Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-03-13

4'A zz-~
II COULD SEE HIS CANDLE FLICKER AS
r.. LOOKED DOWN THE SHAFT"
wouldn't have the bad dreams that disturb
mo occasionally. l have never sinco put
myself in position where a possible holn-
ioile would not have Mt least ono Witness
will not work alone with another man
in mine.
II got my start up in Farncomb Hill.
Jim Southor was my partner. We had
fairly good olaim-nothinR Of tho bonanza
In Its nature, just a good, honest l 4 or
ounce proposition that beat day wages by
shade only. There is ono thing about
Farncomb Hlll-that Is Its uncertainty.
You never know whit the next wallop
with the pick or the next shot with car
fridge will uncover.
"Souther was down In the hole and was
on tho windluss hoisting tho buckets he
filed with ore. We had soft thing SO far
as labor was concerned and could almost
shovel tho ore up. 1t was soft talo, a
GROSS between chalk and putty. got
bucket ut last-along about . in tho after
noon-thnt weighed like u ton. could
scarcely lift 1t. dumped 1t and almost
dropped dead. The orc was SO rich In gold
I could see 1t shine. Ioxamined the buck
ct and found little strings of wiro gold
hanging to it. Jim had struck one Of those
celebrated FnrncOmb freaks, md 1t was SO
dark down there no hadn noticed the al
teration in the character Ut tho stuff he
was sending up.
IL called to Jim to stand from under,
for aimed to come down and SEQ him
awhile. l broke tho news to him, and
then we began to figure out how we stood.
As early as we could decide wo Ind pock-
ct or chamber of this stuff extending in
to the side Of tho shaft about eight feet.
We could reach IN and got out handfnls OF
]ne spun gold that looked like it came
from under redheaded girls hat. But
We couldn't stand in tho shaft and admire
1t all day. There was at loast $1,000
worth of the stuff. Tho motal that was
not free could easily enough be separated
from tho rest Of tho orc. 1t was inclosed
ing but rubbing between tho fingers to get
it. We decided to rniso 1T all that night
that is unless it turned out bigger find
than wo thought. We figured 1t best not
to 60 about beating tho drum to advertise
our strike, but hoist the ore and do our
talking later.
''Jim staid In the mine and went back
on the winch. Then my temptation came
to me. There was n good big piece Of
money there for ono man, and just half as
much each for two. have read some
where that every man has his price. If
you keep on bidding, you can reach him
sure at some spot. Since that day have
shuddered to think how cheap l am. A
measly $15, 900 in ore came near getting
me. It all came to me as II 1t were print
ed in big letters and held before my face.
could call to Jim and get him out of the
dirt into the bottom of the shaft and let
60 the windlass. There wouldn't be .
kick left in a man who had been smashed
on the head with"a IS pound bucket, with
200 pounds of ore In 1t after so foot fall.
1.-THE first time called couldn't raise
my voice over whisper. 1t reminded me
of the time had the pneumonia my first
year in the mountains and Jim nursed me
out of 1t. He walked 20 miles over the
hills In a snswstorm to get medicine for
me, and it's the surest thing In the world
wouldn't have been hosting pure gold
out of q Farncomb Hill shaft II Jim
Souther hadn't sat up with me day and
night for week four years before. I
thought of all this while was limbering
up my voice for the second try at calling
him. That time did it. "s . n
"'What is it, Billp' he hollers back. I
could see his candle flicker as looked
down the shaft ready to let 60 the winch,
when had him placed right. What's
eating of you now?' he keeps on. We
amt got any time for merrymaking owls
iting If we get this spending money out
today he says. Make your talk quick, J.
BILL
II had to try three times again before l
could make q noise.
Il want you to come up and work the
winchr yells. L don't like to be SO far
away from the stuff
"'All right!' he hollers up. If you
prefer it. But you know you can't stand
it down here as we'll as I can, and I'm
some afraid you'll get the worst of it, H
$50 Jim came up, and took bis place.
When was going down the shaft, he says:
"'You look like you had seen dead
friend, Bill. I think another strike like
this would give you heart failure
r"What did the find dof We took out
$29, 900 from that pocket and sold the
claim for s45, 900. Yes; Souther is still
in the mining business with me. told
him about my plan to dissolve partnership
when he was In the shaft. He said, Do
you know, Bill, I had strong notion to-
belt you on the head with a pick when You
came down the shaft and ( found what
kind Of pile Of putty bad dug intol' ~