The Portland daily press., 1899-07-04
A DOUBLE SHOT.

a a - a Z. a q
Pat McCann came up from the plains
into the hills in bad humor with himself
and the world. He had tried to be COW
puncher and had been promptly bucked
oil. He had tackled the cooking problem
a,a CIV oeca,,ed ,nohhino h,- rss;or,r !,
,,s-..s - - a-a1.a, ,,.~7...,E
-..s ~. ~. es $50 NC -l'' ~.
squap iorin' Win iss nanshns arms, up
INTO the hills TO Try mining. he applied
TO the first camp he came to. King, the
foreman, gave him a JOB.
Early the next morning he and another
man walked down the aulch through the
sarv;. h,,shes for half mile t,,r,o3
-. .,,..,,,,,, ~.
ep"y " .ne lsn0' ,ii'ne. ,no "no y. O. /.
iengoh OF zis]ag ors'ii' anu az iasv haiVeu
within 100 feet OF the top. The OLD hand
went over to a rough lean to of small trees
covering a rude forge from beneath which
he drew several steel drills of yarious
lengths and sledgo hammer. which he
c.rr;ed 70 a scar a., ~. faca ~ a lingo ont
$3.50 ~ : ga a. .no ..oo :, : Huso oSs
oroppius iooA' <'or humping 'neSe n'
returned ana got can OF water anu
long L shaped implement of iron. The
two men then set to work.
McCann held firmly while the other
struek. After eaoh blow he would half
trrr tho dr,u when a dozen strotac had
besn given ba rorred a Ii+tle water in tbs
bola and tbrust the 5rill tbro,,gh n hi IN
sack;ng 70 Lean N from snlashing Tho
other MAJ, Slammed his hat down closely
over bis forahaad and struolr flarcelv alter.
natalv breathing In and ornntino In
rhvtbm;cal snccession When the bole
c,,,,,,-o, ,,;th t,,a WA NJ.
Cam caraf,,IIv sroones n ont with Tho n
ha,,, ;,,st,,,,.,,st ,,,,,;,,r a., 1a+ta,. 40 u,
time on his tro,se,s Wills ba 5id this
Ms .or,va,,;o,, laa,,o, ~, he s,aG,,o ~
threw chunks of rock. with wonderfT; ar.
cnracv at the SQUIRRELS that ran ccntin.
uallv bac,, and forth ON the ridge AZ
tbe hole crew deener longer drills vvere
used until at last the longest Of all left
barely enou0h above the surface of the
rock to afford hand hold. With that the
miner EXPRESSED, h,mself satisfied He then
brought three cylindrical packages VI ran
nod in yreasv.@lner
uWhat,s tIfzms,, Mor,ann iySorira5
-. The N,iner crnnted oontemn tuouslv
Ea,.s,,les ,,ovv,la,. ), ha ro,l;ad ne rro-
nnT,,ced the proner name in two syilsbles
With a sharp knife he cut these into
lenptha of about three inches each and
dropped them ono nv one into the hole in
the rock He then rammed them homa
with a hickory ramrod. inst as all old
miners win insist IN doing Recansa Of
this a largo percentage of old miners have
no fore and middle fingers on their right
hands. Tho last niece he split. inserted
in fine crack a lhit of fuse On the and 81
which was a conner can dronped IL in and
then carefully chinked in with the wet
grit which had been spooned ont of tbe
hole.
aMosey for cover. Irish. ,, he said and
touched Il off
From behind his tree Mccain saw the
sputterins fuse disappear The next in
slant the rock seemed to bulge shifting
in radiation as IL did So. and then the
smoke belched forth in a oanopy. filled
with fragments of quartz. Following the
miner. he found a Jagged opening in the
rock Then thew sbarnened their drills MT
the forge and went at If again Nv NIGHT
they had fired two more blasts and had
made a start toward a shaft After the
third. Bob. the miner said glanoin0 at ths
west.
sThat,ll do. Irish
They cached the tools oaugbt mn the
water bucket and SWING rani5iv down the
trail Bob was ahead. sloncbinu along
with the mountaineer's neculiar Gait
which seems SO law. and vet which oets
over the ground SO fast. Tn a very feyv
moments he reached the gulcb below
After short climb the men reached tha
camp on a knoll overIooking two conan.
emit gulches. There was the sunerintend-
ent's office. the cool, house. the hunk
house, the blacksraith's shop. the stables
and the corral-all of LOGS sumner NO.
served Mt supdown The men fiIed IN
took off their coats and sat down yyitbout
a word. As each one finished eating be
arose. nut on his coat again and sannterad
outside filling his nine as he went Fin
ally the whole oane was gatbsre5 AT tba
bunkbouse shaking telling Iacon;c
stories or nlavinp cr;hhaga-Htba araat
American game in the mountains
AS tbe last conner pat ,s,as t@ld 20 ,+o.,
the horses He went boldly into tba go co.,
raj with rope and was kicked fiat The
boys Strengthened him out and, after he