The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1900-12-04

wv He adventures Of the lone
VI prospector in our mountain
countries have been varied
and thrilling, and too few OF
them have been told. "Our prospec-
tor" as we call Hank Elmore, who
spends his winters at our Wyoming
horse-ranch, has met, in his camps and
trarnps, with a number of encounters,
which are we'll worth describing.
Perhaps I should explain that we
have 'grub-staked" Hank for a num-
Der OF years, and so share in the profits
of his finds, which have not yet much
more than paid expenses. They con-
sist of a minor silver lode in the Uin-
tah Mountains, and "topbed'' Of
fairly good coal within reach Of the
Union Pacific Railroad. But Hank
is young and learning the business,
and we have good hope Of his finds
in future.
It was when Hank was prospecting
In the Uintah Mountains that he met
with the curious adventure Of the boil
er. among those rough-and-tumble
mountains he was encamped, with a
pair Of blankets for his bed, skillet
coffee-pot and horse-hide grub-sack fol
his kitchen, when, in prospecting :
small but rapid stream, he stumbled
upon the site of an old Mormon saw
Mill. This had been burned, prob
ably by Indians, and all its machinery
broken or carried off, except huge,
old-fashioned, fiueless steam-boiler.
Nearly half-buried in debris, this rusty
but stout old structure had withstood
freAaDl storm anu lay intact, save
for aral small ls where pipe eoDa
Saa.s u ttSS&nt-cS s,sps-z1ad beer
brs5ken of.
Hank rejoiced in this discovery, fol
siie. boiler offered him shelter from
storms and from the frequent chilly
lights Of high altitude. The gasket
.as big as wash-tub, which fitted inso
the manhole, was Ilready thrust lalf-
way in, but was so rusted to jts plates
that it required an hour or two Of
picking, prying and punching to loosen
1t. When it finally dropped inside,
however, Hank crawled in, to find a
dry and warm room room which would
suit his purpose quite as well as a
house made to order.
The prospector made no delay in
fetching his camp effects and taking
possession Of this armored abode
When he had covered one end of the
boiler bottom with feathery boughs
of the pinon, he had an ideal campers
night bivouac. On cool nights be
closed the manhole, and on warm ones
left it open, and this big hole and the
Steam-pipe apertures at the other end
gave him excellent ventilation.
The site Of the mill was upon q
creek-fat with pine-corered mountains
crowding the valley, and the only signs
of civilization for miles around were
the burned and tumble-down relies of
mn abandoned Mormon settlement. The
mountains were lively with big game;
bears Of several varieties, lions" bob
eats and mountain-sheep were especial
ly abundant. Doubtless the bears and
big cats were accustomed to the smell
of iron, and the rusty boiler must have
been familiar sight to many of them
Thus came about Hanks perilous ad-
venture.
AS he lay sound asleep one warm
night in August, roach-backed silver
Stip came down to the boiler, and smell
&ag Hanks fragrant bacon, cut for
~ early morning meal, discovered the
0 N manhole, and made haste to tum-
bt inside.
I &mp-a-thump! bung-bang! he
drop. d some three feet upon the boil
er bottom. This clang and clatter
brought Hank to sitting posture with
eyes wide open. The conical room
was dark as pocket in mine, save
for faint twinkle of stars at the man
hole, which faced a cleft in the noun |
tains. A putting breath or two. gruff |
sniff-sniff sounded in the mans aston
$oASA SdLS' iAu lutL q utIh ODJcCl |
rose and blotted out the stars. Bob |
cat, lion" or what not, some beast
had certainly entered his domicile.
"Yee ough" yelled Hank, hoping to
scare the creature out He was an
swered by rasping "Whoofr' of sur
prise, and instantly understood the
character Of his visitor As quickly as
possible he scratched slow match,
md put freight between himself and
the dangerous prowler.
A snarl of surprise, mingled with
fright, greeted this action, and the
prospector found himself looking into
the savagely twinkling eyes of a good
sized grizzly. The bear crouched,
sinking back under the manhole and
his teeth. while he growled
fierce threats which made the boiler
resound.
Evidently the animal was afraid Of
the light, and was equally reluctant to
urn it's back in scrambling out. Hanks
match went out; ne struck another
hastily and at the same time shouted
at the bear.
And now bear and man wed with