The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 30, 1896, Page 19

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 1896. 19 WHAT WOULD YOU DO IN A CASE LIKE THIS? The vast fastnesses of the Funeral Mountains may be rich in the forgotten lore of extinct people. I only know that, cached in one crevice, there have been found several manu- scripts traced upon some substance resembling papyrus, and from this discovery it is fair to infer that others, wonder- fully preserved through the lapse of centuries, may also exist. Long study has been required to only partially decipher one of these manuscripts, which appears to be a portion of the official record of an ancient priesthood, whose £'tars and religion alike have sunken into oblivion. From this scroll only a small frag- ment of the succeeding story has been derived, imagination necessarily supplying the remainder. The events occurred long before the Christian era, in all probability. Without further preface and without boring the reader with unnecessary details concerning the finding and deciphering of the basis of this tale, let us begin. Wandering hand in hand, in centuries long agone, a8 man and maiden, the last of one of the many races of the great Maya family of nations, found themselves at the close of a golden afternoon in the early autumn in a small valley amid what are now known as the Panamint Mountains. A stream of pure water, tinkling .musically down the mountain side, zave nourishment to the roots of large forest trees. Ihe wanderers came suddenly upon this scene as they emerged from a forbid- ding defile, one of many through which they had passed, and it seemed to them as if they had been led to this spot. They were sun worshipers, and before the monarch of day had disap- peered they raised their voices in a form of tuneful adoration which they bad learned in a very distant land. They knelt upon grass as soft as velvet and crushed strange flowers, which ‘ sent forth in their floral death exquisitely sweet and subtle | odors. The valley was rich in fruitage, affording an abundance | of food. In the tree tops wild birds caroled gayly. Here might | they rest, they thought. ! Long had they wandered, leaving the graves of their | ancestors and the home of their childhood behind them. The | foot of man seemed never to have been here before. Bountiful nature offered gratuitously to the twain a hote, and they gladly accepted it. They-found. a cave and installed themselves therein. They had no needs which could lead them beyond their present pleasing environment. Back in the region from which they had journeyed were only wasted lands and slaughtered relatives who had been killed in cruel wars of extermination. Beyond their present abiding place the world contained only strangers whose intentions were unknown. What seemed like Eden was theirs, and there they might rest unmolested. Only the dangerous thirst for knowledge might lead them to sacrifice this newly found bliss, for here they might awell as long as the Sun God should give them life. Ah, that thirst for knowledge! He whom we may call Aymoyo (for his name is not on the scroll) was valiant and adventurous. Despite the entreaties of the girl, whom we will call Oonemalche, at whose forebodings he omly smiled, he wandered far. One night he failed to return, and many days and nights of weeping and dreadful dreams tortured her, while hope died within her breast. Then she started to follow him, not knowing whither in the great wilderness of mountains to turn her steps, but trusting to the Sun God to guide her, Ser- pents glided by her unheeded by night and by day. Fierce wila animals glared hungrily at her and crouched to spring, their eyes glowing like fire in their sockets, but the Sun God | held them back. She climbed high hills and scaled almost in- | accessible peaks, how she knew not, but the Sun God led her on. Alone she wandered, carrying with her the hope that her race might not fail from the face of the earth. One morning she saw a human footprint. Her heart bounded, for she knew that it was his. Weary as she had become she suddenly felt the buoyancy of youth return to her. But now, as she drew near.the edge of a precipice, she has teri- fied by a strange occurrence. The sun began to hide his face, and she knew that this was an omen sent by the Sun God, but she would not turn back. Love was stronger than fear, asd as be, her lover, who went forth by day, had been led by the Sun God even so would she be led. Across the sun swept a black shadow and the beasts of prey came out, thinking that it was night, and howled around her. She could not go on now, for the shadow was also on her soul, and the Sun God had told her that she was doomed and that she and her race must ‘perish. Chillea to the heart she sank to the ground, but uttered no cry- | The earth seemed to reel h"om under her and she lost consciousness. A Weird Romance of Death Valley, Presenting a Debatable Situation and Many Surprising Effects WRITTEN FOR “THE SUNDAY CALL” BY DAVID H. WALKER. N v “‘!