The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 27, 1896, Page 17

FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1896. 17 The Thrillifig _Story Of Bun It was early in the ’60’s, about the time | when attention was first being diverted | fr the exhausted placers of the State 1 toward the rick es of gold that was | bidden in the quariz deposits thatlie in 1 profusion in the ranges that border | the great valley e Sacramento River orin the intersecting valleys of that vol- Uminous stream. Two men hay just arrived at Grass Val- ley, which at that time was experiencing the wonderful growth which the discov- | ery of splendid mines in the near vicinity ad encouraged and sustathed. Bothmen | e young and vigorous and evidently | new to the country. In fact, they were just from the extreme East—Massa- | etts, to be particular—and atonce ex- cited the attention of the crowa by their manners of speech and the evident care which they devoted to their toilet. “Mighty genteel couple,” remarked an Id and seasoned miner, ““but ’twon’t take 'em long to get acclimated like the rest of us, I reckon.” Such was the general impression made m by the sirangers on their arrival at Grass | Valles. Their names were Elliot Spencer | i Enoch Pope, and it was not long be- fore their purpose in joining the com- in was known to all. A relative of Spencer, during an early day in Cali- fornia, had acquired a promising quartz | found himself impotent to flee, and seeing | that extended ker Hill Mine shaft with frightful sounds calling upon him ‘‘to come and to hasten.” Strive as be could to draw himself away from these awful surroundings, Spencer | forts. his old friend in approaching him with sger and stiil whispering “Spencer,” “Snencer,” he gave a shriek and fell to the ground with reason forever | They each and all maintained that ghosts shattered. Raised to the surface s m C, he shouted out his guilt to the astonished miners and told of his punishment. At the asylum to which he was conveyed, he seemed to be ever haunted by the old vision of his dead partner. His mutterings never went beyond that one word, ‘‘Spen- cer,” *‘Spencer.” The widow, twice afflicted, was made acquainted with Spencer’s mani- acal confessions and left for the East, where she survives. The mine was after- ward purchased by parties knowing its value and who proceeded to work it, but a series of misfortunes followed their ef- The bzlief that the mine was baunted became an article of faith to the locai miners and only those men ignorant of its bad repute could be induced to work there, but even the:e never stayed long. haunted the workings and that the mine ing shouts filled the air and frightened them at their work. The men said, too, that strange objects intecfered with them and interrupted their labors. Men would not work in this dreadful mine, and finally operations on the Bunker Hill ceased, and for two years the hoist remained idle. Again work was resumed by another corporation, but no sooner had the old timbers been re- moved and all made ready for extracting ore than the mine was flooded by a blast ovening a channel to an underground | lake, and twenty miners lost theirlives in the sudden torrent. For over twenty y2ars the fated mine iay undisturbed. It was at last acquired by Flood and Mackay, and this vear preparations were made at vast expense to reopen the mine. Perhaps tne spirits which have Infested it since the murder of Pope may be disposed was the abode of foul fiends, whose aveng- to remain quiet now. In any event the future of the mine that has so long en- joyed so sinister a repute will be wptchad closely by every miner who knows itvs past history. Its old name has been changed by the present owners; it is now called the *Strand,” after the famous London thoroughfare. Curious Ways of Greeting. When Australian nations meet they put in practice their peculiar way of stick- ing out their tongues at each other. A Japanese removes his sandals, crosses his hands and cries out, “Spare me.” The Burmese pretend to smell of a person’s face, pronounce it sweet and then ask for asmeil. In the South Sea Isiands one of the most peculiar forms of salutation is to throw a jar of water over the head of a friend. + When Arabians meet they press cheek to cheek. The Cylindrical Car and Its Wonders. A car has just been completed at Con- cord, N. H., which exempvlifies what has heretofore been considered a chimerical | ing arrangement. it is cylindrical in | idea of the nove Icylindrical in form, as stated, although this by no means interferes with the seat- Its chief claim to fame however, lics in the fact that each section form, just as the cars Jules Verne and | of the sides, with windows of curved glass, others have told of have been. It is no/ slides up under the roof, just as tue cur- theory, but entire practice, and it will | tain of the roll-top desk disappears as it is save the railroad companies many thou- | pushed upward. sands of dollars. Just as the sides di-ap- | pear, arunning board drops down just The car is a curious embodiment of | below the floor of the car ,and in the genius and convenience. It is practically | usual position on the outside. claim in the mountains about twenty | es distant, and had deeded it to him | on the sole condition that he would emi- | grate and work ‘the claim industriously T two yea dventurous and endowed with wealth, Spencer accepted the ciaim, 1 persuaded Pope, who had been a life- ng friend, to join him in the under- , on a promise of sharing equally | e results. | The inquiries made by the two friends | encouraging to the last degree. The 1 was one that was well known by every miner in the district and prophecies | had been made by the best experts of its | iltimately becoming a source of incal- | culabie wealth. ! A trip to the mine soon followed and | Sper r and Pope, who were