The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-14
TRICKS ON THE COMSToCK.
TALES OF THE DAYS WHEN MINERS
PLAYED ROUGH GAMES.
senator Jones Tells Couple of stO-
RES nnG several of His Friends Try
to Rival Them ABS 4'
From the San Franoisco can

rTes ma Several of His Friends Try
to Rival Them. ."t
From the San Francisco cali
few evenings since a group of mining
men were seated in the barroom Of the
Palace hotel, when one. of them remarked
that he would wager the drinks for the
crowd that no one present could tell Of
the first mining swindle perpetrated on
the Comstock. h"
Senator Jones would never allow a bet
ting bluff of any kind to float past him,
and said Immediately that he would ac-
cept the offer and told the following:
THE first instance of a sQuare-toed
swindle' in connection with mining on
the COmstock was where Jim O'Riley
let contract to three miners TO sink a
shaft 100 feet in depth. After he had
paid 20 per cent. of the contract money
to bind the bargain, he brought a l00-foot
tapelihe to the miners and stipulated
that when the tapeline fell from the
windlass and hung clear in the bottom
of the shaft without touching he would
pay the rest of the money amounting to
several thousand dollars. Shaft-sinking
was pretty expensive in those days
Well, in course of time the miners called
upon him for the rest of the money and
took him to the shaft, where they point
ed to the tapeline hanging from the wind
lass to the bottom, with an inch or two
of free space under the end of it. ORR
i ley, after complimenting them upon their
/ work, gave them their money. and in a
/ few hours they had disappeared
The next Gay, when O'Riley took a
/ more careful inventory of the work, he
/ discovered that the miners had cut
| twenty feet out Of the tapeline, making
/ the shaft twenty feet less in depth than
IA Frsar tod EIa ~ al
his six-shooter and Started out in quest
| of rebate on the job but when the story
got around the ledge, Il raised such a
| subject and relet the contract 10 other
| parties He said that the splice where
oe De sW9RH ba S ogg d T9 sn made boe
to find 1t. A few days afterward he got
a package from Sacramento containing
sing. They wrote to him saying
that they had taken it away through an
/ oversight, and they retufned II, that he
| might put 1t back where 1t belonged, in
order to complete the sinking OF the shaft
1 with mathematical accuracy. The
twenty feet Of tapeIinsS. was exhibited for
| When Jones' had sti1ished"-the story,
| Billy Foote, who had, offered TO bet, or
dered a round of irrigation goods for the
throat remarked; If anybody wants to
| make another wager for the same
amount, can tell the second operation
/ there of the same nature No one in
terrupting him, he continued.
| Some of the boys had a claim up on
| the side of Mount Davidson when the
| stock excitement was pretty lively. Their
claim did not prove TO be of much ac-
| count and they introduced the sailing
process for the first time! quite rich
strike was made in the Ophir on rock
| that ran into the thousands. one night
| they extracted several sacks of ore from
the ophir shaft and dumped II into a
! were on the ground when the flrst bucket
| came up next morning. OF course, they
| bounced on the specimens, and in a few
| minutes the rich chunks OF ore We're find
ing their way into the nearest assay Of
fees. Thesresult was that a forty eight
| hour excitement ensued, and a Wild
| scramble for the stock during which time
| the owners cleared up $4,000 or $4,000.
Speaking of sailing mines, said Lon
| Hamilton, II never shall forget the time
| ing experts to spy out the prospects IN
| the Gould & Curry A diamond drill was
| being run and they wanted to know Whac
| it struck. The experts reached the Com
| stock looking like ordinary miners, ana
| very readily secured job in the mine.
| They considered themselves very fortu-
| nate when they were put on level within
| easy reach of the diamond drill. The joke
of the thing was that the insiders, who
| were working the mine got the tip from
| below They were all prepared for their
| visitors They systematically sailed the
drill, and left the key where the other
| fellows could find it. The natural result
| was that in few days certain brokers
| from California were loading up with
Gould & Curry in the expectation that
| when the drift reached the ore body they
| would reap a fortune. But no drift ever
! followed that drill hole. as il was barren
| street sharpers who had engineered the
Job found themselves very beautifully
! dumped, and the biters proved to be the
"Do YOU mind the time when Capt John
| Kelley of the Lady Bryan had the Bible
sailed on him. There seemed to be a
| general desire to hear the anecdOte, and
Ben Fitch proceeded: You see. John KEEL
| lev was working the Lady Bryan mine.
down in Six-Mile canon, and sent the drill
ahead to prospect for an ore body Mean
| while the miners, who had large guam
tity of the stock at low figures, salted
the drill hole, and. as q results one morn
| ing Capt Kelley. was in a Very excited
state Of mind. He believed that he was
/ about to make the strike of his life ana
! ond Consolidated Virginia. In his enthus-
4 ism over the prospect he gave a number
/ of his friends the tip, after which the min
ers had no trouble in disposing of their
| was pushed to the end of the drill hole
with all possible dispatch, but no ore was
.During the next week the air was blue
/ that circulated around the head of John
| Kelley, and he feared for his life. In order
to demonstrate hts innocence he held a
| sort of inquest or the defunct ore body.
| He made all the miners come into a room
1 and submit to an examination. He had
| put a large Bible, Weighing about twelve
/ pounds, on the table in the dining room
! of the company's cookhouse. Each miner
| when questioned was required to advance
to the table and kiss the book. The scene
1 was a very solemn one the victims of
| the deal being at one end Of the room and
the miners a the other; Kelley, meanwhile
was seated at the head of the table. act
| ing as a sort Of a Judge. Each miner
| swore by the book that he had no hand
whatever in the sailing of the drill holes
/ and did not know any one else who had.
After the entire force Of the mine had
/ made their solemn declarations to this eff
| feet and kissed the book il began to look
pretty black for John Kelley. He had ex-