New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-07
A DOUBLE SHOT.
IT SAVED A LIFE AND MADE MCANN
A MINER.

From The Argonaut.
Pat Mccain came up from the plains into the
hills in a bad humor with himself and the world.
He had tried to be a cow-puncher, and had
been promptly bucked off, he had tackled the
cooking problem, and only escaped mobbing by
resgning his job now he had dragged his little,
SQUAD form, with its hanging arms up into the
hills to try mining He applied to the first camp
he came to. King. the foreman, gave him job.
Early the next morning he and another man
walked down the gulch through the sarvis
bushes for half mile, turned abruptly to the
right climbed the uneven length of zigzag
trail, and at last halted near the top OF ridge.
The pine trees, slim and tall. grew out Of the
unevenly carpeted ground. through which
cropped irregular slices OF a red brown, crum-
bling rock. At q very crest was a dark gray
"dike" of quartzite, standing up steep and
castellated for height Of thirty feet or more.
This was the hanging wall" Of the prospective
mine. Down through the trees were glimpses Of
vast, breathless descents to other ridges and
other pines far below. Over the dixie was moth
ing but the blue sky.
The two men had stopped within a hundred
feet Of the top. The old hand went over to Q
rough lean-to Of small trees covering a rude
forge from beneath which he drew several steel
drills Of various lengths and a sledgehammer
which he carried to a scar in the face OF huge
outcropping rock. After dumping these he re-
turned and got Of water and a long T.
shaped implement of iron. The two men then
set to work.
Mccain held firmly while the other struck.
After each blow he would half turn the drill.
When a dozen strokes had been given he poured
a little water in the hole, and thrust the drill
through bit Of sackiDg to keep II from splash
ing. The other man damned his hat down close
1y his forehead and struck iercely, alter
natey breathing and grunting in rhythmical
succession When the hole became cogged with
fine, gray mud, Mccain carefully spooned IL out
with the T-shaped instrument wiping the latter
each time on his trousers. While he did this his
companion leaned on his sledge or threw chunks
of rock. with wonderful accuracy, at the SPUR
rels that ran continually back and forth on the
ridge. As the hole grew deeper longer drills
were used, until at last the longest Of all barely
left enough above the surface OF the rock to
AFFORD handhold. With that the miner ex-
pressed himself satisfied. He then brought three
cylindrical packages wrapped in greasy paper.
whats them?" Mccain inquired.
The miner grunted contemptuously
Hercules powder" he replied He pronounced
the proper name in two syllables
With sharp knife he cut these into lengths
OF about three inches each. and dropped them
one by one into the hole in the rock He then
rammed them home with a hickory ramrod
Just as all old miners will insist on doing Be-
cause OF this large percentage OF old miners
have no fore and middle fingers on their right
hands. The last piece he split, inserted in the
crack a bit OF fuse the end Of which was a
copper cap, dropped it in. and then carefully
chinked-n with the wet grit which had been
spooned out of the hole
"Mosey for cover Irishl" he said and touched
II off
From behind his tree Mccain saw the SMUT
tering fuse disappear. The next instant the rock
seemed to bulge splitting in radiation as it did
so, and then the smoke belched forth in a can
opy, filled with fragments Of quartz Following
the miner, he found a jagged opening in the
rock Then they sharpened their drills at the
forge and went at IL again. BY night they had
fired two more blasts. and had made a start
toward shaft. After the third Bob the miner
said. glancing at the west:
''That'N do. Irish"
They cached the tools caught up the water
bucket and swung rapidly down the trail. Bob
was ahead slouching along with the mountain
GERS peculiar gait, which seems so lazy, and
yet which gets over the ground so fast In
very few moments he reached the gulch below,