The Washington herald., 1907-06-17
Rich STRIKE that FAILED
How It Happens Pennsylvania Ave
nue. Is Not Gold Mining Camp.
Reason Why Involves Rise and
Crash of the Dream of Hun
dred Italians.

Excitement similar 20 that Of a Western
mining camp prevailed in Pennsylvania
avenue on Saturday Italian workmen
raising the street car tracks thought that
they had discovered a real gold mine.
They held conferences among themselves,
did a lot Of planning, and figured out
just where they would stake out their
claims.
Scenes of the sunny South, and OF home.
and no more work were in the minds OF
the laborers Each one OF them could
see his finish. And II was grand Oh,
50 grand and great,
The little sons OF Italy are strong on
the search They are always looking for
something whereby they might profit
Scattered along the Avenue hundreds Of
them are at work for the street railway
company engaged in raising the tracks
10 meet the Improvements 10 the thor
oughfare To bring this task about 70
has been necessary TO do a great deal of
excavating. In fact the tracks on both
sides have been undermined.
Gold-anything that looks Ike gold-or
any substance that gltters naturally will
attract the attention Of an Italian, or any
one else for that matter For several
days the workmenS had been noticing
something that looked unusual They
got 20 talking about IT, Then some one
of the gang caused CONSERVATION by an
nouncing that the little particles were
gold-the real stUff-that the whole world
is after, longs for and which caused
most Of the trials, tribulations, and what
not Of the various communities fin almost
every nation on the face Of the globe
This announcement nearly cost every
one Of the little fellows his Job. All pre-
tended 10 work, but in reality those who
were in on the secret were on a hunt for
the shiny stuff. And they found f.
Pockets were filed with the dirt and the
supposed precious metal Dinner pals
baskets and everything else that would
not arouse the suspicious Of the bosses
and the people al large were brought into
use, and hundreds Of pounds carried away
Then at night the men-those who were
In on the great secret-would meet and
DO their figuring
II was essential that the discovery
the gang knew OF the find. Each worked
all day with the hope in his heart that at
sst the one fond wish had been granted
he would soon be rich and prepared TO re-
turn 10 the land OF his birth and live a
life OF ease with the others Of leisure
A mining expert was finally found He
was not taken into the secret No. in
deed. He was told that the gold came
from the fields Of Virginia. The expert
looked at the dust with his naked eve.
He laughed. The Italian thought he was
being guyed. He still thought the find
was real Thoughts of robbery flashed
through his mind. He figured Il out that
the expert was making fun Of the gold
to find out where the great claim was
located
Did the italian tell where the gold came
FROM No. he did not Did he even inti-
mate that Pennsylvania avenue, the pride
of Washington, had developed the great
est discovery in the worlds history? Did
he? Does an Italian ever tell secrets?
No; he never does. especially when he
has a fortune at stake, and In this partic-
ular case each and every one Of them
thought that all his working days were at
an end. Each Of them was planning. franz
ing the words in his mind to put to
the foreman when he handed in his
shovel, or rather, his resignation
The expert continued TO laugh Another
had been fooled by fools gold" He ex-
planned the situation 10 the little brown
man. Then the man with the pick began
to believe that perhaps he had been
fooled after all
Almost sOlemnly he went back to the
gang. He broke the news gently. The
Italians are still at work Thoughts Of
wealth still fash through their brains,
however. The f1ashy dirt is repulsive to
then, now