Life on the Pacific Coast. 299

"'OLD HAYSEED' IN THE MINES.

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" 'Bout Fourteen Miles Under Ground. How is this, Farmer Treadway ? "

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            " Farmer Treadway, of Carson City, was in Virginia City a short time ago on a visit, and he brought with him an old farming friend who had never seen the mines, but who wanted to see them. Permission was obtained, and the old chap went below. The boys lugged him into every drift, winze, and crosscut in the mine, and was pretty well worn out when he got out. Dan De Quille met him soon after, and got the whole story of his trip, as follows:

            " ' Yes,' said the old man, ' I went in, and went clear to the bottom. When I went down thar to the Consolidated Virginia works, I made up my mind I'd see it all -- that I'd go as far into the bowels of the yearth as it was possible to git 'thout diggin' any new holes. I'd never bin in a mine afore, and might never go agin, so I told 'em I'd just take in the whole show. When that thing at the top of the shaft, what they call the " cage," give its fust little jog down, I jist thought the bottom had dropped out't the whole country for miles around.

            " ' Steam and hot air was pouring up like we was hangin' over a big pot of boilin' water. The guid to the lower country grinned at me, and said : " Hold fast ! "

            " ' I was holdin' fast, but I held faster. Down, down, down we went, seein' nothin' but flashes of light, and flashes of dark, and hearin' nothin' but the buzzes of noise and the buzzes of silence, as we passed by the winders cut in the sides of the upright hole we were fallin' through.

            " ' I ain't easy skeered, but I thought we might be goin' down some faster than the business we were on required, so, sez I : Hez the trace chains broke, the belly-bands busted, or the breechin' giv way ?

            " ' It's all hunkey,' sez the man, an' we then went on about a mile further before thar was any conversation of interest.

300 Ten Years in Nevada.

            " ' It begun to seem to me like we was gittin' past all the good stoppin'-places. Even if that air rope we was a spinnin' out behind us, as a spider spins his line out at his tail, was all " hunkey," as the feller called it, I was afeered there was no end to it, and we might go right on through to Chiney.

            " ' I begun to try if I could think of any prayer among them of my airly days that would kiver the case, when the thing we was a-ridin' on stopped with a bump, that snapped my teeth together, and made me feel up in search of the top of my head.

            " ' We'd struck bottom at last. How many miles down it was I don't know, but I guess about fourteen -- mind, I'm only givin' you my impression, gentlemen, I tuck no measurement down thar below.

            " 'At first a great blaze of light blinded my eyes, and I felt like an owl out of his hole in the middle of the day.

            " ' Come along, sez my guide, and we went into a big country tavern-looking place that they said was the station. It looked a good deal like the inside of some of them stations they us't'r hev up in the Sierrys on the Henness Pass road. Thar was boxes o' taller candles settin' about, rope, boxes o' sope, barrels o' whisky, gin, merlasses, vinegar, and other sich stuff, I reckon, but I seed no regular bar.'

            " ' There was lots o' fellers thar that seemed to belong close about, but nobody said, " Take a drink ! "

            " ' We soon left them onsociable cusses, and went out into the open country. All lighted up it was, for mor'n a mile round with candles, lanterns, an' bonfires. It was as fine a lumination as I ever seed any whar. Jist as I was admirin' of it, I heered several cannons go off, one after another, somewhere up the valley, and I sez to a crowd of men we met : " Who's elected ? "

            " 'What? ' sez he.

Life on the Pacific Coast. 301

            " 'Is the percession movin' this way,' sez I.

            " ' Percession? ' sez he, looking puzzled.

            " ' Is it under way yit? ' sez I.

            " ' What under way ? ' sez he.

            "'Then I drapped on it that he was one of the defeated party, and was takin' no stock in the jollification ; so we went on up the valley.

            " ' Men was at work in the fields all about, and trains o' cars was runnin' in all directions. The country seemed to be very thickly settled.

            " ' It was summer down thare, and the weather was devilish hot. The doors all stood open, and the folks had nearly all ther clothes off -- the men, I mean ; the women and children I didn't see -- all kept inside, I guess.

            "' We went on up country 'bout four miles, keepin' the main road most of the time. We stopped at several stations. Everybody was a-drinking ice-water -- blamedst people for ice-water I ever seed. Plenty barrels and kegs around, too, but nobody ever offered to treat, but all swallowed ice-water for dear life.

            " ' While I was watchin' these proceedins' I heerd more cannons go off. Sez I to one of the fellers that had some clothes on half way between his head and feet : Temperance celebration, sir?

            " ' All cold-water men down here,' sez the feller, grinnin'.

            " ' I see ; at first I thought it was on account of your 'lection,' sez I.

            " ' I see he was a man inclined to be friendly, and I asked him how his ore crop was this season.

            " ' He grinned, and sed : "Above the average."

            "'Where is it raised; anywhere in the neighborhood ? ' sez I.

            " 'No; it's all raised out that way,' and he pointed down the valley.

            " ' Next we got on another of them kind of railroads that

302 Ten Years in Nevada.

stands on end, and went to a settlement about three miles below. The weather was hotter than it had been up in the valley. I sez to the guide : I think we'll have a shower.

            " ' Not now,' sez he ; ' we'll give you a shower when we go above. Allers git a shower when you go out'

            " ' What he meant I don't know, for I saw no rain that day, though at times there was a good deal of thunder overhead.

            " ' The last place we went to was the Geysers. All was bilin' hot in that section. Thar was nothin' thar but hot rocks and bilin' water, and steam and yearthquakes ; so we didn't stay long. We seed only half a dozen or so of naked, half-starved settlers thar that was camped on a small island by a big bilin' spring, which they was trying to pump dry.

            " Thar may be finer sections of country down thar than I seed, for as I got thar in the night I didn't go far out in the settlements ; but for hot weather it beats Aryzona all holler. I wouldn't live thar if they give me a thousand acres of the best silver-bearin' land they've got. That is, I want nothing to do with silver farmin', and wouldn't stop in sich a place to dig the crap if it was alredy raised ripe, and ready for the hoe."