\‘\ \ atim I T [ / g B Wit 7 i 92 it It i oy ;///1 i \ /'\',f i = N HE RAISED THE HUGE BLADE ABOVE HER SHAPELY NECK. When she | lofty column cf smoke and jets of fire. The seething sea which rages in the heart of ovened her eyes and saw the sun once more shining, her heart did not deceive her. | the earth found there a vent for its calcined spume. The eye of the maiden bright- She waited patiently, with tearful eyes, but with no impious thought of flight, for | ened at this for upon that volcanic altar would burn forever, she thought, inextin- her ddom. A tall, fierce man came forward from the shadow of a thicket and accosted | guishable flame as an offering to the god of the sun. her in a strange language. She made no answer. .He pointed imperiously onward | As she drew nearer to the great lake a sound of surprise escaped from her. with the gesture of one born to command, and she resumed her way, praying that her | Connected by a slight bridge with the mainland was an island of considerable size. steps might lead her to Aymoyo, and that in his company death might be sweetened. | In the middle of - the island, surrounded by rank tropical vegetation, were the One more glance at him, even if her death should immediately follow. Ah! | gigantic ruins of a great city of stone, with a temple of prodigious size, and point- she felt that anything would be better than life apsrt from him. She believed | ing to the sky were huge pyramids of stone at tle four corners of the city. Enormous him to be dead, and her tears flowed ip a torrent, while her bosom was shaken | stone figures of wild beasts guarded imposing gateways. The arches of these portals with sobs. P were tretted and were decorated with carvings representing the kings or priests of a Suddenly she saw Aymoyo face to face. She would have sprung to him, but his | race of unfamiliar aspect, and over the arches were inscriptions in a strange language. eye forbade even recognition. He was clad in a panther’s sxin with a wide girdle. | Oonemalche saw in these stony features a resemblance to the face of her captor and Marveling much at this mystery, and doubting him net, she passed him by nor | guide and she shuddered. g looked back, nor did he follow. She could hear the footsteps of the stranger behind | A cry, which was unmistakably inspired by horror, arose from the temple of her and she felt his commanding presence urge her on and on. Toiling to the sum- | stone as she approached. Intuitively learning that she was a worshiper of the Sun mit of a high pass she suddenly came in view of a great lake (which is supposed by | God, the votaries in the temple knew that she brought ruin. For it was written, long the anthor to have filled the vast depression now known as Death Valley). Across 1 before, that final doom would overtake this city when a woman the favorite of the Sun the lake, awful and dark, arose that enormous range which 1s now justly termed | God, should cross and profane the city’s portals, which were sacred to the priests of the Funeral Mountains. From one of the peaksof the Funeral range ascended a [ that deity, whose throne is on the deathless fires of the center of the earth. The | great court where she was to meet death. Sun God had led her to destroy the last city on earth of the rival deity! 4 She heard the cry, but understood not its import. She crossed the portal of the temple, passing many crumbling stairs to reach it. She crossed a wide court and led by destiny came to where the pavement, inlaid with many precious stones, was 2 mosaic representation of the deity of the lost people. Centu- ries had passed in the collection of these gems. The lives of the thousands who had carved and brought them from deep mines, from the shores of many seas, from the glowing sides of vol- canic mountains and from burning desert sands, had gone out upoun sacrificial altars, that nothing might remain to remind the deity that the gems had been profaned by human touch. The blcod of these victims was cast into a fountain which bubbling upward threw the red corpuscles in air again and again, mingling the vital drops of lovers, warriors and children who had been compelled to toil daily for the deity, while shrieks continually were heard by “the fountain of blood.” From the surrounding stones the bloodstains were never re- moved. There they remained, a mute memorial of barbarity and fanaticism, of devotion and heroism. Long ago had this fountain ceased to flow. But now, asif to confirm the fate of the stranger woman, the waters started into sudden life at her approach. ““1t is an omen,’’ said her confluctor. who is the favorite of the Sun God.” She comprehended him not, but her heart told her “it is an omen.”” The sun, glaring through clouds, threw a dull red light on the sparkling fountain, giving it a tinge like blood. In the dis- tance the lofty volcano burned like the torch of the Almighty, and across vast fields of snow. on the serried mountains the glow of volcanic fires cast a somber red. ‘While shrieks burst from the throats of a score of iron- browed men the earth shook. The volcano husled high in the air thunderbolts of lava. The image of the deity fixed for cen- turies in the stone pavement sank; and down with it unresist- ing, paralyzed by the certainty of doom, down, down, sank Oonemalche into an imprisoning chamber of solid stone, which had