The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-09
End DOWNWARD PATH
GOLD NINE AVID A REVOLUTION
IN SOUTH AMERICA.
u,ndcrngs ~ cunningham the Good ana
Incorporate Linn sudden Dissolution OF
p,,tnrr.hl, when the Tide T~prned-Benev-
-.nt Gs,ImIIatI1n Makes Things Even.

,...,, engineer i know. because I've seen
I, ,r.a nof,ro now. The story Is worth telling.
V...g rrII- beautiful moral
.r..,. we're two trHmps once. Cunningham
4r..p ny nlr,a, who spent their time wan
d.,r- Ip aui down the Andes from Patagonia
- p,oauI trying to stub their toe on a gold
r.. The partnership came about in this
Co.,. When Cunningham had landed at Callao
,l,,. ,r4r- nrfUra with a twelve-thousand-dol-
IA. srrrpf, credit IN his pocket, Linn had greeted
~, lawfully on the wharf, because they had
c,,s Il, school together back In Massachusetts.
I, return cunningham had given him a good
c,,,r answered lIs questions briefly about
tl.,. al. home and kept his distance, Cum
r.r,.,r w., prepared to take an important
,n.,s ,r 'to mining industries OF the country
srd v,. making no "ntangling alliances. Linn
80. r.,,,apt little man whose career had
hocr nHgt.oi by an itch for the horizon line
,r tr,,trl's thirst for cool mixed drinks in
,pmmsr aad bot mixed drinks in winter.
a ya1r Inter Linn found Cunningham in a
Ii,, t,.p.taI suffering from a malignant case
~ r-yrn0-.,ltra and moral collapse. During
tho Intervening twelve months Cunningham
Rad r,pr 'rf ,u-o a number " attractive things
mine. nitrate beds, petroleum fields. One Of
h. ,v..as-s friends, u German by tho name ot
C,,.ya. er. had been enabled to take his family
ana visit 20 the Fdthrriand "a a result.
.iior happened to be- In good case lust then,
A., e,,arn l-iae Connecticut firm had recently
,ert toSna cargo Of improved sugar machinery
nth an engineer 20 set II up. and the latter had
uo.ar!ruIYI-'y died One appurtenance OF
linn. b.sh'sa career was a knowledge of prac-
tirsI mechanics, for which in the emergency
the IONS. ,ures u the Grated machinery were
Wiling ~ rny well. So Lin took charge of
Cunningham. and Cunningham said 1t was a de-
cent rnIuc frr old sate's sake.
Having boon thrown together in this provl-
dental way Cunningham glsr thought that they
bad bc'rar str, Their joint capital AZ the
time amounted to $500 gold, which Linn had
sayei ont ~ his engineers wages after Canning
hams c,ry la-oent expenses had been Did,
II /. not us.">-trv % 20 INT the history OF me
i,i1vfly Two wears South America II not a
corgar NJ fnd for foreigners without money,
ur|ss, ftnv happen to be Chinese once IN \
Milo. Vne1 urnury and hope deferred would
val too much. and the opportunity offered. Linn
would turn ~ -,uewhere aud get a job Betng
mere mane~lIft- ne was not particular as TO the
character ~ these \ deranEed sugar mil, an
sb1rtIye railroad a short handed mine were all
ISL 10 h- net He oven turned an honest penny
by burning d few charges u powder IN small
private revolutions Cunningham took no part
~ these ventures, though not from any desire
t. shrk The point vas that Cunningham had
no NII IN IIlhlItAl AA''l E llN NAi' - o. li'i' w
he broad distractions Of finance. There i no
demand for unintng"d huanclers from tata-
suuin 70 Panama, ana unsk HE'D labor Is as cheap
az dirt As Tor gunpoWder, the smell Ol the
utre In il udusratrd cunningham,
Otherwise Cunningham suffered exceedingly
inthesr wandering, Lnnh'q previously grown
used to the programme, and he had no higher
nature anyway las one grievance was the
memory uf the mixture the haliDreed bartender
al the mon Cub had given him for a cocktail
Just before he lett Lima But the heat, the
deyllsh mule roads, Tie hard living, the con-
slant society Of the drbH-ed Linn were wearing
on. man OF Cunningham r. refinement
one udy they found themselves In the I'M
healthy uy--ir,Ard town OF BuenaNehtura
Chtur tu4umuldu coast. thd here iuhnlIgndlus
real career a. Il huH1cleT began. Having
sent 10 Lima for accumulated mail Cunning
ham found among h- a notice OF u sl.SOO reg
scy which AWAITED his order IN Boston, and the
next steamer north carried the necessary paleIS
to have lac cash forwarded. In the mean
time IL vas necessary to ,uOslst, so Lam struck
q 90 At DuIdlug bridges on the Cauca lIall-
road beyond san tipr1dno. HIS pay was so
ratssidctoly tuat tinnInE nam, Mno Was IetiI
ing out OF sorts. was enabled TO 90 up 10 call
aud live cJoily Ike a scutlelnan.
