Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-10-04
AN ANCIENT AZTEC NINE.
Al Army Officers Story About 1t. and
Why He Asserts 1t Is No Myth.

! when l was in command of a post
! on the Mexican frontier some years
ago said United States army officer.
! there came lettering into the post
enc dag 4 man, a woman and three
| children. They were tatterad and
travel stained and half starved. The
man was an Englishman. The woman
was his wife and a Mexican. Accord
, ing TO the story the man told as soon
as he was able, his name was George
! WOrthington.
He was a miner. Ten years before
be had left England for Mexico. hay
! ing long been anxious to 20 to that
country to search for one OF the ira
! ditiOnal Aztec mines, which have been
/ the objects of similar search for time
! out Of mind. He had Travelled west
ward from the City of Mexico into the
! mountains, and for nearly two years
! rOamed about in the inhospitable wilds.
seeking clues by which he might be
| led TO the unSealing Of the mystery
| of the ancient treasure tr0yes. His
life was in constant peril among the
! suspecring, half-clad natives. deadly
reptiles, savage beasts and lurking
banditti.
AT last he came to place in the
mountains where there was a consid-
cradle village. The inhabitants, to his
surprise, received him kindly. The vii
lage was the capital of the state he
was in. You Will excuse me for not
naming the place, but l am the only
living person outside Of that district
who knows it's name, and a recent
occurrence has satisfied me that this
knowledge is valuable. The locality
struck the English miner as an ideal
spot for an Aztec mine, and he began
quietly to explore it.
"Cne day he stumbled on an open
ing choked with tangled grOWths, and
with heaps OF broken rock lying about
it. He picked up a piece Of the rock.
L. was the richest kind of gold ore.
| With trembling and impatient hands
he tore away the vines and bushes
that grew over the opening. PeeTIng
into the dark hole he saw the top of
rude ladder resting against one side
OF the opening, which was the shaft
of a Iong-abandoned mine. Not stop
ping to think of the risk and uncer-
tainty Worthington quickly let himself
down upon the ladder, and followed
it down the shaft. After he had de-
scended some distance into the dark
and unknown depth, Worthington
lighted a match. The flame lit UP the
shaft brightly for a moment.
by that momentary flash of light
Worthington saw, on every side, gilt
tering streaks and strata and project
ing Jumps Of virgin gold.
The venturesome Englishman de-
scended to the bottom Of the shaft,
which, as near as he could judge, was
fifty feet deep. There he lighted other
matches. Gold glttered all around
him On the floor Of the mine lay half
a dozen leather buckets, mOuldy,
cracked and rotten by age, but, all
the same, buckets in which the Aztec
miners had borne their precious bur-
lens, centuries ago, from those golden
depths Worthington hal succeeded
tarried in that vicinity for two or three
weeks, secretly making elaborate maps
of the surroundings and getting speci-
mems of the rich gold the ancient
mine yielded. He believed that the
secret of the mine was unknown to
any one in the village or region. His
intention was to return TO England.
make known his discovery to capital
lists, obtain their aid and then come
back to the mine in the Mexican noun
tains and gather in millions as his
share of the find.
On the eve Of his intended depart,
! ure from the isolated spot he was in
formed by the authorities that they
did not want him to so. Not in that
way. They asked him if he had finish
ed his business in that locality. When
he told them that he had they said to
! him, in effect:
Very we'll. Then we will take you
out and shoot your
1T happened though, that a daughter
of the governor Of that district had
fallen in love with Worthington. She
pleaded for him, and her father finally
said that if the Englshman preferred
marrying the girl to being shot they
would compromise it in that way.
WOrthington married the girl. But he
was not permitted to leave the village.
For eight years he remained there,
virtually a prisoner. Three children
born to him. Then a revolution broke
out in the state. The existing govern
ment was overthroWn and the govern
or, Worthington's father-in-law, shot
In the excitement Of the hour
Worthington, with his wife and chill
dren, escaped from the distracted re-
gion. They made their way northward,
suffering untold hardships and priva-
tons, until at last they arrived at our
post on the frontier just in time to be
saved.
Fortunately, Worthington had been
able to preserve the maps he had made
of the ancient mine and it's surround
ings. He showed them to me- I was
greatly impressed by them and his
story. So were my fellow officers.
! The result was that a lot of us formed
a pool by chipping in 5000 apiece,
! the money to be used in sending a
party of miners and other workmen,
under the guidance of the Englishman,
to the Aztec mine. One Of the officers
! Of the post obtained a three-months'
/ furlough and joined the party. They