Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1898-02-04
there Is gold by the ton there II only

peat IT to anyone who would listen,
and then the report went flying among
the hills that poor Jim Hardin had
gone clean daft" His family, however,
shared Hardin's faith in Two-Bit, and
finally, GRE day in February, 1896, the
old mana elder son, James d, Hardin,
Jr., met in Deadwood man from Chi
caGo, named Edward Rotherwell, who
had been commissioned by Philip d.
Armour to examine some fuller's earth
properties in Deadwood. When Roth
erwell finished the work which took
him to Deadwood he was induced by the
younger Hardin to visit Two-Bit Gulch.
Rotherwell knew something about
mining, and, having met old man Har.
din, became convinced that the man
was honest and was not crazy, or, If he
was, young Hardin, who had the faith
in the Gulch that his father had, was
not only not crazy, but was an unusual
ly level-headed man. Rotherwell ex-
amined the surface indications which
old Jim Hardin pointed out to him,
and was favorably impressed by them.
Then, too, he believed in the Hardins,
and the upshot Of it all was that he
promised to see what could be done
about raising some money for the old
man in Chicago.
This was no easy task. Chicago men
with money were not exchanging 1t for
an old Black Hills miners gold bricks,
even If he had been able to impress
Rotherwell with his honesty and sim
cerity. Finally Rotherwell succeeded
in interesting a young Chicago man by
the name of Delaney. Delaney had
plenty of money, most of which he had
made himself, and he was highly
esteemed by many of Chicago's best
known business men. Delaney visited
Two-Bit Gulch with mining expert,
who was favorably impressed with what
he saw. With the experts report De-
laney returned to Chicago and told
some of his friends that he was going
to invest some money in mining proper.
ties in Two-Bit Gulch. Philip d. Ar
| lHOuI, IL H. LtlttI ulu WV VI 'hiNS
other Chicago millionaires consented
to put in as much as Delaney, which
was not so much but that each one OF
the men could afford to lose it II Two
Bit gave back nothing.
Young Hardin was sent for to come
to Chicago and was told what Delaney
had done. The son of the old miner
could hardly believe his ears. The only
thing he seemed to realize was the fab
ulous fortune that was all but within
his fathers grasp. The possibility that
no gold might be found never occurred
to him for a moment. This impressed
itself upon those who had consented to
invest some money in the scheme and
they resolved to go ahead, come what
might.
That was in the early part of the pres
ent year. Soon after that the machinery
necessary to carry on quartz mining
was ordered and shipped to Two-Bit
When the first machinery arrived old
man Hardin nearly did go crazy with
ioy. That for which he had waited and
worked and stuck to the Gulch al
through the years was about to become
fact instead of an old mans dream
When the machinery was all on tht
spot, the question to be determined
was where the first shaft should bt
sunk. Old Jim knew, he said, exactly
where to begin, but before he would
tell he wanted to have look at every
man who was to engage in the work
When asked what that was for, he said
"I've stood guard over this propert.
, for 20 years. Men have come and gone
but I've stayed on, and now that some
things going to happen, l want Il
know that everybody around here is oil
the square. ] can tell the men wan
, as soon as see them"
, Accordingly all the miners and al
the bosses had to be inspected by Oh
, Jim. All but two passed muster, ant
they had been employed to superinten
parts of the work. The old man woul'
not have them under any consider
, alton, and two others Of his owl
selection were substituted. The wis
dom of his judgment may have bee
proved by the fact that one Of thes
!. cast-offs is now in a western peniten
l tiary serving term for robbery.
When the mining crew was finally sc
. .ected Old Man Hardin indicated tn
place where the work was to be begu
| and the first shaft was sunk on April l.
i 1897. Some one recalled that work ha
been begun on the thirteenth OF tn
s. month and remarked that Jim Hardin
S usual luck would follow the develop
: ment of the mine. To this Hardin's onl
y reply was:
u "There never was n fine field Of cor
: that crows didn't croak over. Neve
mind the day of the month. Two-B
j will prove that there's luck in the thi
: teen yet"
: Two months later, on June 10, "pe;
nut" rock was struck and the first po
e tive indication of ore was found. o
s September 10 the following dispatc
c was sent by James d. Hardin, Jr.,
y Mr.. Delaney in Chicago.
r "Rich ore struck. Assay, 81 to to-
l. Vein now more than 20 feet thick"
On October 13 samples Of the OF
II taken from the mine were sent to To
d rey & Eaton, assayers and metallu
d gists, of Sterling, N. j., whose Ne
d York office is at "a Cortlandt stree
E. Two days later they sent back the +
IS suit of their assay, as follows:
Sample Of ore marked No. l pyrite
$ contains 1.5O ounces of gold, which a
&C sayed $31 per ton. OF silver there Wi
II a trace"
d Two-Bit Gulch is no longer despist
g by the miners Of the Black Hills. Tv
le OF those who left their claims the
t. years ago for others are no richer t
rt day than they were then. The man wi