Show THE HE prospector AND ITS HIS BURRO BURR f by will C higgins any tenderfoot may stumble upon a bonanza accidentally said the prospector to his burro but you can believe me when I 1 tell you that the search for ore deposits has become a science and that with few exceptions geological conditions govern when it comes to the existence of the precious and baser metals of course the general run of prospectors look for veins and ledges and are disappointed when they fall fail to find them but great mines often exist where there are no surface indications other than favorable formations and it is often the case that big dividend payers are uncovered at considerable depth in localities where on the surface there is not the least showing of the presence of the that actually exists below and it is also true that such localities receive but little attention at the hands of the average prospector and there is where they lose out for had they studied the geology and formation with care and if possessed of any experience as to where ore can make and where conditions were favorable to ore depositions they might mave mav e made an effort to develop a mine with chances in their favor of achieving success even if it looked at first like going it blind in much the same way that is often followed by the man who has become infatuated with the claims made for an ore finder you say that the term ore finder finde r sounds good to you and that if it leads to the hiding places of ore bodies as accurately as your nose leads you to a water hole or a sack of barley every prospector should be in possession of 0 one ne if they are not too costly and this reminds me of the experience I 1 had with one of these devices several years ago at that time continued the prospector 1 I was prospecting somewhere in nevada and the day before christmas I 1 received a divining rod from an old friend of mine up in wisconsin it was a peculiar looking affair and in general appearance resembled a forked stick of witch hazel or willow used in our neighborhood when I 1 was a I 1 boy to locate the existence of an underground water channel it was an improvement on the switch however for the rod was of steel while the two handles contained concealed electric batteries the head had a socket into which could be fitted counter heads which had all the appearance of baby sky rockets the counter heads differed in their uses one being for gold another for silver and one for copper and whichever cheve r one was employed while out on I 1 a prospecting trip it would be true to its race and color and lead unerringly to blind deposits of the metal which it represented another sweet and much appreciated feature connected with the inspru ment was that it was equipped with an dial which told how deep below the surface the ore was to be found and you may be sure that I 1 was much pleased with such a useful present which undoubtedly would re duce prospecting from a system of hard labor and toll toil to a pink tea affair with accompanying compa nying trimmings and so I 1 decided to try it out on the first nice day that might happen along such a day ambled my way a week later and as I 1 had now forsworn any more long trips I 1 decided to make the initial test from the very door of my cabin so I 1 stepped out divining rod in hand and carefully followed the rules and instructions laid down for its use with a handle in each hand and the head pointing skyward I 1 slowly turned around as I 1 stood until the head began to lower and lower it did and pointed directly towards a great belt of lime to the east of me carefully I 1 followed the direction indicated by the rod the gold divining head of which gradually lowered as I 1 advanced until about a thousand feet from camp it pointed downward like a surveyors plumb bob and there was no getting around its tenacity of purpose in pointing out that particular spot for I 1 tried the rod from several directions and it always led me to the same place you may well believe that I 1 was puzzled for there was no more indication of the existence of ore in that locality than there was that a spark of loyalty could be found in the breast of an I 1 W W but I 1 was strong in the faith and decided to sink a shaft there them and especially so as the indicator informed me that c hunks chunks of pure gold ready for coining would be found at a depth of only twe nty feet had it been fifty feet I 1 doubt it if I 1 would have undertaken the task for I 1 had become as c razy crazy as a pacifist after reading the literature accompanying the divining rod for what was tile the use of sinking fifty feet when by its use I 1 could find find thousands of great mines by only scraping away a few feet of overlay and so I 1 began digging and believe me the rock was as hard as the kaisers keisers kai sers heart twenty five feet of sinking in soft gro ground und is not noi so great a hardship as might be imagined by the tenderfoot but when it comes to lime hine as tough as the beefsteak now being served in the cafe down in the little mining camp at the mouth of the canyon you may well guess what I 1 was up against I 1 persevered however and was almost sweating blood when I 1 had attained a depth of twenty feet and it was here that I 1 almost fainted when I 1 failed to find the least trace of but like the dutchman I 1 would not quit until I 1 had gone a foot farther with this other foot however a change appeared and I 1 found a fossilized bone following this as a lead I 1 found another and before I 1 could well grasp the situation I 1 had uncovered a whole skeleton of some prehistoric animal then I 1 fain fainted in earnest when I 1 came too I 1 read and reread re read the instructions accompanying the instrument hoping I 1 would find that instead of using the gold indicator I 1 had substituted one that in its use would lead me to a boneyard bone yard but none whatever and then I 1 gradually awoke to the realization that I 1 was the bonehead and you can believe me or not but I 1 was so mad that I 1 threw the divining rod clear over onto the next range of mountains and a na I 1 expect that if it was ever found by prospector or tenderfoot that they would be inclined to the opinion that it had dropped from mars had never yet found for such a contrivance a place in the kit of any self respecting prospector 1 I want to tell you old long ears concluded the prospector the only way to find a mine is to look for it in the good old way it is a safe het bet that the inventor of this and that lie he remained man instrument was a poor a semi pauper all his life it is true he is to be pitied for his lunacy but lie he has company for he is in the same boat with the spiritualistic medium and the peep stone artist who for a quarter will tell his dupe where he can find the wealth of a rothschild the billions of a rockefeller but it stands to reason that if there was any merit or virtue in the divining rod the medium or the pe epstone that they would make great discoveries themselves and leave their dupes out in the cold cold world and there you are and then some |