Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-10
ACROSS TIE CONTINENT.

WHATS thst?" Over the mountains
and across the rock-ribbed canyons came q
| faint rumble like the echo Of q far-off dis
| charged battery. Louder It grew until it
| outnoised heaviest thunder. Deeper, ,denser,
seemingly narrowing, the sound waves came
until they clashed and broke in circular
| combat above our balsam beds. Minutes
multiplied before the disturbing forces drew
| OF whence they came. dying in echo-making
defles behind precipftous peaks which
| rose and fell in long white lines north,
south, east and west, where the sky's blue
curtain shut out the enchanting scene. It
was snow slide. Day and night these
thunder-making slips swept down tho
smooth black sides of the pinnacled mount
afns-verftable cataracts of snow, huge
waterfalls Of white, sprayless, resistless. re-
lentless. Over the gulch on the steep side
of another range the miner drove his drill
In veins of silver-bearing galena. Out Of
the mouths of the tunnels came the mufied
noise of the shots at regular intervals. But
these were only faint sounds as compared
with the sudden and prolonged tumult Of
the slipping snow.
"DINNER" pIped the stoop-shouldered,
crippled-armed cook q couple of hours after
our climb. Down big bank Of snow we
ran to the log dining hall, whore coarse food
disappeared with a rapidity that made the
chefs eyes dance with delight. All had
been cooked in the open air over glowing
embers. The round-loafed bread was baked
in camp oven from flour prepared for
quick action. The beans had been Drowned
in hot ashes, the spuds boiled on the backlogs,
the bacon fried on the Goals, the apricots
stewed without being smoke-tafnted.
Hunger seasoned that meal and water dis
titled by the sun from purest snow was the
wine that made it digestible. The afternoon
was spent by the expert and his assistant in
taking Darometrical measurements from the
camp to the openings in the galena-bearing
rocks, several thousand feet above and over
the thick covering of ice and snow; in ex-
amining the extent of the leads. the adjoin.
ing locations, the length and breadth and
height of the tunnels and cross-cuts. the to-
biography and geography of the district. and
in directing the miners where to put the
shots for the minute examination on the
following day. Up and over the snow they
went until they resembled black ants on
the side of a white black-crested slope. The
tenderfeet fed the camp stove and gathered
fresh balsam boughs for a mattress from two
big green-branched trees the cook felled
while his batch of bread burned Before
the shadows fell on the deep, sunless valleys
the mining men came sliding down the
snow on gum coats and shovels shouting
their approaoh-playful as young folk in a
coasting frolic.
NIGHT came late. In that altitude dusk
and dawn are olose-the sun fingers long by
night and the pale old moon is its companion
far into the day. So we lolled on the damp
branches and shivered, for the packers had
not yet climbed up to US with their bulky
Haro ~ n nlynfo DnH
back-pent and slow-paced, they were
seen plodding along the slippery trail. They
finally landed and threw themselves, with
the loads tied to their stout backs almost
breathless, white-faced, speechless, at the
door of the tent. One was Whiskers-tired-
out, faint, foot-sore. His pack weighed
over $50 pounds. He had carried It about
5000 feet. But in the invigorating but thin
air Whiskers and the other bearers quickly
recovered to tell OF packing feats, mountain
and forest tramos, accidents and close calls.
Their narratives drew out yarns from the
miners and the prospectors. whose sun
dyed, hard-skInned faces fairly beamed as
they were invited to make themselves at
home in our roomy canvas bed-chamber.
IT CAN vouch for a packing story"
said Mr.. Parish, "but never told it before
for fear of being put down a fabricator. 1
did some work for an English syndicate
down in Mexico few years ago. and the
fact I'm about to describe came directly
under my observation" Eyes" Interrupted
William Davis, his assistant, 81 helped to
put the pack on the Greaser's back" 81 had
put a shot in on the lower lev ell and dis
lodged a rich specimen of silver ore. The
representative of the syndicate was de-
lighted, and vowed he'd get that chunk out
some way. I DIDN'T think he could, but he
pleaded so hard that 1 induced the superin-
tendent to send for the strongest packer in
the region and see what could be
done. Soon q thick-set, big-necked, short
bunch of bone and muscle stood
beside the precious piece. On
each side of his spinal column muscles
large as an ordinary mans wrist stood out.
He eyed and weighed the lump, but shook
his head. The Englishman offered him $40
to get IT to the mines mouth. The super
intendent put another tenner on top of it,
and raised the pool ten more-S30 in all;
quite a fortune. for the peon. Then he
stopped and we put the load on his back. He
had to squeeze through cross-cuts, go up
steep tunnels and climb four Mexican mine
ladders-mere poles with notched footholis
before he got out of the mine. Well, he
got the piece to the surface. It weighed
just 42O pounds. He was laid up for three
months, but the $50 was his medicine. What
do you think Of that, Whiskers?" Whiskers
put few more fir blocks on the fire and said
not single word.
So THE long wintry twilight in July was
whiled. away. Under the warm blankets
spread on the sleep-inducfng boughs we
listened to the wind whistling. we'll nigh
shrieking, through the trees. So bright shone
the moon that the canvas covering barely |
dimmed its mellow light. The waters sent |
up a restful roar, through which when air |
current shifted the high-falling cascades |
made softer sounds. But into that night |
came no sound of rude-traff1cked life, no |
human discord. While cities afar of slept |
in the darkness that comes before the dawn |
the daylight crept over the hite-capped |
ranges, and soon the sun was lifting the |
mists from the valleys and setting diamonds |
in the crystal snow. GEO. A MADDEN.
THE MONETARY CONFERENCE.