peen hewn from an unbroken granite ledge. The jewels fell apart and were scattered and the deity clamored for sacri- fice. The fountain fairly hissed for blood and the earth quaked with repeated shocks. Of a great people only a score of priests survived. Ruth- lessly they had sacrificed their wives and children that they might no more incur the wrath of a jealous God, who had pun- ished their race with war and pestilence, decimating them to a handful because they had thought more of their wives than of him. No more could women enter their lives nor could beauty move them. To them out of the wilderness came Aymoyo, a stranger, young, athletic, handsome and brave. They made him a priest—one of them—and compelled him to assist in the daily adoration of their deity. By this the Sun God was an- gered and had contrived ruin. Aymoyo was a captive ana could not escape. - WS When it had come night Oonemdlche was conducted to the . Surrounded by the priests, Aymoyo came forward to act as her executioner. She made no sign. He raised a huge blade, mystically engraved, a2bove her shapely neck, and in another second the blow wou!d have fallen—perhaps upon the form of his beloved and perhaps upon the nearest priest who acted as chief of ceremonies. But there came from the sky such a peal of thunder that the blade was arrested. [To be concluded next Sunday.] “You are the woman [During the pause there is an opportunity to reasou out what probably took place next. The situation was, perhaps, unvrecedented. Conceiving that Aymovo loved Oonemalche devotedly, and that her death would mean to him more misery than death to himself, there is reason to suppose that, being armed, Aymoyo would naturally have struck some blows in be- half of Oonemalche. On the other hand, it is also equally prob- able that Aymoyo, being aware of the savage nature of these priests and the futility of resistance, might have thought that Oonemalche would, in any event, be killed and perhaps by tor- ture. Therefore duty might have prompted him, much as his heart would have rebelled at the office, to actually become her executioner. The real happening, as the author supposes it to have taken place, will be related in the second and final chan‘er.] He Gruises for Feathers That Sell Hamlin Smith, the famous hunter and “The egrets and other fowl bad become clay colored. They are a foolish bird, and oftentimes easily taken. Generally speak- ing, however, there are only a few good feathers on them. “Madelane Bay is a very beautiful body of water, and I enjoyed my expe- rience there. There is one boat, the Ori- zaba, that puts in there once a month. A little settlement of four houses at one place on the bay is ull there is to represent anything that suggests civilization. One of these houses is a store. The families Sack of There arrived here on one of the coast for $32 an Ounce sometimes two Mexicans to pull me I He Brought Back a -Big Gold From Alaska trapper and White Chief of the Cocopah Indians, is among the arrivals at the In- | ternational. Mr. Smith has been in the wilds so long that he has contracted a | malaria from the swamps where he has been hunting egrets, heron, black crane and other birds and he is now on his way to the Hot Spring, Arkansas. The man who has for solong been living among the Cocopahs has since January last been pursuing his vocation in Made- lane Bay, Lower California. This bay is north of Ensenada and is larger than San Francisco Bay, for it extends over 100 miles. 3 It is a beautiful body of water, and on it and along its shores are different kinds of wild fowl, the feathers of which are ex- tremely valuable. Mr. Smith has made feather hunting a business for many years. For a long time 1 he sought the egret and other birds in the | region frequented by the Cocopahs about | the head of the gulf in Lower California. Afterward he went to the swampy and alli- gator infested regions of Sonora, for, | strange as it may appear, some of the most | - valuable of the migrating birds are to be | found there. He took many egrets, heron and other | birds, and returned here with large lots of | feathers, which he sold for large sums. was there, however, that he contracted the fever germs, and notwithstanding he has since for most of the time been in a healthy section, the grip of the malaria has not been dislodged. Nevertheless, he has made a big catch in Madelane Bay. He brought up fiftv-two | ounces of egret feathers, with some heron and black crane feathers, which netted him here $1575. These marvelously soft feathers are worth the astonishing figure of $32 an ounce, and this is the sum which the skill- ful hunter received. They were sold to Mr. Toplitz of this City. The egret, heron and crane feathers are used in the costliest millinery. Many of the feathers eventually reach New York and Europe. “1 first went dowr fo Sonora to take another hunt there for the birds,” said | Mr. Smith, “but I found there were too many hunters there already. The Mexi- can peons had taken a hand at it and were bringing in a good many of the birds to trade, ‘For a good while I didn't think these peons would ever acquire the skill to gev these birds, but they have, and no white man can compete