The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-12-02
DOES GOLD GROW?
"a
Some Veteran Miners Who Pretend to
Believe That IL Does.

Some Veteran Miners Who Pretend to
Believe That it Does
They were all weather. beaten trail
blazers, who had led the march of civil
cation into the mountains, AMI ms they
toasted their shins by the big stove in
Lon Pickett's hotel bar at Melrose, their
conversation wandered from the recent
election and the departed glories of other
days to the latest discoveries in science
john Helehan had just finished reading
from mining journal about Professor
Emmons discovery of the method of
transmitting silver into gold.
81 think Emmons is a humbug,' said
old Judge Lonely, California argo-
naut. 1.-The old alchemsts, you know,
tried that, but they might as well have
tried to make an apple seed. Nature
holds the germ and all the scientists who
initiate her can do is to quicken it's
growth
I've heard tell of gold growing" re-
marked Will Robbins.
$50 have H. said the Judge, "but YOU
have never seen it grow have you? don't
believe all the yarns these experts spin,
anyhow
Boys" spoke up John Trcanor, per
haps have got some queer old notions
slowed away under this dggin' hat of
mine, but for thirty years, man and boy.
I've been a prospector, and | have been
dom some thinking. And tell YOU now
that | believe gold does grow Twenty
years ago / struck the Locust and sank a
shaft. 1t was silver ore, and after diggin'
for while gave it up in disgust. Then
| wandered over to the other side of the
range and located the Banner, a copper
mine, now :. in the possession of the Ana
conda Compny.~ | moseyed around for
~ " nd nit I
to my old love, the Locust. Hang me if
could believe my eyes, boys, when
found the prettiest ledge of gold ore right
where the silver ledge was. 1t was as
pretty rs picture, and I kept right on
diggin' and have been diggin' in that
hole ever since. 1t seemed to me that in
the places where the water struck it, it
grew richer. l run in three tunnels at
the bottom, but found the gold was not
yet ripe, so l just closed up the tunnels
and let them rest for few years.
"Blame me if don't think Hank Steb-
bins does the same thing" said Jack
Flee blank lives ND in Soap Gulch,
and has claim he calls the Belcher He
I discovered it thirty years ago when Wash
Stapleton was making bullets in his lead
mine to kill Indians with. 1t is in a
| funny formation for that part of the
| country. is in n reef of sand lying be-
tween the lime formation that borders on
the Melrose Valley and the stratefied
| gneiss formation that runs from that
point to the base of Red Mountain.
! Thirty years ago Hank discovered that
there We're globules of silver in the sand,
| and located it, but there wasn't enough
| silver to pay, and he abandoned it, Ten
years ago he went back to the old mine
and began turning over the sand. He be-
, gan TO find chunks of gold instead of sill
YER. He has good thing of it now. He
mines it like the McXicans used to mine
it years ago. He cuts stairs in the sand
and takes the rock up in Il candle-box and
sorts it over Now all he has got 20 do
when he wants to make stake is to 90
, down to the sand pile and wiggle crow
/ bar around for II few minutes, when up
I comes up Il piece of shining gold Sew
eral capitalists have attempted to get
hold OF the mine, and .one of..Heinze's
! agents made him good offer for it, but
| Hank won't sell, Tor he is sure he has Il
fortune If the gold keeps on growing. u
/ Butte Inter. Mountain.