Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1906-08-08

W Old prospectors of nv &C
quaIntance, have long taken pleasure
IN relating a ludicrous and vet seri-
Gus adventure that befell them while
WASHING for gold along the coast of
sonora, in Mexico, some years age.
With the aid Of two natives they were
WORKING over a gravel bar in a small
stream with Indifferent success. Be
low MS bar, over which the creek
water rlppled in thin streams, there
was a deep pool that shoaled off on
one side to a sandy beach and on the
other into a dense "tule" marsh,
where great lily-pads were also par
of the semi-tropical vegetation.
Penny, one of the miners, a big
Yankee of humorous bent of mind and
with a keen eye for original methods
OF getting on in the world, had con-
celved the idea that in this pool
below the bar there must be coarse
gold washed from the stretches above,
where they already had found color"
He had so impressed his partner
with this idea that they had tried to
drain the pool. When that met with
little success, they attempted to use
a crude dredge which had shown Just
enough of the rich sand to confirm
Penny's belief, without being practi-
cable. The bedrock of the creek
wherever they struck it made the
men believe that the ~twenty-foot pool
was a golden pocket. They were will
ing to undertake the expense of drain
ing the hole thoroughly if their opin-
ion was confirmed.
When Penny came back from his
"glubstake" trip to Guaymas, he
brought a strange outfit, the like of
which Morse, the old Californian, had
never seer before.
: whats that awful thing?" he ask
ed the smiling Penny.
"That?" said the Yankee. "That's
a diving suit, 1t cost 5000 dollars,
and dead cheap at the price. Some
chaps who had been trying pearl fish
ang in the lower gulf were stranded,
and were trying to sell the suit and
a pump In a junk shop. I had a bril-
liant idea, and gobbled it up quick:
I'm going to explore the hole!"
Morse was used to his genial part
ners whims, but this was startling.
The plainsman declared that the sea
crltter' got on his nerves. 1t was a
.frightful looking monster, with Penny
nside-a rather Anticipated affair of
it's Eind, with copper helmet and
plates, rubber dress, and two great,
staring eyes.
II The buckles, brass studs and screws
Ted Morse to liken it to an immense
horned toad; and the two natives,
% hen they saw Penny in it for the
first. time, we're frightened, and be-
came loud in predictions of evil from
its use. Morse, too, had misgivings
about it's safety.
The first time that Penny went
down, with Morse and the natives
attending to the pump and lifeline
from the boat, the weights were i'll
adjusted, and he landed on his head
in the mud. 1t was only after frantic
signals and much exertion that he
was ~extricated. The next time the
valves were loose, and Penny nearly
~strangled; the third time, in pulling
aim out, the Sonorenos capsized the
boat, and Penny again all but lost his
life. ..~-
Morse begged him to desist, but
Penny, who was now learning how to
keep his feet in the current at the
bottom, would not consent. The four
men constructed a rude dam and
platform above the pool to divert the
swift, shallow stream, and to afford
a vantage ground from which to at
tend to the diving apparatus from
above. On this plank bulkhead Morse
and the natives worked the pump,
while Penny explored the sands of
the hole. This bulWark cost infinite
labor, but after some weeks the Yam.
kee prospector-diver began to bring
out coarse gold from the gravel
strata below. The pocket was rich,
and the men determined either to
drain the pool III some manner so
that it could be worked, Or else i'm
port a dredge and scoop out the gold
en- sands.
Meanwhile Penny explored the en-
amber depths, while Morse, and An.
dreas M~icheltorena, dubbed Mike
by the Americans, lazily attended to
the pump and hauled up the baskets
of rich slime, sand and mud to be
washed. The other pecn was busted
about the camp a hundred yards away
on the rocky bank.
One warm afternoon Penny was be
low on his short shifts-for it tco}
him long to become accustomed t.