape of busllel basket
turned bottom up, though sesss ..xsss
much larger.
II Twas ont here one day, not more
than hundred and fifty yards from
the mill, and had sat down beside a
bush to look around and rest a bit,
when happened TO notice a little
clear, yellowish stone in one of these
ant-hills, into which ! had trust the
stock of my gun.
81 picked up the stone, for it looked
rather pretty, thought, and examined
it. had no idea what it was then
but tho&ght it was a beautiful OBJ
ject, and fancicd that it might have
some value. 1t was about the size of
small plum stone, and shone with a
sawny kind Of 6rifiidmcy.
al had dim recollection of seeing
such stone in brooch, worn by a
wealthy lady whom had once or
twice met in Iowa, but had no great
faith that this stone had any value,
However, | pokcd over the ant-hill
and found another; and then found
two others of fair size III another ant
hill close by it. There We're also bits
of pale blue stone which afterwards
learned were turquoises.
apparently the ants had worked
these stones upward from the ground
beneath, it may be from considerable
depth; for the whole slope was honey
combed by their tunnels and passages.
They had brought out carloads of dirt
and gravel
81 did not show the stones or say
anything about them to the other men
at the mill, partly because | had some
little hope that they might be valuable,
and partly because | did not like to be
laughed at for my ignorance.
"But kept them in my pocket, and
after the mine was abandoned, and we
had all gone to Tucson, | showed one
of the stones to an old German jewcller
who used to keep shop on the corner
there, beyond the barracks, and asked
him how much he would give me for
it. lie examined it long while and
tried 10 find out what thought il was,