The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1891-11-05
THE GREAT CINCH.

The scene, Q box canyon in southern
Arizona, was lonely enough. The rocky
walls shut out the morning sun rays, and
the only trees In sight were somber ever.
greens and thickets OF chaparal. The
aspect of the rugged landscape was sug-
gestive Of their primitive inhabitants-the
Apache Indian and the grizzly bear
Yet in this secluded spot there were
signs Of human life and activity in the
shape of rude miners "shack," open in
front, wbJh three sides formed of upright
poles chinked with mud and roof OF
overlapping splints. 1t stood near large
freshly dug hole in the canyon side.
Picketed by rope tied to bis foreleg an
aged burro was feeding on g.. Try herbage
of the canyons bottom. lu tnu excavation
in the mountain side a raw looking youth
was working very moders Dcly, using alter
nately pick and shovel A shock of tow
hair ran wild beneatl, rs hat brim. a d a
stray tuft like tass" appeared throE., h
hole in the crown. .lis young fellow was
Joe Dobbs, late oil ..issouri, and the object
of his labors was to develop Peg Leg
Crawford's newly located mine, Great
Cinch, in Bueno canyon In the Chiricahua
range.
This mine was at present in the stage Of
hole in the ground with prospects ahead,
but the indications OF mineral were good
and had grown better as the digging went
on. A good face had been cleared against
the rock, and when the proprietor-now on
trip to town for supplies-should return
blasting was to begin. Joe was not TO
share in the profits Of the mines develop.
ment. lie was merely shiftless boy
picked up dead broke" at Camp Bowie,
and taken along by Crawford for the sake
of his work and company at the price OF
his grub" and shadowy promise of
wages IL the mine turned out we'll The
decrepit burro had been turned out to die
by his Mexican owner, and Joe had driven
him to camp, "as starter for o herd" he
said.
The shadows Of the beetling cliff on the
southeast, which during the first half OF
the day lay across the canyons bottom,
slowly shifted eastward until blaze OF
bright sunshine in the mouth Of the tunnel
informed Joe Dobbs that moon o'clock :"
as he termed it, was approaching. The boy
was not fond of labor, aud It did not re-
quire many minutes endurance OF the hot
SUMS rays to convince him that 1t was time
to stop work and get something 10 eat
There Is little doubt that he arrived at this
decision fully an hour in advance of the
time it would have been reached had Mr.
Crawford been with him instead Of pre-
sumably somewhere on the San Simon
plain coming back with his burros and
supplies. Having repaired TO the shade Of
the "shack," he cut some slices from the
small piece Of bacon for his use and raked
| together the embers Of the camp fire,
There was no wood cut and before set
ting out to get some Joe sat down TO rest.
| His eye fell on the large vallse, that Peg
Leg Crawford always kept carefully locked
and out Of the way OF harm. In the hurry
| of departure the miner had left the key Ia
| the lock, and it occurred to the boy that it
| would be a good time to see what was in.
l side.
Joe turned the key and opened the sacred
valise. 1t contained two pairs Of cotton
| socks, some specimens of ore, and bulky
package wrapped in q scrap Of army
l blanket.
Joe united the cord that fastened the
parcel and unrolled the covering from a
wooden box that once had held Malaga
raisins. Pryfng off the top of tho box with
his knife, he saw that it contained about
two dozen Of what looked like long, thick
candles. Had the youth been more thought
full, and known more OF letters he would
have spelled out tho words, "dinumitt
dangeruss," written in blue chalk on the
cover, but as it was, that inscription passed
unheeded with oil the warning Of risk thai
it conveyed. He had heard vaguely OF dy
Mantle, but knew nothing of how ii ap
peared or should be handled. The cyln
| drical objects before him he half though
might be some form OF candy.
| 81 don't see why ole Peg Leg should b.
so mighty perticklar bout this outfit O
stuff" he said to himself as, picking up
fake of the substance that had scaleC
from one Of the pieces, he put 1t IN hi
mouth and tried 1t with his tongue.
had sweetish taste, and he set his teetl
into 1t.
II Joe had applied his grinders with tn
force and enthusiasm that he would havt
shown in cracking hickory nut, ther
| might have been a premature explosion
| and my story never have been told; but h
| quickly discovered caustic property IL
the substance, and, not liking the flavor
spit 1t out He put the box on a fat rocl
that served rs table, convinced that h
wanted nothing Of its contents
CHANGING to glance up the mounts,
side, he saw the boughs shaking in scrl
oak. At the back Of the camp leaned on
of those old style army rifles, chiefly for
Il mlQaDle TO tne one VINO IlreS Unem, KNOW
as the "Long Tom" With more anima
. tion than he had shown Mt any forme
time in the day, Joe seized the nrearr
| and exclaimed:
II sees yer, and yer my meat; here goe
fur Drilled squirl fur dinner" and starte
up the mountain to secure the game
The path which he must take to reac
the place where he had seen the squire
was steep ard roundabout. When, afte
hard scrambling over rocks, he came nea
the place where he had seen the squirrel
, | that evasive rodent was not to be found
But, climbing higher and looking beyon
the summit of the edge into a little noun
, | tain park, Joe spied jack rabbit feedin
I / in an open space AS he crept toward th
creature, following It's upstartings, shoI
runs and upsittinRs, In the effort to get
| chance for a sure shot, he saw to the winC
|, ward among che pine trees across the va
, ley red deer, which caused him TO abar
don the rabbit at once.
. "Hit's great mornin fur critters astir,
: said Joe TO himself In high glee. "Who'
| athunk that trinin sQuir'l nd led up u
deer. N thar may be somethin hea
0 bigger n one deer waitin fur me-"
!. There was something, "a heap bigger
waitin." Crack, crack, crack, came til
sharp report of several rifles off on hi
. right; there was q singing Of bullets abou
him, so close that one passed through h
!. | hat: and there arose hideous yalling on