Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1914-02-10
MOUNTAIN EPISODE
Another Case of "Good Luck to
the Fellow With
Nerve"
BY ERNEST MeeAFFEY.

NNNH anu UANah ONAAAhDH VI NhN WV
RADIO canyon. Rocks, timber and lone
illness had been his portion for two
ears. and he was beginning to fee
Testive He had taken the chance OF
CCming west as a relief from the
drudge of Office work in New York
and now. after two years with the
Midas Gold Mining company, he had
begun to sigh for Broadway and the
"skyscrapers" again, the whirl of life
in the streets. the sight Of laughing
faces and well-dressed men and wo-
men. the dash and go of the great
city Of his boyhood.
He wondered what Margaret Floyd
was thinking of that bright Septem-
Der morning He had been a mere
clerk in the New York house, but his
irreproachable ancestry, founded on
the exploits of a thriving fur trader
and trapper, had given him entree
even into the charmed circle where
the F1oyd's moved, and be had danced
and fiirted and sighed with many a
damsel whose furthest thought was
beyond and above the idea of taking
seriously any attentions of Bud
Faraday, as his intimates called him.
But as he was young, good-looking,
something of a musician, and gifted
with an abundance of that quality
known as nerve" he made his way
well wherever he went. Ambitious
enough to know that negotiating in a
downtown Office was a slow mode OF
preferment, he had eagerly accepted
the opportunity of striking out for
the mountains and "roughing it," with
the high thoughts of youth to build for
him the Alnaschar visions of hope.
He had gone without a word to
Miss Floyd, and without even note
TO tell her of his destination. He
would stand pat" he said to himself
and not bore anyone about his new
venture. Sympathy he did not want,
but only a chance to rise.
And this morning. with the magniti-
cent towering vastness of the Rockies
piercing the clouds, with the rare air
of that great elevation filling his
lungs, he had for a moment rather
yearned for what was not to be, for
the old languid life of the streets and
drawing rooms. But the mood passed
as quickly as 1t had come, and Fara-
day stretched his athletic figure and
hurried his preparations for break
fast.
The Midas Mining company oper-
ated the gold field by means of water.
Hydraulic mining was the technical |
term. Huge hose which sent out a |
stream of water with terrific force |
washed down the gold-bearing side
bills into sluices, where the gold sepa-
rated from the earth and rocks by rea-
son of its specific gravity, and was
caught in rifles or partial obstruc-
tions placed in the sluices. The power
of one of these engines of liquid might
was simply tremendous. After the
timber had been cut away and re-
moved from a slope or hillside the
great tubes would be turned on to
the earth and rocks, and mountains
would melt away like snow before the
sun.
no NAeAhNo Nho Aut uhlut the
miners had for the two most formida-
BILE streams. These would sluice away
the hillsides like a woman cutting
bread, and roar like the thunder
which beloved up and down the path
of such a volume of water. At 20
feet away it would cut a man in two
like a piece of cheese. At 100 feet
distance it would crush him into a
Jelly. At 200 feet 1t would toss him
against the ground, bruised and un-
conscious done to death most likely, |
and If escaping death, favored almost |
as h miracle. The entire outfit of
the NJ. as Gold Mining company had |
a most wholesome respect for the
"Giants
A shout from big Harry" greeted |
Faraday as he emerged from the cabin |
and started for the office
when are the bosses coming?" was
his cry.
what bosses?" queried Faraday.
why, the eastern bunch" was Big
Harry's" response.
Il hadn't heard of anything" said
Faraday.
We'll" said Harry, the foreman's
got letter for you" At the Office the
letter was handed Faraday, and, open
ing II, he learned that II. b. Floyd. the
president of the company. and some of
the other officers of the company were
coming to Colorado at once TO look
over the mine. He was glad OF 1t, as
,ae mine was prospecting. and his own
work was well ahead in every respect.
He had superintendent the cutting OF
large quantities of timber for new
sluices, and cleared away much land
for new sluicing, had worked early
and late, and was prepared to show a
good balance sheet II was like old
Floyd to get up and chase out at a
minutes notice.
The next day the party arrived. and
10 Faraday's intense establishment
Margaret Floyd was one OF them. She