From Sexton Blake Library #644 Dated October
1938
Recently in the Press there has been reported the discovery of
a new gold-mine. This is located in a place bearing the fascinating name of
Yellow Knife in the North-West Territory of Canada. The Yellow Knife River
flows into the Great Slave Lake to the North of Alberta.
The great
difference between this discovery of gold and previous finds lies in the fact
that it was made from the air. A prospector, who had been knocking about Canada
for thirty years, was flying over a bit of desolate country when he spotted the
strike.
He was able to
see the veins in the rocks and, landing immediately, began to stake his claim.
In addition to the veins in the rock there are also gold deposits at the bottom
of the lake. No wonder the lucky finder christened his biggest claim as
Treasure Island.
It seems as if
the mine now discovered is quite incapable of getting lost—mainly through the
fact that its position can be constantly located from the air. Many of the old-time
prospectors would have been very grateful for such an aid. For in the old days
mines were constantly getting lost, and often tragedy dogged the footsteps of
the original finder.
! For Instance, there is
the story of the Lost Arch mine situated in the Turtle Range, California. This
mine was actually discovered on two occasions. Yet no one can locate it to-day.
The Lost Arch was
first found entirely by chance. Two men dying of thirst lay under an arch of
rock. One of them spotted a golden nugget.
Scrabbling
with his hands he found that he was reclining over a large pocket of gold. But
this discovery was fated to do him no good. His companion died there on the
spot. And it was a long time before the discoverer could crawl into
civilisation, almost at the last gasp.
After
recovering he made several attempts to find this gold-mine, but when he died,
in 1889, it was in poverty, for he could not make his way back to the mine.
And
this is not the end of the Lost Arch. Some fourteen years later a young botanist
stumbled upon the same canyon with its amazing natural arch. He also spotted
the gold and made a note of the site.
Back
in civilisation he told of his find and arranged with another man to set out
for the spot. But the very next day he was killed in an accident.
So
the Lost Arch mine is still lost.
And
there have been many others with a like history—mostly the original finders
have found tragedy.
An
old prospector once got lost in the arid wastes of that stretch of country
known as Death Valley. He was dying of thirst when he happened to dislodge a
rock. That rock was solid gold!
Looking
round, he saw that he was surrounded by the precious metal. Thirst, for the
moment, was forgotten.
He
loaded himself with samples of the gold and set out to win his way back to
civilisation. But after several days of nightmare-walking he fell into the
hands of a wandering tribe of Indians.
In the course of
a fight the unlucky prospector
was badly wounded in the head,
which caused him to go out of his mind.
Subsequently he
recovered, and for many years after he would set out on his journey to Death
Valley. But he never saw his mine again, and though the country has been
searched for many years since the gold has never been found.
It almost seems
that the discovery of gold is linked up with some sort of trouble for the
finder.
A month or so ago
the papers reported the death of a man in the Paddington district. He was
found gassed in a back room.
It came out that
for some time he had been drawing the dole.
Yet at one time
he had been rich.
For he had been a
gold-mining engineer in California where he had been able to amass several
thousand pounds.
With this behind
him he had set out on his travels. Then the gold-mining concern failed and he
was soon penniless. Though still under sixty he could not find employment, and this
undoubtedly preyed on his mind.
The Strange story
of the Goler mine brings out the fact that it is not the obssession of gold
that is the chief lure. In this case, a man named Goler with two partners
discovered a rich mine. The partners died of thirst and Goler returned to
civilisation determined to fit out an expedition to exploit his mine. He never
found it again.
But later another
man set out to find it. He failed in his quest, but by an extraordinarv chance
found another rich strike. This proved so fruitful that he is said to have
amassed a huge fortune. However, he ran through it. And once more penniless he
set out for the Goler mine.
From this last
journey he never came back. No trace of him was ever found.
