Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-01

estimated as a rich man among his fellow
farmers. With visions of home aud longing
10 arrive there as quickly as possible ne
went by stage to sacramento, then by boat
70 san francisco. and engaged passage on
tne hrst outgoing steamer. But as fate
Wiiied II, several days elapsed before the
sailing of the steamer. This necessitated
an Unforeseen and unwelcomed wait In a
strange city. With nothing TO occupy his
Tine ana In truth being what Is known at
the present time n 'come-on' or hay
seed: ne not only accepted invitations to
orink promiscuously. hut made the ac-
auathtance or disreputabie characters tin
horn gamblers and short-card men The re-
suit was inevitable. The lamb fell into the
hands OF the shearcr and soon parted with
us golden fleece. Then followed the season
or reproach. Crazed by the effects of drink
and remorse, but one of two courses was
LETT To ba foliowcd-death, or a retreval OF
his fortune
With a roll OF blankets on his back and
lew meaeer belongings. he worked has
way Oh "a river packet to SaCra mcnto
Landing at Sacramento - penniless and
lri"nuiess-he secured free sleeping quar-
tiers AT one OF the numerous corrals OF the
CITY, where frcightcrs 10 the interior kept
their stock and stored their wagons Tncn
ne drove bargain with a driver of n team
reby he was to accompany this slow
moving outnt on foot. This accounted FOR
ms strange appearance with a rope around
his neck. MorDid. half-crazcd. repentant
anguished ia mind, aged in body with the
NlSaoHS Oh disappointed loved ones
Tor his previously heralded return ever Sc
fore HIN, with no p.ausI bic excuse to rem
Ger. with nothing upon which To build q
future ashamed 10 return to places wis re
he was known-after days of slow Journey
ing ana reimbursement the hills OF the
Sl"rras were rea thed. Rejecting associates,
ana Living poorer than the meanest cur. he
again began prospec,in Friendless. mopGy
and holuIng aioof from every one, he was
at dawn Always to be seen with pan. pick
and shovel on his shoulder. trudg ng over
The country, sinking prospect holes, and
generally the shadows of night overlook
hun returning TO nus camp with unreward
ed hopes.
Nctric> ing His Fortune.
so passed the days. weeks and months:
In fact. almost year. one evening. while
out later than usual. and desiring to hight
his PIPE. he jumped into a shallow prospect
hole. 10 shield the match from the wind.
In lighting IT he glanced around. In that
short M Dment some peculiar feature of the
exposed gravel attracted his attention, and
he decided TO return to the spot the next
morning. The next day, and the next,
found HIM pcrsistcnliy at work in the same
spot One less likely to yield gold could
not have been found. In the estimation OF
experienced miners. Soon the tunnel OF
drIit he was driving into the mountain be-
came an object of curiosity. Neighhoring
miners often went to the scene OF his la
hors but learned nothing from the solitary
ItCluSe. CURIOSITY WAS followed by aston
ishmcnt that no bed or mother rock was
encountered, and that all the material ex-
caNated was evidently gold-bearng gravel
a pile of which was accumulated at the
entrance to the drift. No efforts were be-
ing made Ivy the owner. as far as could be
seen. to extract whatever gold contents The
pay dirt might contain.
One day the community was electrified
by the delivery at the claim of n large lot
of sluice lumber nails, etc. Cinnamon were
set at work digging the ditch no
ter companys main line. and preparations
were being made on large scale to wash
the dump. Soon the big pile of pay dirt
and sand disappeared under the systematic
method Of washing. while rumors fioated
around the camp of the fabulous returns
Then IL became known that the claim could
he purchased, and the hitherto sealed and
secret gates OF the hermit miner were
thrown open to the curious, and, OF course,
cnviouS miners. 1t then became known
that the owner had each day piled ND in
the drift all the choice gold-bearing rock
gravel, to he manipulated In the night with
pan and rocker. All of the water used by
MN he personally carried in from a con-
venient spring. BY this primitive aud slow
process. he had successfully mined n large
amount or gold, using the least moety OF
his Accommodations for necessities, not even
trusting himself guardian of his own
money, every dollar Of which had been ex-
pressed to New York for deposit-by what
method was never known: for tho supply
unless IN payment for purchases made.
After Four Years.
The sale OF the claim Vas In lime eff
fected and the property proved remunera-
tive for years. His find was In a former
prehistoric course of the American river
on reaching San Francisco he secured a
Storage passage for New York but 1 have
never heard of him since that time. From
To dc al
learned that In dollars and cents his last
PIE Just equaled the Tccklessly distributed
ard sQuandered stake lost in San Francisco
-FOUR years previously; that the time of his
departure from that city to the Atlantic
coast exactly corresponded with the date,
day and steamer of his first disastrous
trial. l. evidently being his paramount idea
To blot out, to never consider or allow that
there had been any Interruption to his orig
NAL plan, or that any time had elapsed be-
tween the one event and the other: that his
first experience in San Francisco had been
merely a dream and no Interference had
bs en- met with in his original plan.
Another remarkable and widely known
Character in old days was old Niger
King. Not A mining camp in three coun-
ties but knew and welcomed him on his bi.
gro. we Ching 30 pounds. He was as broad
as he was high, and had a fat. kindly face
and a wide mouth which was always on tina
grin. His approach to a camp was her
aided by yell which could he heard fully
mile. Mounted on a mule and leading
another equipped with a pack saddle and
expansive canvas paniers. he sold papers
through the mountain sections. His arrival
with those containing home news from thu
Atlantic states was eagerly and anxiously
locked for by all classes. He vended his
wares at the uniform price of two bits
twenty-five cents, that being the smallest
coin in use. A drink. the most trivial SER
vice or cheapest thing, was purchased for
two bits. Mormon Island. on the American
river. was. for a mining camp a very
superior town, and King was reputed to
own the greater part of the camp, to have
invested there the then very large sum OF
S1OO.0O. Bat after all, like many another
argonaut, he died poor