The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1898-02-26
H PROSPECTOR.
He Is Born to the work and Never
Loses Hope.


born, and net made" A man may
perfect himself in the science of
mineralogy and may even combine
with this knowledge the highest per-
sonaI courage and the greatest perse-
verance-all Indispensable qualities of
the successful PTospector-but if he is
not born to his trade he will fail in it
most miserably. There is, In your
genuine prOspector, a mysterious some
thing that puts him in touch with an
underground lead, gives him its trend,
informs him of its width, laws bare its
value and assurcs him whether or not
It will stay with him" and 20 down"
All this without 4 blow of the picl, or q
use Of the shovel, merely from study
ing the blowout which lies scat
tered over the surface of the earth in
the form CT float"
Mine brokers have assured me that
one man can see as far into the earth
rs another, bat frcm my own expert
exec l have proved the fallacy of the
statement ard Demonstrated that 1t is
merely q bait for the urwary. So far
as ordinary eyezight may penetrate
substances az Opaque as rocks and
earth, the mine brokers are correct;
but a ~prorrector who is truly a pros
pector makes note of the indications
and surroundings and draws deduc-
tons with an ingenuity OF which Sher-
lock Holmes never dreamed. The mine
brokers also have Il saying that "a mine
never lies; il shows itself to be exact
~ what it is, and 70 more" They are
right. 4 mine never lies but to the ten
derfoot and to the sucker; to the born
prcspector it speaks naught but truth.
This fact I have also demonstrated out
OF my personal experience.
The itch for adventure and the love
of solitude run warm in the veins OF
the prospector. With his burro for his
only companion, he dares the sccrch-
ing heat Of summer and the chilling
blasts of winter; braves the terrors
of the waterless deserts, or the cloud
burst floods of the narrow canyons AMI
faces his natural enemies, the wild
beasts of mountain and plain, and his
unnatural enemy, man-either savage
or civilized-his one concern his grub
stake" his sole business in life the find
ing of some storied lead along whose
f~abulously rich lines he is to stake off
his own particular Golconda. Here, as
elsewhere, the handspring of action is
the lust for gold, but here, as no place
e.se, must u n face so many hardships
with so few chances Of success.
The prospector's fitness for his call
ing is primarily shown in his ability
properly to pack his burro. Two hun
dred to $50 pounds is considered a HUI
name load and this amount of pro-
visions, with bedding, pick, shovel and
gold-pan, must be affixed to the wood
en- Mexican packing saddle so that the
weight hangs evenly on either side, and
so that the load will not slip over the
burro's head in going down hiI!, nor
over his tail in going up. Neither must
the pack bulge out too far from the
burro's sides for fear of throwing tn e
little animal Off some narrow and rocky
trail. The load must be secured in such
a way that it will not wound the bur.
ro's back, that none of the provi sions
or utensils may be lost ard so that Mr..
Burro will not rub" his burden of
against some friendly pa!o verdi or
knotted mesquite-which constitutes
about his only rebellious act. Every
thing in Place. the pack is made fast by
a "squaw" or a "diamond-hitch," and
all is ready for an excursion into the
far Ell Dorado.
Once clear of the town and having
overstepPed the rsnotest bound of
civilization, the prospector breaks his
chrysalis and energies Into his sphere
of action the pronounced and persist
eut god bug that he Is, at heart. his
knowing eyes travel over the noun
tairs while bis feet traverse the val
and he knows. at once, whether or
not he should scale the range and delve
its dei!es; in some promising spot
he tarries ard picks and hammers un-
Ill he assures himself that his find Is,
or is not. worth the trouble of "locat-
and then, on and on he goes, and
picks, and shove.s, and grinds up bits
of ore and 'horrs" It out-keeping ever
before his eyes the vision of the fabu-
rich lead for which he is search
ing and which he hopes and believes he
will find sometime and somewhere.
The element Of chance ~bourgeous and
wakes fair beneath the breath Of hope.
An epitome of the prospcctors'
and fluctuations IS set forth In
the following, delivered impromptu by
a prospector who has grown gray in his
quest for god:
"Podner, I've prcsPected his coun-
from Death Valley plum to Texas;
from Kootenai to ole Sonora; I've seen
time when I had to slice up niger
head cactuses an squeeze 'em to git
water for my burro an gore for days
with 4 piece of taller under my tongue
to ward off thirst; Mexican outlaws
rirb killed mo. 7 uos Surst,ucL
this yere tornado del muerto; a biz
zard came close to gittin' in its work 90
the Little Musse,she,l. in MUntanny,
an I YVES in an ace Of goin' TO perdition
in Utah, but dash my buttons! I'm
lookin' for that lead, yet, an I'll find II,
sure!"-Dstrcit Frca p-css-
To the Manner porn.
Sunset Sims (thoughtfuliy) Bill,
when you an me die and go ter de good
place do yer 'spose We'll feel strange
Weary Wlllie-W'y, NV course not.