The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-03
A CLEVER PIECE OF NINE sAIT1xo
How Two Old TuoIunne Mlns..
Worked a Couple of Boston NJ.

How Two old TuOlumne Nina.
Worked Couple of Boston Men
Every now and then / see an a-.io,.
in the papers or magazines about s-.,,,.
god Mines" said the ex-California ,..,.s
They are mostly the regulation old sto.
ries about loading shot guns with sl,
dust and blazing away into the face n.
the drift; or squirting god solution Mn
the experts sample sacks by msans A..
hyperdermic syringe. Occasions.iv III.
story is varied by doctoring the .yips
in the assay office, or having the villain
spit tobacco juice casually carrying 81.
luton of gold into the crucib.e while The
expert is looking for button, Just as +.
in a moment of forgetfu,ness he nistook
it for a spittoon. The stories may aruss
the tenderfoot, but they are such chest.
nuts to the mining fraternity that tbev
groan in spirit every time they see them
in print. The expert who would be caught
by any of those antique pays Ought to
be chaperoned. Why, he wouidnt bs
hired as a mucker in a respectable 90
pher hole if he didn't know more than
that In early days sailing was often re.
sorted to by unplincip.ed fellows who
wanted to turn loose a worthless promo
sltion on somebody, but those days are
mostly of the past, not that Mining NOR
ais are better now, but experts are wiser
THE c.everest piece of sailing work
ever knew of, and which I've never seen
in print, occurred out in Tou.umne (which
by the way is pronounced as if you said
to woller me.D Some years ago two
Old miners worked couple of young fel-
lows from Boston and their expert to the
tune of $1,000 and moved promptly to
other diggings.
1t was the first and only time I ever
heard of this particular scheme being
applied and 1 think they deserve the
credit of originality.
They had sunk on a ledge that showed
up about twelve feet from hansilg to
foot wall. 1t was pretty quartz, but as
barren as a brick bat, except a color
here and there. They were just on the
eve of abandoning it when luck turned
their way. Two young fellows from Bos-
ton were out lookins fer a good free
milling proposition and viii ing to pay
well for somethit that suited them
The old miners got wind of the news
and looked 'em up. 1t was arranged that
they visit the camp next day a-d were
to bring their expert and keeper with
them. That night the miners opened the
last box of dynamite they had in camp
and with sharp instrument punched a
hole in the end of every It ok Of powder
and poured in bit of gold dust they had
got for the purpose. Sailing the st cks
carefully again they put tIem back in the
box and replaced the top as if It had
never been opened. Next day brought
the expert.
INSPECTING the ledge he was favora-
bly, impressed by its size and appearance,
and the formation. Not wanting to SAM
pie any ore that might have been tam
pered with either on the dump or in the
exposed surface of the ledge, he decided
to drift in here and there, and get the
virgin stuff that couldn't possibly have
been sailed. To do this he needed pow
der. The miners had a fresh box to Of
fer Unsuspecting, the expert accepted IT,
as the box had apparently never been
opened. Then the miners turned over the
camp to their visitors for two days and
went to town as an evidence of their per-
feet good faith. The expert and keeper
drilled and shot until they got in where
they knew the ore was free from out
side influences. Then they sampled ana
made assays. The buttons showed 81
ton on an average.
A twelve foot. ledge Of that value was
a bonanza and no mistake. The lorna
tion indicated permahehce II was p''
proposition from grass sods-a big pur'
chase
After a day of negotiations in town II
was arranged that ten thousand be pald
down in cash, the balance of fifteen
thousand to be paid in twelve months
Both sides were satisfied and all hands
had dinner at the hotel The early stage
next morni~g carried the two miners 10
Sonora In much less than twelve months
the expert fourd out that with every shot
of that dynamite he had sailed his ore
and the second payment of fifteen thou
sand was never demanded"