The Indianapolis journal., 1904-02-14
TUMbLES DOWN SHAFT
AND FINDS GOLD MINE
John B. Delanes, in the Midst OF
Darkness and Despair, Finds
Rich Ore.
WILL OPERATE THE MINE

OGDEN CITY. Utah. Feb 1S.-One of the
queerest mining stories of recent years
comes from Scofeld. Carbon county. 1t is
vouched for by John 3. Delanes and a
dozen friends, to whom he proved the truth
of his remarkable discovery.
Carbon county is not thought attractive
by prospectors in search of gold. The
Wasatch range of mountains that runs
through the county is a storehouse of min
eral. but mostly coal. The coal mines of
Carbon county have produced fuel for many
years. Up to a few years ago the Union
Pacific Railroad operated some of the heav-
lest coal mines in the county. But the Rio
Grande system entered the coal country
and for some reason the Hartman people
quit the coal business in that part of the
State. The mines that formerly employed
thousands of men were closed and the
shafts were abandoned.
Delanes fell into one of the abandoned
shafts. When he stopped falling he had
rolled and tumbled down an incline shaft
for more than 400 feet He was bruised
and his clothing was torn to shreds.
AS he could not go up where he desired
to go, Delanes went down still further.
He found that he had afghted on a sta
tlon," or level where the miners formerly
worked He jumped off into The darkness
and alighted g few feet below on his feet.
Lighting a match he found that he had
struck one of the lower levels of the mine
and that narrow tunnel branched off at
this point.
Delanes had a good supply of matches
in his pockel. Occasionally lighting one,
but tor the most part feeling his way
cautiously, ha worked along the tunnel for
abruptly, and by the flicker of a match
Delanes saw that he was in another sta
tion." He saw an old miners candle stick
ing in the wall, and, igniting this, sat down
and surveyed his surroundings.
Il thought it was to be my tomb he
declared afterward "and so l sized IL up
carefully. There wasn't much to see-just
lot of black rock and an old pick. Just
for fun, but with no idea of digging my way
out, L grabbed that pick and hit the side
of the rocky wall. A lot of the rock came
away and l made another stab at Ii. This
time L found the rock distinctly harder.
This interested me in a vague way, so
tackled the rock again, striking the pick
into ii as hard as / could. / had got some
of the formation loose, when 1T occurred
TO me to examine the stuff and see how II
differed from the coal formation. So
brought bits of the rock to the candle
| flame.
FLOUR GOLD GLITTERING.
1.-THE rock that loosened with the sole
| was decomposed granite, with flour gold
| glittering in it. OF course, 1 thought it was
iron at first. but it did not take me many
| minutes to prove that it was real metal.
Il was excited over my find that 1 for
| got that l was a prisoner in an abandoned
| coal mine under ground. 1 looked at that
| glittering quartz and for a long time could
not see anything else or think of anything
| else. All knew was that / had found gold
| Right then and there l did jig turn thai
| hadn't tried for ten years. In my ex.
| element / upset the candle and it went out
| Then realized for the first time that al
| the gold In the world could not do me any
good down there in that black hole
| Il know how it must feel for man to &c
| crazy. From the heights of joy, with Wis
| ions of wealth. 1 was dashed to the depths
| of despair. There 1 was, within reaching
| distance of gold mine, and yet walled VI
| in tomb.
| After a while L began TO recover my
| senses. relit the candle. Then l sat dowT
| on a pile of quartz and tried to think
| thought of my wife and babies waiting a.
home and wondering why L didn't come Il
| supper.
Il got up and put the candle around OF
| all sides, but so far as l could see ther,
was no escape. Then, just as / was abou
| TO resign myself to despair. I noticed tw,
| out a little from the black rock. The ridge.
| were black, too, but they looked queer, anC
| felt of them. The ridges were wood, anC
| formed part of an old ladder. With tn,
| scant light / had and the black coverin,
| the ladder had escaped me before.
| II found that some of the rungs wer
| still left on the ladder and 1 started t.
| climb. The hardest work was getting
start. / knocked down some more rocl
| and stood on this until 1 could catch hole
| of the lowest rung of the ladder and swim,
| myself up. About two out of every thre,
| crosspieces on that old ladder had rotte,
| off and the others were not any too secure
| But l stuck 10 1t and climbed up slowly
| fearful all the time of a fall. Toward tn,
| top the ladder was in a better condition
and the last 100 feet to daylight were easy
Next day l went down the shaft in
| slightly different manner. / had anothe
| man with me, and we proSpected the bot
I tom OF the shaft and the end of the tunnel
We found that there was a ledge of quarts
| about six feet wide. The samples we tool
| out were assayed and ran about $50 to tn
ton"
| That is the story as related by Delanes
| He is preparing to obtain legal title to hi
| mine, provided the owners of the coal min
| do not succeed in establishing prior right
| DelaneS and those who backing hin
| will assert that the coal mine had not beer
protected property; that it had not beer
| worked for years. and that the owners ha,
| therefore abandoned their legal right [,
any other mineral that might be fount
there. 1t will be an interesting and re
| m2rkabie case if il gets into the courts.
-A