The morning times., 1896-10-18
Copyright, ! sS6.)

downright. s9G.}
Twenty million dollars worth of gold
yearly lies within easy reach Of the capital
of the United states. 1t is lightly buried
In the mountains a little south of Texas,
ana not far past ''the neck" as the strip
OF Central America that connects North
aud South America has been termed.
These gold mines are the easiest worked
in the world and the richest i'll yield. Yet
there they lie year after year. while gold
Is being laboriousiy mined in far counties
The mines have never been worked. and
may be, never Will be worked And al
OIL account OF a ghost.
For hundred years. since the destruc-
ton of tie last distinct tribe OF the lTcas,
the ghost of the lost tribes have haunted
the mines. Laborers would not work
there because troubled by mysterious
spInJs that annoyed them INCREASINGLY.
Picks would be spirited away, shovcls
woLid disappear. buckets were overturned
and the Shafts worked all awry Time
aud again the mines have been rcopened
but always with the same results. Finally
hNlh NaS tbdllbbllttl 10 bt ICutNtI
yearly and abandoned again.
Last Week engineers appointed by the
government visited these mines. and made
an examination of them. From the
toughest estimate that could be made by
Surface examination, they appra sed The
gold 10 be worth $50, ,COO,OO0 Annually
This did not estimate the amount probably
In the ground, but only that within easy
reach and sure. They reported the entire
Carabaya Province of Peru underlaid
with these mines. and estimated that, were
work begun there, the most bOJudless
wealth of the earth would be brOugh; forth.
A yeritable mine of King Solomon, with
more practical results and much nearer
home!
The Carabaya Province Is in the southern
part OF Peru, very near the coast. II is shut
off from the rest of the country By high
peaked mountains, which are always COW
cred with snow. In the sides of these
mountains lie the gold mines. Visitors to
the place have described the country as
colder than Greenland, with the glittering
gold reachable from any place on the noun
tain side. A gold harvest in a country OF
sDowi
Years ago, when the Indians inhabited
most of South America and North America,
TOO, the Incas tribe owned this coast Of
Peru and hunted in the Andes Mountains
They were n wealthy tribe and the last to
succumb to the inruads of other countries
They dug their metal, gold and silver,
from the mountains and traded it off for
that which they most needed.
When the new CUmcrs, the Spaniards and
the French, drove them out and broke up
the Tribe il was the Incas that struggled
longest and held out most manfully. At
one period of settlement il was feared that
this tribe would hold the Andes forever
as a menace to the seaport places of South
America and as pcrmanen owners of the
great gold mines there.
THE DEATH OF INCA.
There is story told about the final
driving out OF the IncaS Their last Chief,
Inca, was man deemed impenetrable.
be led the raids into the mountains to
drive back the encroachers. And he boldly
captured game and hunted freely where
others dared not go. Inca was q wise
man and tie knew that il was the gold
mines that the Spaniards sought; 50 he
determined that he would wall up the mines
with impossible stone SO that, take what
part Of tue country they might, they could
Ind no treasure TO reward them
For one year Inca labored with his strong
est chiefs 10 hew the largest stones from
the mountain sides, and for another year
be tollcd 10 get them in place. Each OPEN
Ing In the mountain side was to be closed;
and where the richest veins lay there was
TO be mountain ridge Of stone built.
Finally all was completed but the last
bouldcrs. They were 10 be rolled into a
tunnel at the foot of the Mountain JeSu,
under which ran 4 Vein bright with richest
ore
But in the night Inca awoke and re-
pentcd thus sealing up so much treasure
He longcd to enter the tunnel and feast
his eyes upon the veins which would Weld
gold to all the Incas for generations tocome;
and rising from his couch he threw his
blanket around himself and grasping
torch, entered the mountain by a secret
entrance.
N first break Of light the strong men
oi the trlhe rose ready for their days
WORK. With prodigiOus effort they rolled
the mighty bouldcrs in place and sealed
them with cement, and rolled smaller
boufders in the cracks Not an entrance
A4''i any siu' was lcil unguardcd.
When the work was done they went To
find their chief L. Nlow him their work.
but Inca was nowhere TO be found. He
had wandered deep into the mine. and,
falling asleep from wearincss. WAS ON.
tomLed alive. The boulder builders re-
membercd seeing distant light, but sun
posed IL was a torch left from miners
hand. Too late to rescue their chief, they
remembered this.
This ghost is the one that guards the
mines, and the natives believe that Inca.
came to life some day, and, recalling his
tribe, gave them .hc buried treasure They
dare not tonch it.
The people with whom the government
has to deal in this excavation of the most
valuable gold mines in the world are a
mixture Of races. Spanish, French, and
Italian blend together They speak
Quichina. a mixture of Spanish, Indian,
and Chinese 1t is the most peculiar
Tongue ever heard, and no American has
ever been able to acquire it. ALI work