Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-08-21
DESERT GOLD
A Story from the Mexican From

tier.
 An interesting story, the truth of which is vouched for by a reputable citizen, comes from a border town of Arizona and Mexico concerning the latest big gold find.
 Not very long ago a supposed honest young prospector drifted into town, with himself and his faithful ship of the desert appearing very much the worse for wear. Packed amongst his camping utensils were several sacks of ore, which he allowed everyone to see, but very few to handle, at the same time informing some of them that he was going to have it assayed for gold as soon as he could afford it. and also have it analysed for platinum, for he felt sure it contained the latter, IS 1t looked identical with some ore he had seen somewhere that contained that rare and expensive metal. Tn addition to these statements, he told a story of finding the skeleton of man and also a Durro, at a certain point. with weather worn outfit. He gave the ex- act details and description of the grue- some find and said all the bones were bleached white. At a certain point three miles from this was his great gold discovery. and by some chain of evidence proved that the skeleton pros pector was returning from this very find when he perished on the desert l from thirst and his secret was never unbesomed All these details, care fully and traightforwardly told in- terested a couple of saloon men, who decided to put up a little money to help the honest prospector out, feeling | at the same time great sympathy for his braving the harflships in securing the desert for gold.
 The first thing to do was to assay the samples for gold and platinum. The first return for the gold assay was indeed highly satisfactory for it ran up into the hundreds: afterwards came I high per cent of platinum. The lat ter at very high figure per ounce, added to the gold contents, made the rock of exceeding value. These re turns aroused great enthusiasm in the saloonkeepers, and each one swore the other to secrecy over the sharp edge of a broken beer bottle. The noble pros pector was given the best to eat and wear, and he was to take it easy and comfortable until we'll equipped out fit could be gotten together for all of them to travel to the rich find. These preparations continued for three weeks meantime the prospector was living on the fat of the land and was even handed a few dollars to gamble with so as to keep himself amused The fnanciers began to get uneasy to be off to the find that would enable them to turn up their noses at Morgan and Rockefeller. The prospector, however, was stieker on minute details. and he would not, start until they were abso- lutely complete. Eventually, after adding one thing at a time, there was no, further excuse for delay, and one morning by daylight the trio left with their train for the discovery that was to put the klondyke to shame
 After three days travel they reach ed, sure enough, the bleached bones Of the prospector and his burro, with his belongings scattered all around him. In addition there was also found some pieces of rock identical with that the prospector had brought to the border town. Finding no evi- dence to identify the remains, the three set to work and gave the bones decent burial, after which they came to the croppings so carefully and ex- actly described by the prospector 1t was near dark, but all of them kept chipping the rock and even cracked it by hrelght in hopes of discovering free gold, but 1t was one of those things where the gold was fine and did not show in the rock. Next day all the samples were taken that could De conveniently carried. a great many claims staked out and the return iour hey commenced. The trip was a auiet one, for the two residents of the bor. der town were ruminating in their own minds how they would outshine Bill Greene; they would have two or three private cars instead of one, and per- maps run down to Cananea and offer Grene a lump sum for all his layout. TOT they were on friendly terms with bul Greene and if they could help him out it would only please them to do so.
 The town was reached and next day an assortment of rock was picked out Tor assay. and the prospector carried It to the assayer. The result was even higher than ever. After discussion with friends, it was remarked as a singular thing that rock so high in value should not show a speck of gold. One fellow suggested banning some. This was done straight away, but not a color was shown. This aroused the suspicion or one or the partners, who took some of the rock for assay him. self. The returns were nil However. there was still particle of faith left, and after mutual consultation of the two financial packers, it was decided to take samples to other assayers and one lot over to an assayer on the Mex lcan side of the line. He was told what the rock contained, and to be very careful in his work. But during the conversation a peculiar fact was left out by the assayer--that he had on certain dates sold to a party. whose description absolutely tallied with that of the prospector. platinum wire from an old electrical apparatus, and a certain amount of gold, which after ward turned out to be the exact value as found in the rich rock.