Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1893-05-18
A LION WAS IN MS PATH
Aad for a Time His Chances Seemed
Very Slim.

"Pais del Oro' IS the name of an
abandoned mine In Pima county,
Arizona. Where it got its name is
one of the mysteries OF that mystic
rious land, because it is not gold
mine, but a very poor copper one.
However, that has nothing to do
with the story. The mine is aban-
doned and has been for years, and
you couldn't hireone cfshe Indians
from tic ncighborhcod 70 90 dow
/ the shaft for any amount of money,
or whisky even, because they say
the mine is haunted by the ghost of
its last owner, says the San Fran
cisco Call.
That the mine is haunted is a
generally accepted fact, as much so
as the mines name. The last own
er was killed by an Indian work
man, who smashed his skull with u
hammer. Not content with killing
the man, the murderer put the body
on top of can of powder, and,
placing a long fuse through the
opening, lighted it and made his
own escape through shaft. An
other workman saw the whole af-
fair and ran another way, calling
to all his companions who could
hear to follow him. No living per-
son was hurt, but the body of the
dead man was blown to fragments.
From that day to this no Indian
has been drawn into the mine. A
few who have passed there at night
say they saw the ghost of the dead
man beckoning to them. He was
not as he appeared in life, but in
bleeding fragments, as he would
be if he were put together after an
explosion. 1t was a most horrible
sight, and they also said they could
hear the sounds of the explosion
every few minutes. In time the
Mexicans got to believe the story,
and now the mine is known as the
haunted mine as well as "Pais del
0ro."
A young Englishman named
Charles Allen came to the country
to engage in ranching and in due
time heard the story of the mine.
He had a desire to investigate the
thing, but always changed his mind
when he got to the mouth of the in
clined shaft.
The mine is located in a most
unexpected spot. 1t is not even
near a mountain or hill, but on the
floor of the Santa Cruz Valley. and
a person could easily fall into some
of the numerous shafts without see-
ing them. All windlasses and
houses have been destroyed by time
and the raids of the Apaches. There
is nothing to suggest that a mine
exists except the opening.
All the shafts except one are ver-
tical and considerably over 100 feet
deep. The other shaft is inclined
and can be descended without much
trouble.
Allen was passing near this place
4 week or so ago. He was hot and
nearly exhausted from long ride
that began at daylight, and it was
now 3 o'clock. 1t was still two
hours ride to his ranch, and he
thought it would be a good idea to
tie his horse to cactus and go
down the shaft. where il was cool
and rest for half an hour or so.
He thought of the story of the
ghost, but then he had no fear of
that now that it was daylight.
Still he was undecided. But after
looking around and seeing the burn
ing road that lay before him he
made up his mind to go down. He
wished that he could take his horse.
but that was impossible, SO he fas-
tened him to cactus that gave con-
siderable shade and left him.
At the foot of the incline, about
40 feet from the surface, tunnel
commenced, and as the air was cool
and refreshing Allen concluded
that there was no use in going fur
ther.
The interior of the mine was
clean and dry and at the place
where Allen stopped there was
plenty of light, although a few feet
back in the tunnel it was dark,
and grewsome bats flew past his
head in an uncanny manner. Again
he thought of the ghost and this
made him conclude that the foot OF
the incline had advantages that
could not be obtained where it was