The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-02-10
The Dispute Of Two P%rospsctors
Who Found the Same Lead
of Gold.
One OF Them Raised Els Shaft
and the Other Sunk
Downward.
They Met About tho Middle Of y Large
Rock, Had y Fight and Went
to Law.

II lu0 COuTbb u ! COubu DAkOtN WI0 NDOub ~
be called upon to settle al exceedingly in
tsrestinR mining suit. The question in
volving the ownership of = mlne nearly
always, whom brought into the courts.
makes a difficult and complicated case. and
judges could scarcely be blamed were they
to express the wish that all misun-
derstandinn about mines might be settled
with that important mining implement
known locally No q gun" or shooting
iron,' a., indeed, they frequently are. But
legal proceedings have already been begun
in the case OF Drinkwater against Csmpbsll.
and the Dakota judges will have TO mako
the best Of it.
Mr.. Drinkwster. the plaintiff, is an old
and experienced miner, living at Deadwood.
About a month ago no went up into TanRls-
foot Ruleh, which is near Deadwood, and
staked out a claim. II was close to one
side of the gulch, and much Of it was shad-
owed by q great overhanRipg rock.
some fifty feet in thickness. which ex-
tended out from the mountain side
above a door. but 1t WAS some six or seven
feet from the Rtound. and gave him ample
room to work beneath IL, so he paid no at
tention to il. He sank a shaft, but ound
no gold. He concluded to abandon the
claim; but just before leaving. az he was
standing on the outer edge Of 1t and look
inaup. he saw a rich vein OF orc cropping out
mp. He instantly decided In bis own
mind that the vein was his, As 1t seemed
clear to him that anything directly over his
claim was "a much his a. anything directly
under it. He determined to dig up to tho
gold. Returning under the rock, the in.
Uaniona Mr. nrinkwater began to sink. or
rather to elevate. a shaft.
1t 10 happened that Mr.. Alexander Camp
bell. another old miner, wal out doing q
little prospecting that afternoon, and in
coming down around the mountain ne
halted on top Of the very rock into which
Mr.. Drinkwater was raising his shaft.
Looking over the edge, his eye lit on the
Auritsrous vein some twenty five feet be-
low. He instantly staked out a claim. and
began to sink a shaft straight down into
the Garth directly over the ono being lifted
by Mr.. Drinkwater.
There then followed during the ensuing
week one OF the most exciting struggles
ever witnessed in the Black Hills. The
rock was soft and each man made good
progress. Mr.. Drinkwater ran q staging up
into his shaft. md extended it as he worked
higher. Mr.. Campbell let himself down
into his with a rope. Each became aware
of the Others presence. All through the
day and half Of the night Mr.. Drink
water could hear the man above
welding his pick and whissling
The Campbells are Coming" Mr.: y INK
loud strains of "Die Yacht am Rhein,"
varied with bursts of Coward and Up
wa,d." Az they drew nearer, each fire.
quently inserted heavy blasts with the
pleasing purpose of blowing the other out
tho morning Of the sixth day but two feet
of rock remained between them, and Mr..
Campbell stopped his whistlinR. and, as ne
worked, shouted out his favor tune
in . tenor voice which cou
be heard half a mile. Mr.. Drinkwatsr,
roared back the German national hymn in
a deep bass voice which seemed to make
the ledge tremble. At four o'clock in the
afternoon Mr.. Campbell after st liking a
particularly fierce blow, broke through, and
landed on the Q stfoldinR in Drinkwatefs
shaft. Mr.. Drinkwater stood upright, with
his head and shoulders in Campbslrs shaft.
"Hoot, mon!" cried Campbsll; AN wba
tauld 70 20 could pick out the bottom o my
mine?"
"An' who you t'iuk Qif you lippsrsy to
Freak into de tob Of my mine2" roared
Drinkwatsr.
Then they elinched each other and fought
desperately. The staging gave away, and
they fell to the bottom OF the lower shaft,
which so startled them that they gave ovor
their murdsrous intentions, and each
sought q lawyer.
We are not. of course, in q position to
predict which way the suit will be decided,
but it cannot fail to awaken much interest.
Mr.. Drinkwaser's lawyer will contend that
his clients claim not only extended to the
center Of the earth, but mp into the cir in
dehnitsly-that. in short, he had as much
right to tunnel up and secure the gold over
his head az he would have had to lick the
fruit hanging from o tree on his claim. He
will tell the oou t that Campbell had no
better right to descend from above and take
his clients gold than a man in q balloon
would have to come down and gather the
apples from a farmers trees under tho plea
that he had staked out a claim on an over
hanging cloud. Campbells attorney will
laugh at this reasoning, and contend that
his client marked out his claim on the
surface of the earth. and was going
down after mineral which belonged TO
him. and that tho burrowing Drinkwatsr
was simply committing TO- ~rsstrial burglary.
He will say that D%rinkwatsr had no more
right to do what he did than a man would
have to 60 undsr n hill n burrow up
through and take q farmers t~urnips. Each
lawyer retained 10 ons of tho best in the
Black Hills. and the legal battle promises
to be Q warm one.-Frank Leslie's Weekly.
Her Substitute for Roses.
A hugo bowl of rudy liquid, nestled
amid sweetmeats and honey waters. was tho