Arizona republican., 1902-04-11

morning I gathered together a few | twigs. lit a fire fried some bacon and eggs (stale, tool, made some coffee and feasted like king. My stock then went up to par. After that it was a
 daily occurrence for me to cook one
 neal, and in a little while longer l was cooking two and three meals day.
 The bones in my leg knit, but the ends were not properly together, which
 necessitated the breaking over of one
 of the places when I was finally taken
 to the hospital. After about six weeks
 the little stream that was running by
 my camp began to lessen it's flow ma
 terially and was source of worry for
 me from that time on. The condition
 I was in I could never move camp and
 if it went dry it meant I was to perish
 the same many a poor prospector
 has on the desert. But. thanks to
 Providence. there was still a small
 drbble left when I was rescued.
 One day was a good deal like another "a terrible loneliness filled me. l was
 afraid all the time I would go mad. 1
 had three old newspapers and copy
 of Monte Cristo. l kept reading those
 over in turn til! I could almost repeat
 them word for word. advertisements
 and all.
 On September 10 I had crawled off
 about fifty yards from my camp to try
 and get a little firewood. I was des-
 perate that morning. Death stared me
 in the face. Yet life had never seemed
 more beautiful. It about o'clock
 and the sky was as clear as a bell. The
 stiffness was something awful, when all at once I could distinctly hear
 horses hoofs beating the turf not more | a rr1i1a
 stopped beating for an instant. and l
 trembled from head to foot. Then O,
 a sudden my heart started in with
 Sledgehammer blows. I could feel my
 blood pulsating in every vein in my
 body. The sound came nearer, nearer,
 nearer. Then 1 heard voices, but could not see any one. Had I gone mada
 Was it true my reason was leaving me?
 It was terrible to speculate thus, for even those few brief moments. But they were dispelled in an instant,
 when around point of projecting rocks, not over one hundred yards
 away. rode two horsemen.
 When 1 saw them my strength gave way. l thought I was going to faint and that they would pass me by. I tried to call out, but for the moment
 could not utter a sound. Nearer and nearer they came. ney ndQ seen me
 I could tell by their actions. They had
 also changed their course directly to- , ward me. l was frantically gesticulat-
 ing and finally made out to say some
 thing. l could see a look of wonder and pity on their faces. Then like a flash of light I recognized my old
 friend and schoolmate, Amos Wright We had left home together in '61; went
 through the war together and in '66 had
 come to Colorado together, but had nol < seen one another for four years. ut tered one word. Almost" and he in z turn said "Jack!'' In an instant he
 was off his horse and al my side and = supporting me with those strong arms = of his. I admit I showed a weakness I shed tears of joy. In fact I cried just = like a baby. I never expect to be as | happy again as 1 was at that time. = l knew Amos of old. I knew he would die rather than leave me alone again :, What a comfort it was, Amos spoke = first. For Gods sake, Jack. what has = happened?" Then I collected myself z and told him all. He went to his sad [ dlebags and brought back some ham | and egg sandwiches and a bottle of I whiskey. I ate while we talked, for I = was hungry. My stock of provisions
 was exceedingly low.
 I, He picked me up bodily and carried s me to camp. Then he dispatched his .. partner for help to Canyon City. thirty r miles away. At F o'clock that night 1 he returned with four more COW punch - ers stretcher and some provisions. At 2 sun-up next morning We started. It = was necessary to pack me twenty miles t of the distance. but by night I was de- I posted in hotel in Canyon City.
 For ten years after this Jack Ferris c was a familiar figure on the streets of f Canyon City and Salida, and he told e many people of his adventures and of = what would one day be a great gold q camp. But how great he never even dreamed in his flightiest visions. In : the year 'S1 he drifted over the main l. range along with the D. & R. G. rail- d road that built over that spring. Dur Q ing the summer of go Jack was laid to {. rest in lonely grave on a mountain @ side at a little town called Sargent. n twenty miles west of the continental n divide on the D. & R. G. railroad When
 his fatal illness came on he was organ l iZing prospecting expedition to go n into the Cripple Creek country. There = was little excitement there that sum- V mer a''' good mines staked out ., the next year.
 e Amos Wright is still alive and quite 1t prominent in mining circles in Cripple IT Creek, being among the early locators ?. in the spring of 1891.
 y The famous Independence mine, It which was sold some time ago to an l. English syndicate for $1O0O0, 900, was t located on July 4th. 1891. by w. $. e Stratton, and it gets it's name from If the day on which it was located The y Portland mine. an adjoining property If was located little later and was l. named after the birthplace of two of l. It's locators-Portland, Maine. The l. Fortland mine is stocked at 5000 O0C 1 shares and sells on the market at S3 4C It per share making 1t worth over the e- ten million mark The Strong mine It another adjoining property, was named T. aIter Its locators, the Strong brothers Is ne Granite mine was among the first e round in granite formation, most of