The Bessemer indicator., 1894-02-24
a GOLDEN sovLpEa.

A Party Of ProsSsssers Make . Re-
markasIs ylaa. bat Discover
Its vaius too Late
to save It.
A correspondent Of the Globe DEM
o erat, writing from Phenix, Arizona,
tells the following remarkable story:
Wagner and his party came in to-
day from the Grand Canon Of the Colo
RADIO, where they have been exploring
and prospecting for the past four
months. They put in most of their
time, it seems, toward the lower end
Of the canon, where the river forms
the boundary between this territory
and the state Of Nevada. They did
not succeed in finding the gold deposit
they had hoped for, though they dis
covered gigantic silver ledge, big
enough, SO they say, to have made all
their fortunes had they discovered it
ten years ago. As it is, with silver
in its present low spirits, they did not
even take the trouble to monument
and locate it, feeling confident that its
isolated situation would prevent it's
being discovered by anyone else
Should brighter day at length dawn
for the white metal, they will know
just where to go for mine.
Among the curious and noteworthy
episodes of their trip, the story of
their encounter with huge nugget Of
gold, as related by Jim Wagner, is by
no means the least interesting. Jim
says:
"We were about IL miles up stream
from the opening of the canon, camped
on one of the high mesas extending
northwest from the foot of the noun
tains that form the wall Of the outer
canon to the rim of the inner canon,
where they fall off in perpendicular
cliffs, whose elevation is 1000 or 2, 900
feet above the level of the river. Of
course, we could not get down to the
water, for the wall was fully 1900
feet high where we were camped, but
we found spring in one of the deep,
lateral gorges near by, and there being
plenty of good prospecting ground in
the vicinity, we stopped there several
weeks, living mostly on venison and
big horn mutton.
Zone morning all FIVE of us were out
on the cliffs near camp, looking down
on the river flashing through its boul-
der-strewn channel far below us. From
where we stood the water scarcely
seemed to be in motion, and all the
sound that reached us was soft mur-
mur, as of some far off ocean beach;
but We knew from the black rocks in
midstream and the white patches of
foam, constantly forming and vanish
ing, that the roar and turmoil below
must be deafening to the ear. One of
the boys pushed boulder to the edge
and it was grand to watch its hurtling
fight into the abyss. This started all
of us and in few moments we were
scattered all along the crest, straining
and heaving at those boulders, and
yelling like schoolboys as we launched
them into space. Presently | spied
good sized one three or four feet from
the edge. 1t seemed to be lying loose
from the base rock and should be an
easy one to start as the surface of the
rock sloped off considerably, thus Civ
ing me down-hill push. But strain
and tug as would l could not even
shake it. 1t was evidently attached
to the bed rock on which it appeared
to lie, and, indeed, it was much the
same color, brownish, clayey tint. !
called the others to my assistance and
presently four of us were exerting our
strength in vain. We did succeed in
shaking it and that was about all. 1t
SCENE to me now that finding it SO
heavy we should naturally have had
our curiosity aroused and have stopped
to examine it. But the excitement of
the sport and our boyish flow of spir-
its at the same time banished from our
minds everything except the desire to
conquer so obstinate a specimen of in
animate nature.
FINALLY ran over to 'Doc,' the
geologist of our party, and borrowed
the pole pick with which he was peck
ing about among the rocks, and insert
ed the long, pointed steel roller under
the refractory boulder, while the 9TH
ers braced themselves for a mighty eff
fort. shouted 'Nowr We raised it
an inch and blocked it up. Then,
taking new hold, with another effort,
we raised it still higher, till the cen
ter of gravity resting on more round
ed portion Of its surface, it began
slowly to revolve down the three or
four feet of slant between it and the
edge, gathering momentum as it
rolled.
"Just then Doc called out, Hold
on, boys, want to examine that boul-
der, but we had already thrown our
selves forward in vain attempt to ar
rest its motion, for, as its under side
came into view, the scratches and alb
asions made by the tempered steel of
the pick glittered bright in the morn
ing sun and we knew that the boulder
that four strong men could not move
was nugget of solid gold. In our
mad excitement we almost forgot our
perilous position on the edge of that
beetling precipice as we frantically
struggled with the relentless monster
during those few seconds of its start.
AT the risk of our lives We threw our
selves on our knees at the very brink
of the gulf, clutching in despair at the
moving mass with cries Of Stop It'll
Stop itl till, toppling for a moment on
the dizzy verge it dropped out of sight.
Down on eur faces we went regardless
of the danger, and clinging there
the edge, hanging as it were in space
we peered over and saw sight shal
never forget. For one brief moment
we forgot our regret and rage to won
der and admire. Like plummet our
boulder dropped for 800 feet, where it
struck steeply sloping abutment of
smooth, solid rock and, sliding with
Al oc IL