with them. They can work so cheap. If they only get a few feathers in a long while they are satisfied. Besides this I found that the noted orni- thologists and taxidermist, J. H. Beatty of New York, had putforty skilied hunters at work there. They were equipped with the best guns and with auxiliary effects, making for each the most complete outfit, These hunters were everywhere and were | iaking the birds wherever they appeared. “Besides this, Mr. Beatty himself haa taken up his headquarters at Esquinapa, It | frightened and were scarce, so I gave up the search there and went to Madelane Bay. There I found a very good field. The birds were fairly plentiful, but Mr. Salgardo, who lives there, also had a lot of peone shooters out after the birds. “In addition to him there were five American hunters down there, all broth- ers, and they were taking the birds as rapidly as possible. In Mexico a permit is required to hunt such fowl, and often- times therc is a good deal of delay in get- ting the permit. A man must understand the ways of the country, ““Even then he is oftentimes put off one way and another, and unless he looks out the season'will go by, and he won’t have any feathers either. Wien they thought I interfered I offered to take any particu- where he could look after all the men and receive their cateh of feathers at regular intervals. The peons were also out shoot- ing for him, so that altogether I found it was no longer a good place for me. lar side of the bay, and hunt there only, sleptin the boat at night, anchoring it off shore, s0o no panthers or mountain lions could molest me. I usually found the egrets near the bush and jungle growth. Sometimes, however, they would fly over the wider part of the bay, and if I hap- pened to be in gunshot I would bring them down. “For killing these birds we use the very finest kina of shot, for it is a great thing to avoid injuring the feathers as much as HAMLIN SMITH, the Hunter and White Chief of the Cocopahs, Who Has Returned With a Rich Catch of Egret Feathers. possible. The egret feathers are worth from $30 to $35an ounce, and the heron feathers from $8 to $10 an ounce. “There is as much as $1 50 worth of feath- ers on a heron this year, which is, so far as the money value is concerned, more than is on an egret. The heron had more than its usual number of feathers, They were very fine. If a native got one but I couldn’t make definite terms with | of these once in a while it paid him well. them, and finally I concluded to quit with what I had. “The black cranes then had some good feathers, too. These are not the sandhill “I went about in & boat, with one and | cranes, but they are black and some others . are all Mexican. Outside of a few peons scattered up and down the bay, who are in fact native Indians, the country is a wilderness. I only hunted for about three months. “Mr. Beatty, to whom reference has been made, is the noted aunthor on orni- thology. He has collected a great many feathers this year over on the Sonora side of the country., *I shall now lay off for a time and take a rood rest, which I need. I may return to these sections for more birds, but since they are being hunted so much my im- pression is that I will go down to Brazil for a time and go to hunting birds there.” * Mr. Smith was for many years among the Cocopahs. They thought so much of him that t ey made him their chief, and as the White Chief of the Cocopahs he has long been known on this coast. His complexion has a sallow look and his face is thinner than usual. He hopes to be all right in a few weeks though, as he is now in a better climate, and where he has nothing to do but take care of himself. Horses That Show Rare Intelligence | The almost human intelligence shown by the two litile bay horses that during the daylight hours draw the Receiving Hospital ambulance from the City Hall to the City and County Hospital has inter- ested many who bave watched their ac- tions, and Driver Dougherty has many times been asked how he managed to train them to their present degree of efficiency. It is generally essential that the sick who are intrusted to the ambulance be conveyed to the County Hospital as ten- derly as possible, and the little horses seem to take special pride in this. When leaving the court in front of the Receiving Hospital door they seem to take special pains to avoid the sharp corners of the stone coping, contact with which might jar the patient inside. Orice clear of the court they swing along at a gentle trot until a street railroad crossing is reached, and then their caution becomes extreme. Without a word or a move from the driver they graduaily tslacken their pace until they are barely moving as the first rail is under their forefeet. Keeping step, one foot gentiy placed ahead of the other, they bring the ambulance across, the contact of the wheels with the rails being barely perceptible to driver or patient. Nothing wili induce them to more than a snail’s pace before the last rail is passed, and the clanging gong of an impatient motorman or gripman has not the slightest effect on their nerves or those of Driver Dougherty, who knows that nothing short of the lash of a whip will change their gait. Once