The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1907-12-25
CALIFORNIA LEGENDS.
Weird and Thrilling Tales of the
0Iden Days.
A MINE THAT WAS HAUNTED.

The Ghost of Tom Bowers, an Elusive,
Luminous Warning and a Race b.
tween Life and Death-The Building
of Lofty Mount Shasta.
A haunted house in the family sends
delicious shiyers down the spinal core
of the ancestral tree, but ever more
delightfully."- spooky Is the possession
Of a haunted mine, and such u boast
California can make on the authority
of early legend.
Once upon n time in the days Of old
and the days of gold q miner OF the
name Of Thomas Bowers lived and
delyed in the vicinity Of Pike City.
A shy, silent man was Thomas, doing
his prospecting without n partner and
even holding aloof from the jolly com
pany of the other miners after the
days work was done. And in the
same shy, silent way that he had lived
he died-nolSeleSs footsteps across the
snow to the brink OF the slope where
he had been prospecting md at the
foot Of a landslide his speechless body
alone in death.
After his remains were buried de-
Gently and In order there were excited
whispers about strange noises at the
mouth Of the old shaft, and soon, quite
incidentally, OF course, the mine was
abandoned.
The greed of gold, however, taps i'm
patiently at closed doors, inc after
some little time n thriftlcss miner hop
Ing for a short Gu to wealth undertook
to work the old mine again and sud
denly surprised his creditors by pay
ing his bills. But things flowed not so
smoothly as they seemed. There was
many a Slip of nerve between nugget
and pick. Every morning the miner
found that his sluicc had been tampcr-
ed with, that during the night the wa
ter had been turned on by unknown
hands. Yet the most diligcnt search
led to no discovery, and as a last hope
Of untangling the clammy mystery the
miner II evening in~augurated a
watch, well armed with a rifle.
The shadows deepened into dark
ness, into an absolute %blackneSs. Sud
denly while accommodating q phospho-
resent light attracted his attention,
and as he boldly advanced toward 1t
he discovered Il placard hung from q
tree-a sort of spectral transparency, it
seems-bearing the following words:
"Notice! l, Thomas Bowers, claim this
ground for placer mining"
When the readers mind had rccov-
cred from it's earthquake of astonish-
ment the miner made q snatch at the
placard. a pricking thrill went through
his fingers, as though they had taken
liberties with an electric battery. The
luminous writing was gone, but in his
ears roared the flowing water of the
sluice and through the roar the sharp,
clear cut tap, tap, of Il pick. Again the
fash of warning highland before him
stood Tom Bowers.
The California miner is no coward.
The rife was lifted, fired. With n yell
of rage the ghost, brandishing pick
and shovel in excited arms, pursued
the t~rcspasSer.
4 race between life and death in n
new sense was the one that followed
all the way to Pike City. There the
other miners, celebrating q new find
by n dance in q saloon, were suddenly
alarmed by terrified screams. Running
out, they found neither man nor ghost.
but tossed upon the ground a rife and
a pick and Il shovel with the initials
T. B. cut IN the handle.