The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1893-11-04
PROSPECTING FOR GOLD.
Hard Life of the Men in the For
ests Of the Northwest.
The Thirst for Wealth Leads Them 20
Incur Untold Dangers and Hardships
Among the Uuexplored wilder
uesses Of the Mountains.

In western Washington civilization
is confined to a narrow strip along the
borders of Puget sound and to some of
the best agricultural lands that lie
IN the large wooded plains about its
southern end, says the New York Sun.
All the rest is covered with great
rocky mountain ranges Gleaved by
deep, dark valleys and covered up to
the line of perpetual snow with heavy
forests of fir and cedar Every spring
hundreds of prospectors plunge into
this Wilderness on search for gold
and silver, some on their own account,
but most of them go grub-staked by
local capitalists, that is, all their eN-
penscs are paid and i'm return they give
a half interest in whatever mines they
may discover. With rifle, hatchet,
a bag of flour and a frying-pan slung
over his shoulder, the prospector starts
on his quest. He goes as far as possi-
bic by stage or carriage, then on foot
eutcrs the forest and follows for many
miles a narrow trail that winds in and
out between the trunks of great trees
whose heads, reaching up hundreds Of
feet, shut off the sun and keep the
earth in twilight so deep that only
moss and fungi can grow At times
the path skirts the side of a rushing
mountain river, where in every eddy
are dozens of darting trout Then it
climbs and winds high up the noun
tain side, grows fainter, and finally dis
appears, leaving the gold hunter to
scramble on over fallen logs and around
precipices as best he can.
When night comes he stops usually
in the bottom of a valley by a stream
of melted snow water fries and eats
| some pancakes, cuts a great pile of fir
/ boughs for a bed, throws himself on il
and is asleep in a moment All
/ through the night the cold and damn
from the stream and the messy GROUND
| creep up and in the morning he is stiff
and scarcely able to stagger on. He
continues thus day after day, seeing
! only the trees near about him, and oc
! casionally a bit of dark mountain sid,
through a rift in their tops. Finally
he has climbed high up and comes ou
! above the fore SITS, and sees again, fo
the first time in days, the full daylight
| uete, nlgu ABOVE Jne world on Jl
mountain sides, he stands week
searching for silver and gold veins ant
hunting goat and deer for meat
Sometimes he loses himself, his foot
gives out, and he starves, or by a mis-
step falls thousands of feet from
precipice and is dashed to pieces in tn
valley below. If fortunate, he locate
several claims, stakes them out, find
bearings for them on the peaks about
and then, loaded with specimens
makes his way back to civilization
where his ores are assayed. He ha
brought the best specimens only, S
they come out splendidly. People be
come excited, and party, including
mine spectators, goes up to see wha
he has found. If good, the mines ar
sold on the spot to spectators, who il
turn sell to rich eastern or Engltsl
mining companies. These cut trail
through the woods, send up machiner
piecemeal on donkey or mule back
hire a lot of miners at three dollars
day, and the mine is started for prof
or loss, according to the way the lea,
nolds out.