The Parker post., 1911-07-01

foot of a rainbow, and making the
fairy tales of childhood come true.
To find the magic door, to say,
"Open Seasame" and to walk into
the treasure-cave and become it's
owner-this is the enthralling dream
that lures the gold-seekers into the
utmost parts of the earth.
Then, too, there is the semi-sav-
age freedom of the camps. There is
the rough spirit of fair play and dem
ocracy The special privileges, as
we'll as the comforts of cities, are
left behind, and life becomes sim
pie contest in which every man wins
what he can get and hold fast. This,
to strong primitive natures, is an
inducement that outweighs all the
risks.
There are many who lose, CT
course, as we'll as the few who gain.
But the search for gold is the game
in which the entrance fee is the low
est and the prizes are the highest. 1t
still opens the door of wealth to the
man whose only capital is his health
and energy.
Several years since, man in Ida
no was sentenced to be hanged for
murder A lawyer became interest
ed in the case, believed him innocent,
and secured his pardon. On his re-
lease the lawyer "grub-staked' him,
put him astride a burrO, said Good
luck, Jack" and sent him out into
the desert. Jack was an experienced
miner, and he went to the search de
termined to prove himself worthy of
this confidence. A year later the law
yer received a sack of gold. Soon
other sacks followed; and today both
he and the man he befriended are in
depenCently rich.
At about the same time that Jack
made his famous ride, there was
yours Californian who had been
dreaming golden dreams. He, too,
Oeiei ed that he could find the pot
OF gold at the foot of the rainbow,
and he set out in search OF it. One
evening, in the heart of the Nevada
desert, he came to spring and
camped for the night. Noticing that
one of the burros was straying too
far from the camp, he walked after
it. anG literally fell into one of the
ichest gold mines of the west. That
is Inc story of Jim Butler, of Tono-
pan.
There is no law in gold mining
but the point of the pick" said John
w. Mackay Any man, in any place,
may find his fortune Alexander Nc
Donald, the first millionaire of the
Yukon Valley, had blundered up and
down the gold fields of the north
west for half a lifetime without sue
cess. Then he was fooled into buy
ing a deserted claim that was be-
lieved to be worthless, and in one
day dug up twenty thousand dollars
as the beginning of his fortune.
In Australia, the land of nuggets,
discouraged prospector was tramp
ing behind a pedlar's cart. A wheel Of
the cart bumped heavily against a
boulder, and even the dull eye of the
tired miner caught the shine of gold
in the spot where the wheel had
struck He stopped down to look
more carefully, and Immediately
sprang up with a shout of delirious
joy He had become the owner of
nearly fifty thousand dollars.
The story of each ''lucky strike, :"
as it is told around the camp fire
has almost invariably a setting that
is whimsical or romantic. There is
the old tale of Dan Hill, who wander
ed out of a California poor house in
1866, stubbed his toe against coup
lie of nuggets, sold them for twenty
six thousand dollars, squandered the
money in a few weeks of revelry,
and then wandered back to the poor
house. There is the story of the
Granite Mountain mine, in Montana
how it was such a sink-hole for
capital that the owners telegraphed
the superintendent to abandon it and
begin elseWhere-how he ignored the
order, dug deeper, and found mill
ions
"Gold is Where You Find it,"
The largest of the California mug
gets was dug up by the merest
chance. Two registering miners, so
it happened, were caught in sudden
flood. One was swept off his feet
and drowned The other reached a
place of safety and next morning pro
ceeded to dig a shallow grave for his
dead cOmrade. Several inches below
the surface his pick struck against