Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1895-03-22
A COW MINE.

lqueer gold specimens, said General o.
Carstarphen to a Denver Times re-
porter at the U. S. Branch Mint, the
other day, as bowed and bent legged
individual entered the doorway Of
that institution.
The whisker-bedraggled ranchman
came shuillng into the ofice aud ap-
preached the General, taking from the
pocket of his weather stained coat a
small package wrapped In a yellow
bordered red handkerchief. His
clumsy fingers fumbled the hard tied
double knot, which the ends of the
covering had been drawn into. The
handkerchief was finally removed and
the Hand cracked and Drowned with
exposure OF outdoor work, placed a
lump about the size Of a SpaulGing
base bali into the hands Of the general.
That official remarked that it was not
quite as large as the last one.
The farmer shook bis head and said:
"Nope; this is small un; gimme a
receipt, and I'll come again tomorrow
for the money"
Gen. Carstarphen filed out a receipt
for zone gold specimen ball " and
handed it to the old man, who tucked
it carefully in his vest pocket as he
ambled out of the office.
"This is one Of the strangest things
you have ever seen" said the general,
as he poised the ball on the ends of his
fingers. at looks like ball of com
mon cement, and you would not think
it worth two cents, but venture to
wager it is worth $40 in fue gold.
Now, it might not excite much curios-
ity 10 this country, where gold and
other mineral is found in brackish
formations, but this is freak Of
freaks. 1t came from the stomach Of
some animal, mast likely young COW
or steer. This is nothing new to me,
but when the first one was brought in
and the story was learned of its dis
covery, l was dumbfounded and could
4 hardly believe it. You see this is so
hard you cannot crack it with an or
dinary hammer, and yet if it is placed
in warm water and allowed to soak
for "A hours, it Will dissolve and about
two spoonfuls of pure placer gold will
be found to have settled in the bottom
of the vessel.
" ] suppose have received about 20
of those balls which that old fellow
has brought me, and every one OF them
have contained from .S20 10 $50 in gold.
This man has cinch on the discovery,
aud we at the mint have never allowed
t to leak out. He brings one in about
once "a week, which we reduce and buy.
"The first one saw was about six
or eight months ago. This old fellow
brought it in, The outside had been
polished, and looked different from
anything had ever seen before. 1t
was beautiful TO look at. The old
mau told me story that was hard TO
believe, aud wanted me to have the
specimen tested. He is an old demo-
crat, you see, and being interested by
what he had to say, told him to leave
it aud call again in day or two, when
l would let him know about it. l took
the ball to a chemist here, and tOgeth.
er we aualyzed it, and found it to CON
tain about Is per cent. pare gold, the
rest being hardened sediment from
pulverized quartz or rock The bali
was placed in bot water, as have told
you, aud the gold and sediment sep
arated
"The story which the old man told
me was a queer one. He said that one
of his COWS was run over by railway
train between Denver and Golden,
somewhere along Clear Creek, and the
stomach was cut into by the wheels Of
a locomotive. He and his boy were
with the section men looking at the
mangled carcass, which had been
pushed 10 one side Of the track, and ia
portion Of the stomach exposed his
boy discovered the'hdll, and, boy like,
exclalmed Oh, papa, here is round
ball. The kid took a stick and poked
it out, and it rolled down the side Of
the grading into a shallow pool Of
water. The boy fished it out. The
water had cleaned it from the contents
of the stomach, and it looked very
pretty. The men examined it, pro-
nounced it curiosity, and the boy
took it home with him. The ball was
used for time as a plaything by the
children, and, being so hard, soon took
on polish and looked handsome. One
day a carriage party driving from Den
yer to Golden, passing the ranch, saw
within the house the farmers wife
churning. One Of the ladies wanted
Buolden's Arnioa salve.
The best salve in the world for cuts,