Courier Democrat., 1916-09-21

full Of shipping. -Four hundred
ships" said they. land hardly dozen
men aboard the lot, All gone to the
mines. .,nn one man. Snatchnw a
long narrow buci'Skin bag from his
pocket. shook out OF its mouth to the
palm of his hand Il tiny cascade of
glittering yellow particles-the dust!
We showed and pushed. crowding
around him to see this marvellous sight.
He laughed in Il sort of excited tri-
unph aud tossed the stuff into the air.
The breeze caught it and scattered 1t
wide. y number Of the little glitter
ing particle; vlung 10 MY rough coat,
where th@l flashed like spangles.
PLENTY moro where that came
from." cried the man and turned away
with a reckless laugh
Filled with the wine of this new ey-
element, wc finally succeeded in get
ting ashore in one Of the ships boats.
We landed on Il fiat beach of deep
black sand. 1t was strewn from one
end to the other by the most extraor-
binary Wrecka"c. There were levers.
cogwhecls. crankS, fans, twisted bar
and angle iron in all stages of rust and
disintc@ration. Some of these machines
were half buried in the sand. Others
were tidily laid up on stones as though
just landed. They were of copper,
iron. zinc, brass, tin. wood We rec
ogniZcd the genus at Il glance. They
were, one and all, patent labor saving
gold washing machines, of which we
had seen 50 many samples aboard ship
AT this sight vanished the last remains
OF the envy | had ever felt for the
owners Of similar contraptions
We looked about for some sort of
conveyance into which to dump our
belongings. Apparently none existed.
Therefore we piled most of our effects
neatly above hiah tide, shoullercd our
bundles and started off up the single
street
The street was. think, the worst l
have ever seen anywhere. 1t was a
morass of mud-sticlly, greasy mud
of some consistency, but full of water
holes and rivulcts. 1t looked ten feet
deep, and should certainly have ven
tured out on 1t With misgivings. And
Yet, anonymously enough, the surface
ridges Of it had dried and We're lifting
into the air in the form of dust This
was of course my first experience with
that common California phenomenon,
and | was greatly astonished
An attempt had been made to supply
footing for pedestrians. Bags of sand
had been thrown down, some rocks, a
very few boxes and boards. Then our
feet struck something soft and Weld
ing, and we found we We're walking
over hundred pound sacks of flour
marked rs from Chile. There must
have been many hundred of them. \
man going in the opposite direction
sidled past us.
Cheaper than lumber" said he brief
ly, seeing our astoniShment.
''rd hate to ask the price Of lumber"
remarked one Of our ships compan-
ions, With whom and a number of 9th
ers we were penetrating the town
We walked on flour for Il hundred
feet or so and then came to cook
heavy iron cook stoves had been laid
side by side to form causeway.
Their weight combined with the traf-
fic over them had gradually pressed
them down into the mud until their
tops We're nearly level with the sur
face. Naturally the first merry and
drunken joker had SHE'D the lids into
space. The pedestrians had now Ell
thcr to step in and out of fire boxes or
try his skill on narrow lodges. Next
we came to double row of boxes Of
tobacco, then to some baled goods and
50 off on to solid ground
When we had gained the dry ground
down our burdens for Il rest.
"I'll give you $40 for those pineap-
pies" offered a passerby, stopping
short.
Our companion quickly closed the
bargain.
What do YOU think of that he de-
manded Of us wide eyed and i'll the
hearing of the purchaser.
The latter grinncd Il little and hailed
a man across the street.
Charley" he yelled. come over
herer'
The individual addressed offered
some demur, but finally picked his
way across to us.
How do you like these:" demanded
the pineapple purchaser. showing his
fruit.
"Jerusalem!' cried Charley admir-
ingly. "Where did you get them?
Want to sell 'em?'
Il want some myself, but III sell
you three of them
"How much?'
"Fiftecn dollars"
"Give 'em TO me"
The first purchaser grinned openly
at our companion.
The latter followed into the nearest
store to get bis share Of the dust
weighed out. His face wore a very
thoughtful expression.
We came shortly to the Plaza, since
called Portsmouth square. At that
t;ma II woe n wind SwnDt GRASS crown