The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-04-30

CHum anu COuLcutcO1y 1cSOACN AAS
pick and shovel. Did Cincinnatus do
more when he buckled once more to the
pillow? But our SWEETS Bar Cincinnatus
was never hunted for to save his coun-
try. There were too many other coun-
try savers on hand, even in our imme-
date locality.
Generally speaking, SWEETS was di-
vided in two portions There was tho
old bar on the right bank Of the river,
settled in 49, and there was the Hat
on the other side, whose golden store
was not discovered until 1859. At
tempts were made to give this fat dis
tinct name. Various settlers and miners
crayed the immortality which they sup
posed might thus be conferred. For
time it was called "Frazer's Flat" from
diabolical Scotchman Of that name
who lived there. Only one Of these names
would stick, and finally everybody SET
tied down on the old appellation.
Sweets" l do not believe that John
SWEET, if he did confer his name on the
bar. ever realized the local fame and
reputation of his name. When first we
struck the diggings at SWEETS left bank
we had great expectations. 1t was
later discovery, ''back river channel"
Consequent on the discovery Of pay
ground 1000 feet back of the river, and
the definite fixing Of the boundary lines
between the various claimants, there
ensued the usual series of disputes, rows,
bad blood, assaults and threatened shoot
ings. Nobody was shot. Not even q
mining lawsuit came of it.
A local capitalist threw fume across
the river, and brought to bear on the fat
the upland muddy water, which came
down from Columbia diggings, twenty
FIVE miles away, through Woods creek.
That fume was being talked of, being
planned, being hoped for and very grad
ually being erected during the years Of
80 and go, while the rest of the ma
ton was agitated by bleeding Kan
sas," "John Brown" "Squatter Sover-
eighty" ''The Douglas Party" "The Lit
tie Giant" and all that foreboding series
of watchword and motto which preceded
1.-The War" But the SWEETS Bar mind,
The SWEETS Bar hope, the SWEETS Bar
expedition, was concentrated principally
on wire cable, two uprights on either
side of the river, and some 400 feet OF
rough wooden fume thereby supported,
all of which was to bring Us water to
wash out the expected gold. At last the
suspension fume was finished. We had
water. We commenced washing. The
dirt did not pay as we expected. We
averaged week in and week out about
three dollars per day, and one dollar of
this went for water money.
After the suspension fume was fin
ished and water was on our Flat our
claim cleaned up for the first weeks
work about fifty dollars apiece. We
used quicksilver plentifully in the
sluices, and the amalgam was taken to
my cabin in gold pan and put on the
hot Goals to drive OFF the mercury, which
it did, and salivated the four of us besides.
The sublimated mineral covered walls,
tables and chairs with fine frostlike
coating, and on rubbing ones finger over
any surface little globule of quicksil-
yer would roll up before it. Then we
WCiIt " S4lihCoO Yam S3o'C Vic NOS-
tor about half our individual weeks
dividends to get the mercury out of us.
Three weeks of sore mouths and loosened
teeth followed this intelligent exposure.
1t was through such experiences as these
that we have become in California prac
teal mineralogists. However, it's an
easy way of taking "blue mass"
The claim from which great gains had
been expected eventually settled down
to an average of $3.50 to So per day.
Break downs of the fume, failure Of
water from up country, very stormy
weather, building and repairing reser-
voirs, cutting tail races through rock
all caused numerous delays, and every
such delay lessened the average per
diem. 1t was necessary to build reser-
voirs, to store the water for washing,
and these reservoirs broke with tie ease
and facility of Bowery savings bank.
PRENTICE MILFORD.