II wa, during THIS time that Linn got a
W cOuCe rnIAg ,uiuvlaI gold mining. IN the Porce
River up IN tie ancient state OF AntlQqula;
Cunningham Was enthusiastic when he heafG
tie story, AnlIoQula II a sort OF desert STAND
w IN the central turdlIeras, being shut up
Oh three sides by mountains and on the fOuTth
by mords~es. But mountains and moraSse1
had 40 terror, for men who had plcnicked
from Patagonia 10 Panama, and Linn and Gun
nj gam we're not pressed for time, Six weehe
Li"' thcy we're pounding their way W, toward
Carriage aud hduisdIeu, bound Tor MedelIlh,
tAuuo4lla- capital. win the bulk OF Cunning
hams 8 20 legacy ia bis belt,
In iArr, months they reached Medelln,
and learned the true iuNardncss Of the Porce
fields This SAINT" Pore NaHry was probably
one Of the richest gold fields in the world org,
ihaly Mcdril.n, herself, estimated nat
the last three centuries. On the other hand
Cunningham AID Jim found themselves a trilie
re on ne ground mugs having been pretty
marx 7 the r.ver. below I~ow-water mark
colombian Wlnlr- methods had not been able
10 90, 10 any extent, and there we're all sorts OF
Tuuurs For Instance, a Srhor SOPHIA Of Me-
delln was said 70 own "A twelvr-mlle horse
tslos Ioog somewhere near the junction Of me
Nrchi, atew yards Of which he had once work ed
MI. ,tlaHt.o Artrdnspl IS a c lSSon SUNK W
bd rock out OF which YOU pump the water til
ih' gravel Is uncovered. j. was Common talk
IL Nl"d"i.ln that the Senior had cleaned M $50
70 ne cubic yard The average of the famous
iuDa beds in california was 90 cents Bui me
,-or-e'ho" bend being The deepest stretch OF
The river and Jam fun Of big boulders, rerdneos
cnld only touch II in n OTIS. Incidentally Linn
and Cunningham learned that not a square
yard NJ soil from NCdclin TO the NeChi. above
orbeIow loW-water mark was without an owner.
Our only chance. said Linn, seems TO be
70 get at the bed Of the river for some Of these
iatlhrr' on shares, and proposed a prospecting
Cunningham cousau'e d, though he begged Linn
!oren'enher that he wasn't blowing in IN, capiI
= W.T. any NtQ-gNO>e tIAStS. NfN iulloNtu
we river IA miles down stream. Till they
elTuck The lNclyc-iuI,e horseshoe bend, where
upon I'm. Immediately showed signs Of stru.-
Rlig with an idea They canned there for "A
fortnight, while Linn wandered up and down
the country and pokod In the bed Of The stream
eIG Interviewed natives. and Cunningham sat
uIqrI ne shade Of Trees and reprnaChed HIM
NSIh his Ias' Hte A. the end Of the two weeks
Lam gave the word 10 break camp.
~, WHAT'S your game asked Cunningham.
tnNe irritable
That iwelvc-mile loon said Linn, has been
hs,fl ~ bag for gold ~alluviur m for the rast ten
centuries. Lay bare H. bed and hoist out your
uH poliderS and II ought TO clear up several
Cunningham hrcathed through his nose.
Yes, know. he ~aid. but this chan SOPHIA
~ Deem trying 10 lay bare the bed Of the thing
~ me laN' forty years How are you going
l.rr"1pon Linn eypounded his idea, which
. From the upper point Of that horseshoe
.iaSII lre Inns idea was 10 connect these
- f"lh'S by a canal, drain the river straight
I'"l ana Ieave the whole twelve miles OF the
100, Dry r. a bone
Nh"i unrlngham got the scheme well into
tna~terfuIIy
rr.B ny heavens" he said, I'll clean the twelve
here's a preliminary or two Linn sug-
81 \ i"ai with SOulra, for a starter and
az Az. $4,000 mora rHn'iAl'
DIV such TITLES did not worry Cunning
,t"mn,, lh'' merely offered a chance for his