The Kenna record. (Kenna, Roosevelt County, N.M.) 190?-1924, 1921-02-04


for you. you old wampus cat. Tell
Don Juan to steer you over TO the
Globo de ORC. He knows the place
I've got to 60 and hire a mule or
some other quadruped for Don Juan
II we're to avoid late start in the
morning. Good night, old fellow"
They were up at daybreah, and
with three heavily laden pack mules
in charge OF two semi-naked mozoBy
while the cook logged comfortably
along on his big 'splay feet In the rear,
they set out for Billy's concession.
For 80 miles they followed the high-
way and then debouched to the south
west along a neglected road just wide
enough to accommodate the clumsy
OK carts Of the poems. The country
was sparseIy settled and evidently giv-
en- over to stock raising.
Darkness had descended on the val
ley by the time they had pitched camp
at the claim. They were up at
dawn the following morning, however,
and Immediately after breakfast Jack
Webster went to his duffle bag and
brought forth a dozen little canvas
sacks and prospector's hammer.
"Now then, william, my SON." he an
nounced, Eight the lantern and Wen
see II you've forgotten all taught
you about mining"
They clambered up the dump to a
point where two light steel rails pro-
jected over the edge. On top Of the
dump, lying beside the rails, we're two
small, rusty, steel ore cars; the rails
led from the edge OF the dump to the
mouth of a tunnel In the hillside and
disappeared therein.
Webster stood a moment, locking
around him. "How did you happen to
locate this ledger he demanded.
"Was It grass root stun, with an out
cropping here at the foot Of the hill3
No, Of course, 1t wasn't You haven't
enough ore on the dump. What the
devil we're you driving atT
"Only a small portion Of that dump
is mine, Jack, and / didn't locate the
ground originally. / came into this
valley from the south, and as 1 worked
up the range, / found a bald spot
closeeto the top Of the hill, and a gal
lows frame over an abandoned shaft.
Naturally, l went down the shaft to
see why 1t, had been abandoned. To
my surprise, l found a 12-foot vein
Of free-milling ore, on a contact be-
tween andesIte and SllurIan limestone.
The ledge stood straight up and down,
which seemed to argue great depth"
Somebody had found an outcrop-
ping on top Of that HILL" Webster de-
clared with conviction, 'and sunk a
shaft on the vein to open It up and de-
termlne its width and direction. And
what did you do, Bnl7v
II got my transit and ran a line
from the shaft on the hill, following
the direction In which the ledge was
running, and marked out the exact
point toward the base Of the hill where
would start my tunnel to cut the
ledge. To my surprise, / discovered
my predecessor had selected that
identical spot. So ! verified my cal
culations and then sat down to think
It over. / remembered that frequent
and violent earthquakes occur In this
country, and 1t seemed to me a rea-
sonable hypothesis to blame some an-
Client and particularly violent seismic
disturbance, which had faulted the
vein and set 1t over a considerable
. distance. According to my calculo-
ton, that other man should have cut
the vein at SO feet-yet he had gone
: on 1O2 before quitting. SO / got half
dozen poems and drove ahead 10
feet on the other fellows tunnel and
: by Heck. Johnny. I cut the veinw
"Bully boy And thenT
: II drifted ten feet on the vein, and
4 the ore suddenly gave out. It stopped
0 just like that, proving I'd come to
D the upper end of the vein where It
r had faulted; so Just worked up and
! around, stOpelng and sinking a winze
: here and there, until just about the
time my cash reserve was getting pref
{ ty low picked up the true vein and
( opened It up for the full width. Come
e In, and I'll show you"
; They entered the tunnel. 20 the sig
nal dismay Of dozens Of large bats.
When they reached the vein, Webster
broke on samples Of The ore every
three or four feet, crawled after Billy
a up through the stope and back to the
Q true vein, from the face Of which he
' also took numerous samples; then be
4 crawled out into the sunshine again.
!. hot, dirty. and persDiring.
!. BILLY, yOu'l be a real miner yet
/. see II you won't" was all the praise
i he rendered his youthful partner
! standing beside him In anticipation Of
a compliment, as Webster got out hia
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