The Portland daily press., 1895-07-06
THE WHISPERING MINE.
A Miser's Wife Who Saved Her Husbands
Life and Made His Fortune.

On the western slope of the main range
of the Rocky Mountains, in Summit and
Granite counties the legend of the "Whis-
pering Mine,'' booked at the land office
as the Mountain Chief is often re-
ferred to. AS related by D. L. Stockton,
one of the old timers, the legend runs as
follows: 1t was in 1872 that William
Dempsey, while prospecting in the vicin-
ity, located a promising looking prospect
on Grassy. In preparing place for his
cabin he encountered jutting cliff, from
which he blasted enough to allow room
for the foundation of his home upon a
bench of the mountain. A primitive
chimney was built against the wall of
rock at ther ear, and as soon as the work
was completed Dempsey brought his wife
and two children, with his few belongings
to keep him company during the long
winter, that would soon shut them up as
between steel bars.
In preparing meals the patient wife no
ticed a strong draught of air coming from
the rocks on one side of the fireplace.
This current of air she found useful in
stimulating a slow fire, and when not
wanted the crevice was shut up by plac-
ing small stone in the opening.
During his absence from the mountain
the children, happy in the springtime
freedom, romped and played upon the
hillside chased each other through and
among the spruces, as happy and content
ed children do. The day following her
husbands departure, Mrs. Dempsey was
preparing meal and had the stone re-
moved from the crevice, when she was
surprised to hear her children laughing
and talking. Going to the door, she
could not see them nor tell from what
direction their voices came. Giving the
subject no further thought, she took the
water pail and went for a supply to the
spring, a few hundred yards below the
cabin. AT the spring she found the two
children, who informed the mother that
they had been there for the past hour
She then decided that the crevice was in
some way connected with the locality of
the spring. Beyond speaking of the mat
ter to her husband upon his return, no at
tention was given the discovery until the
crevlce brought notice of impending
peril to her husband.
During the husbands presence in the
little mining camp, the news of a rich
inlHlng SUflke having Deen made Dy MIN
leaked out and reached the ears of several
of that class of men who take more pains
to steal from others than to accumulate
by honest work. After long consulta-
tion party of five left the camp with
the intention of taking the claim from
Dempsey by force. Arriving on the
slope of Grassy mountain they carefully
made their way to the spring The hour
was almost noon and they waited for
Dempsey to leave the claim and go to his
cabin for dinner when they proposed to
quietly enter the tunnel and by show
OF force keep the owner from asserting his
rights. Seated about the spring they
spoke in low tones of their plans and the
trick they were about to play upon the
unsuspecting prospector.
The housewife was engaged in prepar-
ing the monday meal and taking away
the stone from the crevice, she was star
tied on hearing strange voices and the
name of her husband mentioned. Breath
lessly she listened and gradually she COM
pretended the plot as the speakers con-
tinued to expatiate upon the details of
their intended raid. AS the plot became