Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1900-06-20
EASY LIFE IN NICARAGUA.
When the Family Is Out of Money Some
BODY Goes Ont and Gets a Little Gold.


crat: "Wnen | was In the blanche
district, IN Nicaragua, last month,
said a visitor who is largely Interesting
in mining in Central America, Il had
an opportunity of seeing how the lazy
| natives tap natures till when they
| need some small change. Near our
| camp by the river was hut occupied
by a typical Honduranian family, con-
sisting Of husband and wife, grand
father and grandmother, and a dozen
! or so assorted children. The only one
Of the crowd who did anything except
| rest and smoke was the wife. At in
tervals Of perhaps week she would
sally out with the family tin-pan, erst-
while used for cooking, and proceed to
an old placer digging on the river
| bank. There she would squat, throw
lew g0Hfds full Of dirt into the pan,
| ell il Up with water and begin the
usual circular motion of gold-washing.
| She was very skillful and would keep
little sheet of dirty water spraying
over the edge like miniature cataract.
When the water was exhausted few
spoonsful of sand would be left in the
bottom Of the pan, and, spreading it
out thin, with bit of stick she would
go over it, grain by grain, looking for
color Whenever she saw speck Of
gold she moiStened the stick upon her
tongue and picked up the particle by
| adhesion. Each bit of the precious
metal was stored away in q quill plugg-
ed with clay at the ends, and l have
know her to take out as much as
quarter of an ounce in the course of a
day. Usually her limit was about g.
and when she got that she stopped.
/ hen the head OF the house would
arise languidly and start for the near
est store twelve miles away. Some
times he would trade the whole amount
for Whiskey, but as a rule he brought
back tobacco, salt. meal and calico.
There are hundreds Of native families
who live in exactly the same manner
in Olaneho. Sometimes the woman
will be lucky enough to strike rich
pocket, that will yield dollar or more
a pan. but they never dream Of wash
ing it ont at once and getting a stake.
It simply means that they can secure
Il cir usual amount with less work
THE LIFE INSURANCE CURE.
Dying Bachelor who Became Inter-
ested IN a Plan for Novel Funeral.
I don't know that life insurance is a i
cure for disease, said the retired life
insurance solicitor, but know of az
instance which makes it look that way.
In the town where first began bust
ness was a bachelor of about 50 years,
who was quite alone in the world, and
had some years before taken out a five
thousand-dollar policy on himself for
the benefit of maiden sister, who had
died a year before the events of this
story He kept his policy going, how
ever, because it was a good way to save
money, and one day he was taken down
with some kind of fever. He grew worse
day after day. until one day the doctor
told him that he would in all likelihood
be dead within the next twenty-four
hours. This suggested his life insur-
2nce money, all he had to leave, and he
Immediately began to talk with the
doctor on the subject of a proper dis
posal of it. He concluded after some
thought that the test thing to do With
it was to blow it in on A tremendous
big funeral for himself, including a
banquet for all the people he knew. !
This was an entirely new idea for a
funeral, and when the doctor left him
that night to the care of his nurse his
mind was entirely occupied with his
funeral. lie talked to the nurse about
it and when the nurse made him stop
be lay and thought about it. In fact,
he became so much interested in the
details of his funeral that he quite for
got about having to die to make it pos
sible. III The morning when the doctor
came he found his patient in wild
perspiration and his pulse beating in
much better fashion than it had been
doing for some days. He also found the
general condition of the patient much |
improved. He was greatly astenished, |
and at once began to ask questions.
The patient told him with eage~ inter
est of a lot of new things he had
thought of for the funeral and some
that bothered him good deal and said
be had been thinking of it all night.
Then the doctor laughed and told him
he GUESSED the funeral would have to
be postponed, for he wasn't going to
die, Just then anyhow. Nor did he, and
he isn't dead yet, but he is married and
has his policy paid up for his wifes
benefit.