over the track the speed is gradually in- creased to the trot. ‘When the van is returning to the City empty these diminutive equines know per- jectly well that there is no danger of their hurting any one, for they trot merrily along, and though force of habit makes them slacken the pace at car tracks, the same caution is not present, steamers a few days ago & medium-sized, taciturn man with a tangled, reddish beard, who was the subject of much comment while en route. He had come from the uttermost parts of the wild interior, and had with him a huge bag which he care- fully gnarded. The man’s hands were hardened as if accustomed to labor, and it was a fact that he had toiled long and arduously. For eight years he had been immured in the aund ere long he began to adjust himself to the surroundings, which after his long absence from civilization seemed so queer te him. The miner is a little over 40 years of age and in excellent heaith, though in order to make time in mining in that frozen land, during each of the long win- ters he kindled fires on his claim, and in this way was enabled to dig up the soil and throw it into long winrows for washing in the sluices when the spring thaw at last ensued. T. MULLER, Who Has Just Arrived From Alaska With a Sack of Gold Dust That Weighs 260 Pounds. snowy fastnesses near the line of the Northwest Territory. The stranger was T. Muller, the famous pioneer of Muller Creek, sixty miles west of Forty Mile, the outpost on the Yukon. The mysterious bag which he had con- tained the accumulations of gold which he had gathered during the eight years and weighed 260 pounds. On an estimate it was ascertained the gold was worth something over $70,000. The owner of . the bag of yellow metal took auarters at the Commergial Hotel, Mr. Muller is a native of Switzerland, and never had any experience 1n mining till he went to Muller Creek. He will, after a while, go to his old home in the Swiss mountains, and bis friends are say- ing that they look for the sturdy miner to greet an old sweetheart there and give up his lonely life on the frontier. As for himseif, however, the miner has nothing to give of particulars concerning any bright eyes that are alluring him. May be he would think it a weakness to do so, {‘I don’t know whether I shall go back to mining again or not,”” he said yester- day. “If Iam any account for anything else I may settle down and go into some kind of business, but I have been so long at mining now that I don’t know whether I am/(fit for anything else. I will come to a conclusion later when I find out if I can fit into this kind of life. “No, my mine was by no means the richest on Muller Creek. It averaged only about $20 a day to the man. That is nothing unasual there, for there are claims that average as much as $50 or $100 to the man. There are some right along- side of me that will do that. “The reason I was so successful is that I went right along working my claim win- ter and summer. When it froze up I kept fires burning, so that I could pile the dirt in rows, and thus lose no time when the water came in the spring. “Though I was there about eight years I made all the gold I have got in about four years. The men who worked with me I paid $7 a day in winter and $10 in summer. They worked for $1 an hour. In winter we only worked seven hours and in summer ten. 4 “If those who own claims around me had worked steadily in winter as well as in summer, as I did, thev would have got out large quantities of gold. The district is very rich, and any man who has a fairly good claim and sticks to it can make lots of money. “As Isaid, I don’t know whether I am good for anything any more but to mine. If I can tind out that Iam I may quit it and go into something else.” Mr. Muller has got his bag of dust and nuggets turned into bright coins since his arrival. One of the first things he did was to go to the Mint. He is now taking life easy at his hotel. The grim miner has had many visitors. Curious people have visited him to learn what they can of Muller Creek, and with each it has been a wonder as to whether he could go there and return with the gold which has been the com- pensation of the sturdy Swiss miner dur- ing his years in the snow. Mr, Muller offers no advice. He says a great deal depends. One thing which he did before he left has won him many encomiums. That was to bequeath his ciaim to his em- ployes who had so long worked with him in the bitter winter months. He was of- fered a price for it, but he refused to take anything, choosing, rather, to give it away. Of course, most of the gold had been taken out, but what there was he preferred to have go to those who had en- dured hardship with him. The. Flounder and the Sole. - Theodore Hook was one nignt at a mu- sical party. During the evening a young lady tried to sing a very cifficult song, which she gave with exaggerated expres- rion and a great many blunders. Next to Hock sat an elderly lady, as decided an amateur in criticism as the songstress in singing. *“Oh, Mr. Hook,'’ she murmured, “‘don’t you adore her singing? It is so full of soul.” *‘Well, madam,’”” said he, “for my part I think there seems more of the flounder than the sole about it.”