Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1895-01-29
THE SUNSET LEDGE.
ITS STORY as TOLD Bv THE Old Cali.
FoRNlA MINER

Tho Two Contrneiors who Rsfurod 20
Heed q Timely warnina.- -Fineen Years
Aeer a Hias, Released rair o. 0rin-
nias skeistoaA
In Butte county there Is q quartz
mine which bias been abandoned for
many yeara Only the oldest residents
u she sioihity EoInomhcE tie namc8 Of
the looatora and scarcely a trace Of the
shaft and buildings remains The lodge
was discovered away back IN the cnriy
days. whom quartz first attracted the
notice 81 prospeciorsi when many worth
loss ledgoa were worked because thc
minors had not yet learned how 20 read
the value Of such ore BY tho minerals IN
it its location. dip and oontaot with
other formations The Sunset lodge was
small, 1inty aud absolutely worthless,
but the mon who discovered IL Thought
it worth development They put down
q shaft 100 feet ina depth IN wet and
trenohorous ground, and they used no
timhera Then they let o contract 10
two men--a Cornish man and an Irish
man--to construct n tunnel 100 feet In
length from the bottom,
Sometimes untimbered ground win
stand apparently firm and safe for q
time. aud then, with no perceptible
cause. suddenly get shalgy and fall or
closein This was just what occurred
at the Sunset mine The two men In
the tunnel had almost finished their
contract and we're 'squaring up the
face" Of the tunnel when one Of the
men employed ON tbs surface was low
cred rapidly, ran 10 them and told them
70 leave tho mine instantly because the,
shaft was closing IN.
Why the men refused, In the faco Of
q certain horrible death, to heed the
warning is q mystery. TIE messenger
begged and throatoned, but thoy were
obdurate They laughed at him, told
him to sit down and smoke a pipe with
them and said they would leave the
tunnel only when they had finished
her up in shape Perhaps thoy imng-
ined the man was playing joke upon
them or that it was q scheme to get
them TO leave tho mine before their con-
traot was fulfilled At any rate they
refused TO leave the mino. and the man
who warned them returned to the sur
face only Just In time TO escape the fate
Of the men below. Tho shaft, with q
roar, closed ia. and they were entombed
No effort was mado toroscuo the bar
led mon 1t was impossible to savo
them II they were not killed by the
cavo, and it was supposed that the tun-
mel had also collapsed 10 sink shaft
100 feet through treachcrous ground
would take long time oven IN these
days, when all the modern appliances
for such work wore at our disposal
The niine was abandoned Fifteen
years went BY. The story Of the mine
and the buried men became an old one.
Their names wero forgotten. They were
like men who go down to the sea in
ships and perish in sight Of their homes
Their friends know that somewhere in
the sea their bonos arc bleaching, some
whore in q great sepulcher upon which
they may look. but into which they can-
not see
Fifteen years after the caving IN Of
the mine some prospectors Overran the
locality. They were told the story Of
the Sunset ledge, and they went to its
groupings and TO tho dump whore the
shnft had been and tested the ore they
found there Whether they found any
gold "a not known. but they found
something which encouraged them. Per
hays thoy were not we'll vorsed IN
quartz aud believed that any ledge
would pay If developed They resolved
to reopen tho mine II was their opin-
lou, they said, that tho Sunset company
had not put their shaft down In the
right place nor sunk IL deep enough.
They ttho now company would choose
q better spot sink their shaft much
deeper and tap the ledge on the pay
shoot
Old mon who heard Of It shook theiI
heads and prOphesied iailure They
said no luck could come from disturb
ing dead men n's bones. but the new com
! pany began aud finished their shaft
Thou they axoaVatod a tunnel and rails
Cd al Inclined shaft hoping and ex.
peoting 20 strike the ledge whore their
Judgment had led them 70 believe th'
pay shoot was
One day, whom they fired a blast
there was q rush Of walor down tho In
. cline. and the miners were driven ont
After much trouble ana expense lar.
ger pump was put ~ and the min'
olaared. and tho cause Of the suddoI
Cow was explained The upraiso Of thI
new company had entered the old tun
mel Of the Sunset company about q
feet FROM It's face And there On a heal
/ 81 rock. leaning against tho walls, wer
two grinnlng Skeletons Tho homes o
the dead contractors who had sat ther
crinning 90 their fate ald for 10 year
, patiently waiting 10 be found were re
moved from the mino and given dectn
burial The mino was again nbandono
ana will probably never be again open
: I'd San Francisco Chronicle