The Lafayette advertiser. [volume] (Vermilionville [i.e. Lafayette], La.) 1865-19??, 1909-07-30

| .Gak over the files of the q Fran
| cisco papers during the latter part of
1869 and the spring of 20, some of the
most violent fluctuations that eve oc-
| Cured in the mining stock market
will be noticed. One and the same
narration tells the story of the death
of the unknown man found in the Saw
age stump and the rise and fall Of min
ing stock at the time mentioned. In
the fall of 90, a San Francisco stock
| Spectator was spending a few weeks
at Lake Tahoe, the summer resort in
the Sierra mountains, which lie partly
in Nevada and partly in California.
Wishing to be out of the way of the
world as much. as possible, he engaged
quarters at a little secluded place on
the Nevada side of the lake, known as
Comedian Bay. It was a cheap and
out-of-the way place. and not over a
dozen guests we're there at a time, but
the fishing was excellent and the sur.
%roundings pleasant. The tourists
name was William Meeker, and he had
lost a large fortune in the whirl Of
stock s~peculations on California street.
One morning, while fishing about q
mile from the hotel, he noticed that
his boat began slowly turning, and in
a few minutes described a complete
circle in the water. Some chips and
debris were collected about the boat
and they seemed to stay there. He
-..ll A. -,$,;D, 1a,aFlI, a-I
reached the conclusion that there was
some s~ubterranean outlet which
caused the eddy.
He was a man Of quick action, and
that night he carved the initials w.
M. on a piece Of pine, and next morn
ing rugged up a weight at the end Of
a line and, fastening the stick to the
weight, rowed out and lowered it into
the water where his boat had been az
fected by the currents. It went down
in about a hundred feet of water and
then something began bearing II
down. There was a succession. of tugs
and the line began spinning over the
edge of the boat with rapidly. increas-
ing speed. Then the line caught in the
boat and snapped with the strain. This
made it clear to him that the water
was surging through an outlet in the
lake bottom. That night he settled his
bill and started for San Francisco.
He took but one man into his conf
dence and that was Col. Clair, one Of
the heaviest and most INSCRIPTIONS
operators in the market and a member
of the biggest firm on the street. They
figured for more than q wick with
maps and surveys and reached the
conclusion that the water making it's
exit from the lake was finding its out
let in the lower levels Of the Com
stock mines.
They pored over statistical tables
showing how the lake had been, on an
average, at least n foot higher be-
fore the mines in Virginia City had el-
countered water in the lower levels,
and to them the mystery of the fall II
the water of the lake vas explained.
1t was decided to send a man INTO
the Savage, to watch for the piece CT
pine with Meeker's initials On. But
why trust it to q third party? Meeker
himself went to Virginia City, and, on
a letter of recommendation from Col.
Clair, was given work in the Savage,
and placed at the foot of the incline as
a station tender.
He had not been long at his post
when the little piece of wood with the
initials w. NJ. came up on the surface
of the waters of the stump and his
heart gave a great bound of joy. That
night he was flying to San Francisco
on a fast train, and mex morning vas
closeted with Col. Clair, the mining op-
orator and millionaire.
The plan these two men fixed on vas
-. A,,e-s. ovar conceivad IN tho an