skilled llurgists by profession, were con- | in their belief that the mine wasa sroperty. They returned to , purchased stores for a pro- in the mountains, hired a erintendent and men and proceeded | without delay to push forwara the devel- | opment of their premising venture. They were not delayed by lack of means r embarrassed by inability pay their miners or purchase necessary erial, and consequently the pregress heir shafts and tunnels seemed rvelous in the eyes of their neighbors ho were working their own claims sub- t to the embarrassments resulting from cted resources. r and a half of steadv and unre- | exertion bad pushed the develop- the “‘Bunker Hill,” tor so they | d the mine, to a point where it | yme the greatest producer of the | aud the time came when Pope | the privilege from his partner of to old Massachusetts and bring- | k to California his old sweetheart | and were n heavily on Spencer’s hands | e Lapoy couple returaea, but at | f s were again united, and | aid vrospect of affluence | past labors seemed to assure. | I months this blissful existence | maintained, but during that time | Bpencer had conceived a violent passion | for Pope’s unconscious wife, and longed to | possess her for his own. | The loye and loyaity of the little woman | for her husband could not be shaken, and Spencer knew that a public manifestation | £ uld be met by her with | unspeakable disdain. He hungered and | thirsted for his partner’s wife, and flung | to the winds all qu ons of loyalty or graitude due to his friend. | To gain the ends he desired could only | be accomplished by the destruction of | Pope, and one day the latter was found in the deepest shalt of the mine with his skull crushed by a rock, which had ap- varently fallen from a great height. The victim was brought to the surface and re- gained consciousness for a moment. “Spencer!” he called, “Spencer!” and then be turned over on his face and died. Spencer did not make his appearance for several hours after the daath of Pope and then his sorrow was so skillfully sim- vlated and his erief seemed so great and sincere that no suspicion was manifested toward himsel the murderer; in fact, the general opinion was that Pope came to his death by accident, and after his burial the matter was dropped without further investigation. Not a breath of | suspicion shadowed Spencer. The grief of the wife excited the com- miseration of even the rough miners, and nothing could have exceeded the kind and sympathetic attentions of Spencer, who advised her to leave the mine and seek associations where she would not be constantly reminded of her sorrows. The advice was foilowed, and she decided to remain in Grass Valley until her affairs could be so arranged as to permit her re- turn to the East. Artfully Spencer man- to defer a settlement on some pre- another, and the widow’s stay was ged for overay Then Sper to intimate to the widow his was ngs wo text o prolo ventured hope: At first they were discouraged, but as the lonely woman, so far from nome and without congenial companionship, beean to consider the matter, she at last con- quered her repugnance to a remarriage and consented, only stipulating that she <hould not return to the mine that had been so fateful to her girlish hopes. Spencer readily a 1ted to the stipula- , and wild with rapture he pressed the widow of the friend he had murdered to his bosom, and devoured her, almost, with his passionate kisces. His weading day was the last hour of peace that he everen- ved. His doom awaited him. That night he saw in his sleep the body of the murdered Pope, as in the flesh. pointing his finger and murmuring, *‘Spencer,” :pencer.” He woke from the dream of | horror and again attempted to slumber, but again the frightful specter hauntea Lim, pointing the accusing finger and whispering, “Spencer,” “Spencer.” When dayvlight came Spencer thought that his dream would be pelled, but still the images of his friend ‘ollowed him. Henceforth he was a haunted man. A trip to the mine was undertaken, and, as usual, a tour of inspection of the work- ings followed. Impelled by a power greater than he could resist, he_cnmn to the place where Pope had met his death. In the dim Jicht he saw the murdered man witn that awful finger extended and heard the frightful whisper repeated, “Spencer,” “Spence Cold, clammy hands seemed to embrace him, horrible shrieks of despairing fiends filled the ‘Words by Palmer Cox. Allegretto. - Music by Malecelm Douglas. Arr. by Chas B Pratt. Fair moon, tho' we're puz- zled some. == === s = o Ting - aling-a- ling-a - ling - ting - ting, ting - a-ling- a- ling- a - ling! We're you don’t like us know, some - how, “dee trop! boot - jack, ’ & _—= == = =1 ling - ting - ting, ting - ting - ting - ting £ £ 5 % 5 3 — 4 g [ 3 g } Ting -a - ling - a - ling - a - ting, ting - ting - ting - ting - 4 8 & ting! Ting-a - ling- a- ling - a - ling - ting - ting, 5 % £ % 5 8 ting! Ting-a - ling - a - ling -a - ling-ting - ting, - A N S S S BT e e e e e Copyrignt, mpccexen, by T. B. Harws & Co. English Copyright Secured. The Montgomery-street horsecars are somewhat unique: Ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling; They frequen ly make a round trip in a week, Ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling, ting-a.ling; B And on some occasions, as you often observe, The driver is blessed with a horrible nerve— You are asked to get off and help push ’round a curve. Ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling. VTN E 5 E Z i = In this way is the comfortable closed car transe ' formed into a very neat appearing open car that is as comfortable a vehicle of that sort as can well be imagined. Tke value of cars of this sort for a street railway company can easily be under- stood. Under present methodsit is neces= sary to keep a much largeramount of roll- ing stock on hand than would be the case if the newly invented car were used. As it is, we have summer and winter cars, each of which has to lie idle partof the year. Under the new arrangement there would be only one sort of car, and, there- fore, it would be wholly unnecessary to have part of the company’s capital tied up in a lot of cars that were useless a portion of the year. Again, this new invention removes one of the greatest evils of the open car. It often happens that during the season of the year when the open car is most in evidence a storm sweeps down and dashes rain through curtains and all over passengers. Nothing but open cars are running, and there is no other protection for people who wish to ride. With this new car, in case of a storm of tbat sort, the sides could be promptly rolled down and the passengers would be assnug as the traditional bug in a very comfortable rug. The accompanying illustration shows accurately the interior of the new car. This is exactly as the car appears on the line of the Concord (N. H.) street railway, where it is being operated. This particu- lar specimen was in reality the model, for it is the only one that bas thus far been built. All sorts of tests have been applied to 1t, and it has been run in all kinds of weather, but the emergency is yet to arise in which it does not give dis- tinct savisfacticn. The lowering or raising of the car’s sides is by no means a difficult task, for so per- fect is the mechanism and so smoothly do the slides glide up and down thatit is really of less difficulty to lower or raise them than it is to arrange the curtainsof the open car that is in use at present. In addition to that there is never any wet sheets of canvas tlapping in ycur face, nor does the driving wind force a stream of water gently down the back of your neck. These latter events are every-day experi- ences to a person who rides in the open car. It might be thought that there would be some difficulty in operating the lighting apparatus of a car of this sort, because the one at present in use iscalculated to travel on the electric roaa exclusively, but no such difficulty has been experienced in the least. In fact the arrangement and opera- tion of the car is a decided improvement over the old system. Instead of being narrower than the or- dinary streetcars, because of its peculiar form, the duplex car,as itis called, is really wider. The seats are arranged crosswise on each side, with an aisle run- ning down the middle, just as in the ordi- nary railroad passenger coach., Each of these seats will accommodate two perso and the seating capac.ty of the car therefore, limited. Not only that, but there will be no tramping upon toes, which is of itself a boon that ought to nccasion great rejoicing. The ventilation of the car is all that cou!d be desired, and is accompiished in the usual fashion. The windows can be raised or lowered at will, just as if they were not likely to disappear into the roof. The ventilators are not opened after the style of the elevated cars—by the pull of a lever, but are either opened or closed one at a time by the ordinary ventilator pole. It is a curious fact, as already stated, that this car is almost exactly modeled on the lines of the cylindrical cars which have been suzgested in different novels of extraordinary and fictitious adventure. Like the submarine boat, the idea of which first gained great prominence through the Nautilus of Jules Verne's “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” the idea 1s not only practical, but is far in advance of the other cars, as was the idea in fiction, an advance over previous thoughts of the writer of marvelous adventure. The new car has just begun to attract attention. When it was first planned and the news of the project was noised among the street railroad men many a quiet laugh was indulged in at what was termed “the wild idea” of the Granite State Com- pany. Now, however, the laughter has entirely died away, and the success of the cylindrical car is admitted by every one who has seen it. While it is true that the car now in use is operated by electricity, it by no means foliows that this is the only motive power that can be used. Itisthe idea of the pro- jectors of the car to introduce it on ail the lines of railroads, steam as well as street railroads. There are a great many rail- roads that run observation cars, and the same trouble 1s always experienced with them as with the open streetcar when it rains. 1ltis held that if the new caris utilized on the railroads in this fashion there will be very much less objection by passengers to making use of the observa- tion car. No matter how threatening the weather might be, under those circum- stances there would be no hesitation on the part of the traveler in takingadvantage of the observaticn car to as great an ex- tent as possible. So, all in all, the new car seems to bid fair to fill a niche in railroads, both steam and street, which it never scemed proo- able before would fina a perfect occupant, The duplex car is a wonder in its way. It really looks as if passengers on street rail- roads were at last going to be comfortable. A Legend of Lombardy. An old Lombard legend tells the story of a chieftain who asked the band of a neighbor’s daughter. Upon its being re- fused him he declared war, killed the chief who had declined the bonor of be- coming bis father-in-law, and married the girl aiter all. Not satisfied with this much he had the skull of his wite’s father mounted In gold as a drinking-cup, and one day, while under the influence of wine, ordered his spouse to appear before the assembled guests at his house and drink to his health out of the bhorrible bowl. She did so, but ever afterward was her husband's secret but most deadly enemy. She joined in a conspiracy which eventually resulted in the king her hus lb.nd's assassination.