Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-09
ACROSS THE CONTINENT.

DID You ever climb . mountain? Did you
ever see how q mining expert determines
the value of a deposit Of gold or silver
sizes up the proposition, figures on the out
lay, demonstrates the feasibility or imprac-
ticability OF the und ertaking? Did you ever
contemplate the dangers, the risks, the toll,
the adventure associated with such work.
II you have then you know why the coveted
minerals are now and Will ever be precious
why their production is profitless or profit
able. The mining expert who studies the
leads in the high hills must Of ne
cessity be man of nerve, sound in body
quick in resource, hrm-must be as agile as
q mountain goat. a walker, a climber. a rider,
equal to all emergencies and comforting
companion under all circumstances. Such
. one was ours. He has been on the peaks
and in the drilled depths Of nearly all the
mfneralized mountains of Old and New
Mexico, Idaho. Colorado, Montana, Utah,
California and British Columbia. So under
his guidance our expedition, toilsome though
It was, became q pleasant journey full Of
scenic enchant,nent and restful surprise.
"DEUCE take rotten eggl'' This exclam-
alton loudly emphasized, accompanied by q
small-noised but large-smelling explosion,
made me lift my head from q hard pillow
and glance at bulky, frowsy-headed, not
overly cloan shadow outlined against the
huge fireplace that occupied the end of the
cabin. It was mine host who had
met with misfortune while mixing a
batch OF dough for our morning meal.
The bad egg went out of a paneless window
instead OF into the batter, and the break
fast was more palatable than could have
been expected If the order Of business had
been reversed
Our saddle and pack animals stood in
| readiness at dawn for the final mount to the
end of the horse trail. An hours ride
through fallen timber, over sharp-edged,
loose boulders, into and out of narrow rocky
defles and up the steep side of the base of
the mountain brought the nose of the lead
er's bronco against Q wall of rock, down
which fce-water ran on to swell q white
crested current several hundred feet below.
Here the packers took charge of the eQuines
and the packs-here the climb afoot began.
NOW, boys, breathe through your noses
and don't talk. Hanyone has a heart affec.
ton he'd better go back to the cabin. Now
go slow and keep quiet" Thus advised the
expert as he grasped the rope dangling over
the precipice and soon stood on its smooth,
wet face, where he was Joined by
his agile assistant in a canter. The
tenderfeet arrived later. Look there
boys! Did you ever see anything finer than
that? Why do painters go to Europe when
such brush-tempting views as this are here?
And over the gulch, too. See therer' Our
guide and counsellor stood still with ad-
mirtng eye and pointing finger, both Of
which we followed. Nearly in front of us
s1lvery veil spun by the snow water
partly hid the face of moscow
cred clin. Like an endless belt OF
whitest floss 1t seemed to unwind-falling
so gently on the granite floor at our feet as
to make no sound, no splash. Across the
deep abyss on the brown. red-stained, SUM-
gilded sides of high mountains streams that
looked like ropes of molten silver came
down from ice bound reservoirs. Over all
the roar of the young Niagara far below, the
creaking Of the frs and spruces, the sharp
chirp of some high-hying bird. There silent
admiration took the place of uttered praise
Cup we 60, boys! Take it easy, and don't
try to keep up with me. You can't miss the
trail" And our guide, his man and the
strongest of the party were soon far above
Two of us did take 1t easy. There was
about 5000 feet of perpendicular between US
and the tent on I he edge of timber-line. We
crawled, we clung, we rested. Breathing be.
came faster, air was thinner, heart
was 1885, Ex-Sheriff McCandless' beat at the
same gait. His face was blush, and he said
worse things about mine there. j. P. Brown
proved to be q climber, and was out OF sight,
But we tugged up and on, going three or four
minutes and resting q We to ten. Ere the top
was reached we walked through q mist
cloud. the moisture of which was refreshing.
1t lowered over a blotch of snow upon
which sank and in which I
r,la axyad k.. Araf foo.
in hot July. Up through the timber above
all was white and trackless, save where the
trail defled. We were over two hours
reaching timber-line, which ended as ab-
ruptly as il some giant with huge scythe
had cut it to line-no scrubby undergrowth,
no undersized trunks, all giants from river
washed base to edge Of living glacier.
THERE'S the camp where the blue smoke
curls over the trees And now it's a walk on
the SNOW" sang out q guide who stood on
the white pathway to pilot us past treacher-
Gus, snow-hidden crevices and over swift
ice-bridyed cascades. Snow is all very we'll
in its place and in its season. But it's hard
on the pedestrian who suddenly comes
across It on hummocks and hillsides on a
July day. How it tired while it rested
For on the few barred spots be-
tween timber and tent the hot sun
mdue WdrIn ChTpet-d VeiV6Ly seat OF deep
dyed MOSES, grasses, broad-leaved bud
bearing vegetation and golden-yellow, lily
like flowers. Up to the very edge of the
winter the summer beauties fourished.
Through the cold covering on that noun
tain side, within a few feet of q blue-iced,
deep-crevfced glacier, yellow bursting buds
bored and bloomed. Flowers grew there
through the snow, posies scentless but rich
colored.
WE.found our tent pitched on q spot from
which several feet OF snow had been SHOW
eled. A fire roared in q box-like sheet iron
camp stove. Freshly cut balsa bearing
boughs partly covered the soggy interior.
There breath was recovered in an air
pure, cool, rarified. Down under a
huge snowbank the quaint-looking cook
poked and shook pots and pans over fire
of green logs that tried his patience. The
human packers-veritable beasts of burden
had not yet arrived with our blankets,
and on the damp bough-spotted floor
OF our canvas habitation wa stretched
sore limbs and ionged for dinner.
Hunger once more took me back to
the station of the night before-to Whiskers,
his dog and horn-soup After dinner some
nine thousand feet to climb on the snow to
the big bores on the red-stained leads on
the crests of granite walls that were so near