Los Angeles herald., 1892-09-25
MINING CAMP LIFE.
THERE ARE MANY ELEMENTS OF
THE PlcTuREsosE ABOUT 1T.

"A Deserted Camp Is, However. a De-
pressing sight-A Miners Hazardous
Work Seems to Have a Great Attrac-
ton for Him, for He Seldom Gives 1t Up.
Life in mining camp bears an ideal
ly picturesque aspect, and whether sit
tuated in the dark shadow of some rocky
gorge, through which rushes a noisy,
snow fed torrent, or upon a rocky and
precipitous hillside, the scene is equally
wild and romantic.
The little cabins nestle in sheltered
hooks, where bit Of level ground can
be found large enough to hold the
miniature structure, with usually SEN
tinel pine at the door and well worn
path to the stream, which lashes and
foams along its rock bed, or they cling
to the steep mountain sides, where
winding trails lead to the ravine below.
The hills, the gulches, the very rocks
are literally honeycombed with dark
tunnels and 'sprospect holes," where
men have searched with pick and powder
for the precious metals, and many q
hope lies buried in these excavations
where the white "clumps" CLEAN like
new graves among the gray rocks and
the green pines.
The camp that has outlived its boom
has an especially desolate cir. The old
shafthouses, with their tall smokestacks
leaning like the tower of Pisa, the long
tunnels, the deep, dark and grewsome
shafts going down hundreds of feet into
the earth, with their rotten timbers and
damp, slippery ladders which erst have
borne the feet of merry workmen to
their labors, give one a chill or horror
to look down into their yawning depths,
and one can fancy he sees the ghastly
light of the miners candle fiickering
here and there in the gloom.
But the busy camp, the camp that is
booming, is anything but quiet. At z
o'clock whistles blow and swarms of
men begin to disappear into the earth
like prairie dogs into their burrows, and
hundreds of feet below the surface, by
the pale light of tallow candles, they
drill and blast the solid rock all day
At they come up pale and half blinded
by the sunlight, while the might shift"
goes down in their place to continue the
work through the night.
Once miner always miner seems
to be the rule. Perhaps it is the spice
of danger ever present in the probability
of an exploding cap of the giant pow
der, falling rock or the falling of tim
her.c or. noI,f fhof 1r g.,
tion to many whose nature it is to toy
with danger. AT any rate real miner
seldom abandons his occupation, al
though he may meet with countless
mishaps or lose months Of pay in some
dishonest company.
The majority of gold miners are
Americans. and are mostly an intelli-
gent, independent and reliable class.
No Italian can be induced to enter a
mine where an accident has ever occur
red, especially if it has been of fatal
nature. Cornishmen are often employed
and usually are good workpen, but
their queer dialect and peculiar habits
make them the butt of unmerciful ridi.
cule. Foreigners just over show an
the case of raw Frenchman recently,
who worked with such unusual dill
gence during the visits Of the superin-
tendent as to rouse that officials suspi-
cions.
1t was rather the habit of the men to
cease their work and chat familiarly
with the boss, at the same time giving
their attention to his instructions. But
the poor Frenchman, who was really
good fellow anxious to hold his job,
worked with such untiring energy that
it seemed evident that his efforts were
strained for the purpose of effect The
boss was disgusted and threatened to
discharge him. A few timely hints
from his fellow workmen, however, in
duced the Frenchman to desist from
such extre1ne efforts and to sit down
upon his wheeIbarrow at the next visit
from the official, while his uneasy and
frightened appearance caused the laugh
to go round.
While the work underground has its
attractions for the brawny arm and
skilled hand, that of the anxious pros
pector above, prowling among the rocks
and searching every seam and crevice in
search of gold, is full of alternate hope
and dependency, and many a man
grown gray in the work has finally laid
down to die broken in heart and body
in the mad following of the most exas-
perating will-ot the-wisp that ever lured
men on to despair. And if ever the
gentle Goddess of Hope transforms her.
self into demon it is when she beckons
with her alluring finger through noun
tain Businesses while her victim plods
with weary step, ever searching step by
step for that which he will never find.
Man may be learned in mineralogy
and may be able to tell at glance the
nature and quality of ore. He may ex-
plain to you the difference between tel
luride and tellurium. He may know all
the different strata and formations and
be able to survey the distance through
mountain to an inch. And while this
learned man canters gayly along, fully
equipped for a successful prospecting
tour, some poor tenderfoot or green
hobo, plodding by abstractedly, kicks
over rotten stump or digs his heels into
the ground asghe rests in the shade of
pine; and 10! the precious metal is in
sight.
The tenderfoot may or may not know
that the rusty ore beneath his feet is
worth $1,000 per ton. The smart man
l.