** Lost Gold At The Dead Man's Mine ** A Miners Journal **

[GhostMiner]

Just now, GhostMiner said:

Tested & pure. Some prefer to bring in water from town. To each his own. Been drinking it many years & never ever sick. 

Likely from a spring somewhere up high on the mountain. The old timers in 1936/1937 used it too.

[Gold Seeker]

22 hours ago, GhostMiner said:

Tested & pure. Some prefer to bring in water from town. To each his own. Been drinking it many years & never ever sick. 

Yes I'm sure it is since it's coming from a pipe, I'm willing to bet it's coming from a underground spring.

My father and I would drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains and every so often you would see a pipe driven into the rock face cut for the road with the best water I have ever drank coming out of the pipes, we would drink our fill and drive on.

[GhostMiner]

1 minute ago, Gold Seeker said:

Yes I'm sure it is since it's coming from a pipe, I'm willing to bet it's coming from a underground spring.

My father and I would drive through the Blue Mountains and every so often you would see a pipe driven into the rock face cut for the road with the best water I have ever drank coming out of the pipes, we would drink our fill and drive on.

Now the water up in Paxton was another story back in 2015. It came from a water tank up on the mountain & was sent down to the lodge via gravity pipe. After awhile some people were getting sick & they had it tested. It had spider poop in it. We had to boil our water or go to town and haul water in there. They got it fixed after a couple of weeks but we stayed clear of it.

[GhostMiner]

1 minute ago, GhostMiner said:

Now the water up in Paxton was another story back in 2015. It came from a water tank up on the mountain & was sent down to the lodge via gravity pipe. After awhile some people were getting sick & they had it tested. It had spider poop in it. We had to boil our water or go to town and haul water in there. They got it fixed after a couple of weeks but we stayed clear of it.

One of the old timers who lived there full time said not to worry about the water & we'd get used to it LOL. But that guy was permanently preserved by alcohol.

[GhostMiner]

   June 14   2002

 

   We continue to take turns on night watch but there has been no sign of any hooligans as Jacob would call them. There has been no let up in the heat and the forecast is for more of the same. We shoveled gravel in the morning like there was no tomorrow. We all have gold fever in spades. Even Jacob has it I think. 

   The crew took a long break between 2:00 PM and 3:00 PM. We all had a beer and a little bit of food and Jacob brought over the gold weigh from yesterday’s 44 yards of washed gravel. He had a big smile on his face and we knew it was going to be a good one. I could hardly believe what he told us the weigh came to. There were 19.4 ounces in his jar.  Jacob laughed and said that if we hadn’t been so almighty lazy and would have shoveled into the tom another half hour we could have hit 20 ounces. We all had a good laugh and cracked open another round of cold beers before returning to the dig site. By day’s end we had processed another 40 yards of pay gravel.

   TO BE CONTINUED ...................

[GhostMiner]

   At this point in my journal from 2002 & looking back at things I wrote I am sure the crew was sitting on top of the world. We must have all thought we had it all figured out and were on our way to glory like the old timers of 1936. And then there's reality. Tonight, as I put this stuff out for all to read, I am missing Jacob & thinking about all he taught us about life and hard work and of course, mining. Here's to you Jacob - may your cup always be full. Cheers.

 

 

[Denny3]

Rest in peace Jacob 

[GhostMiner]

   June 15   2002     Part One

 

   Last night we got into a bit of a disagreement. It was Jim who had first watch and when he was getting ready to head up the mountain Jacob handed him a bottle of Bushmills. Jacob told him it would help keep him warm and be good company. I spoke up because the night guards were always armed and I didn’t think it was a good idea to mix guns with alcohol. We’d already had plenty of trouble out here. 

   When I spoke up about it Jacob and Vern came to Jim’s defense. They said that even though it was hot during the day at night the temperature dropped into the 40’s and 50’s and a little whisky wouldn’t hurt any. I didn’t want to make a bigger deal out of it than it was but I stuck to my thoughts. Then Jacob spoke up saying I wasn’t the crew boss and shouldn’t say anything. He said that he was actually the boss and to let Jim be. I didn’t want an argument with my good friend Jacob so I just waved my hand to Jim and said to stay safe. And that was that and the drama was over.

   Jacob rolled a smoke and poured a cup of whisky for the three of us at camp. I think he knew he had offended me slightly but I was not angry in the least. I smiled and offered up a toast to the gold we would still be digging out of the ground and everything was normal again. And then we heard gunfire up on the mountain. I grabbed the walkie talkie and tried to raise Jim but there was no reply.

   TO BE CONTINUED .............

[dig4gold]

Ohhh.... bugger.

D4G