The sun., 1893-12-24
BURROWs OF A MAN MOLE.
Mysterious Doinn- In - Guich Few Miles
from San Francisco.

| From u. Snn Fraaci'co Enhnins,.
Scarce fifteen mi les from San Francisco. half
hidden in the foliage OF surrounding trees.
nesting behind this nr-crowned ridges and
rocky canons of grim Tamapais are the few
scattered ranch houses which, with the ubq-
uitous saloon. constitute tho little village ot
Larksnur. Tho road runs along the bottom of
redwood trees. till It merges INTO a mere cattIo
trail; This wild canon is known locally as
For i've years at least, as vouched for by 40.
still watches OF tho night, has silently bur-
com bod with his tunnels and caverns His
the light o. the moon or BY the will-o,.t
wisp like flicker OF a rusty lantern. These
near the roots Of a tree some fully is feet In
IInl sirIcnm ference and 10 feet deep The bigger
redwood poles. around which dead ferns ana
grass are twisted. and at tho bottom is a. cross.
roots OF giant redwoods are unfeneed. but
filed In with loose earth and heaps of dead
brush. These. too. contain the mystic cross.
For Ave long years this man gopher, has
been digging and toilnR. Sometimes working
only appearing at long Intervals nobody has
ever seen him at work, and what he hopes to
him or listened to his midniSht mutterinss. '
visit to the scene of these mysterious
eat one day last week. It was a hard trip
through the dense chaparraI and closely
growing trees Hundreds OF the fllled-in ex-
cayations were visible. Of all shapes and sizes
anu in every position. Near one, on the
another an old sieve was found nodded with
age and exposure. Poles stripped OF bark and
masses ot dead brush were seen piled around
the remains OF former excavations.
Henry Collins. a resident OF Sausalito and
keen sportsman. has explored the guch thor
oughly ,and has often pondered ovcr the mean
tng OF the holes OF whose existence no will
testify to- Nobody knows where the mysteri-
ons deliver comes from or where he goes when
come or go, and those that have describe him
IS o wrinkled. bent, and weather beaten
old man, with long white hair and beard.
II is hard to find tho exact location OF
these places unless one stumbled on them
amount OF territory they arc hidden by the
dense vegetation. Only few daTs ago his
light was seen wandering about tho hill
The labor and expense consequent to remove
such tons OF earth alone and single handed. as
he has done. and the care and precision with
which the poles are set around tho freshly dug
holes. with the cross always in the bottom. all
done in the damrness and darkness of night
suggest that there Is some treasure worth
hunting for.
About six years ago a man driven crazy with
cancer on the brain wandered into the noun
famous region around Tamalpais. and his
body was finally found by campers, who had
lost their way, lying In tho roots OF large
Coroner Eden maintains he was poor. but
more than one man tolls a story of his wan
dering in there with S25 600. which he must
have buried. or It may yet ne lying in some
rotting sack scattered in careless profusiOn
amid tho rankly growing herDage,
This may then be the secret OF the human
gophcr'S strange work, but tho question still
remains unanswered. Why the CROSSE