Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-06-21

IN the center OF the gully, and ny
chance for 4 find seemed the best o.
any. But, as is often the case, tn,
true bed Of the stream which in Ions
ages past had swept through the hol
low did not lie in its middle.
Ford, Harding, and I struck a barrier
granite bottom before any of Us haC
sunk five feet, while young Mcdonald
who had been pushed away off 10 one
side, and was now relieved by each OF
us in turn, had not reached bedrocb
at nightfa-I, though his little shat
was then nine feet deep.
Well bring a rope and buckets il
the morning, boys, and finish this job.
he said. You know the old Australian
rule: Never quit till you've touched
bottom .
Without much hope OF finding any
thing, but simply aS a matter of prin.
ciple, We did go back next morning
and, working turn and turn about on
bottom and top, had made the hole if
teen feet deep by noon, the last six
feet being through hard concrete
Mcdonald happened TO be below al
this time, picking, shoveling and filling
the buckets to be hauled up.
Climb out and come to dinner,
Hugh one Of Us shouted; Il guess
the treasure will keep
Not till I've bottOmed; I'm coming
mighty close now" replied the digger,
land, by George, boys. if this was
An, Iin Il OfD
were going to strike it rich, for the
ground I'm in now looks just right for
gold"
so it does, Hugh. Go ahead" said
Charlie Ford, as we examined the last
bucketful sent up.
l may explain here to an experienced
digger there is an indescribable some
thing in the appearance of gravel i'm
medlately everything alluvial sold de-
pOsitS which he seldom fails to recog-
niZe.
Our underground partner worked
silently for a few minutes, and then
eXcitedly yelled: Look here boys!
Charities fetish las done the business.
sure enough
What is it, Hugh; iron pyrites?" l
asked.
'Pyrites be hanged, old mani It's a
crevice of rotten slate, chOck full OF
coarse gold!' eXultingly replied the
young fellow. Send down the buck
cts again"
Working now like a mailman, Hugh
speedily cleaned out the crevice and
sent up in succession four bucketfuls
OF washing stuff" in which nuggety
gold appeared as thickly as plums i'll d
Christmas pudding.
Haul ME up, boys" he called out.
Its only i pocket and I've scraped
scraped her out clear to the sold rock,
but I'm aWfully mistaken If you
haven't got over five hundred ounces
of the real stuff in those four buckets -
OF course, we had washing pam
with Us, and half an hour Of careful
work at the spring basin sutticed to
rid the gold of all accomplishments ex-
cept a little emery dust, afterward re
moved by magnet.
The whole lot, when absolutely c.ean,
weighed, as We found on going back
to town, COZ ounces, worth at the then
current price slightly over $4,000
enough to recoup four times over all
the expenses of our stay in Peru.
Naturally, we intended to keep our
secret for a while, but somehow it
leaked out, and great rush TO the
gulch ensued. This, at first regarded
as a misfortune, resulted in saving us
much useless labor, for not another
ounce of gold was found in the place,
the pocket discovered by Us proving to
be the only deposit thereabouts-a
freak frequently occurring in the ex-
perience Of every old gold-digger.
We had no need to prospect the
neighbOrhOod further, as this was eff
gold seekers, and with no result. So,
bidding our hOspitable friends adieu,
we prepared to leave the country; but
only three of us did so, for sly Melon
aid having satisfied Senior and Sonora
Espinoza of his own social standing
duu I1dI VI Ills 1dluIIy III hOuIIedl'
Canada, stayed behind-the lucky dog
and married the beautiful Senorita
Amadora; while we, returning to Cal
lao, thence made our way, via Pan
anna and the isthmus, home to New
York
Our Peruvian journeyings had taught
us, and, fortunately, with profit to our
selves, what we should otherwise not
have believed, viz: that the once fam
Gus gold mines Of the Incas are now
of small account as treasure producers,
though of great historic interest.-W.
Thomson.