King had a claim at Chip's Flat which he
believed would be very rich in time, so I kept his interest up in it
till it amounted to $500 and then abandoned the claim and pocketed the
loss.
We made a pine box, and putting his body in it, laid it away with
respect. I had often heard him say that if he suffered an accident, he
wished to be killed outright and not be left a cripple, and his wish
came true.
After this accident the blacksmith working for the Paradise Co., was
making some repairs about the surface of the air shaft, and among his
tools was a bar of steel an inch square, and 8 or 10 feet long, which
was thrown across the shaft, and while working at the whim wheel he
slipped and struck this bar which fell to the bottom of the shaft, 100
feet deep and the blacksmith followed. When the other workmen went down
to his assistance they found that the bar of steel had stuck upright in
the bottom of the shaft, and when the man came down it pierced his body
from hip to neck, killing him instantly. He was a young man, and I have
forgotten his name.
Those who came to California these later years will not many of them see
the old apparatus and appliances which were used in saving the gold in
those primitive days. Among them was the old "Rocker." This had a bottom
about 5 feet long and 16 inches wide, with the sides about 8 inches high
for half the length, and then sloped off to two inches at the end. There
was a bar about an inch high across the end to serve as a riffle, and on
the higher end of this box is a stationary box 14 inches square, with
sides 4 inches high and having a sheet iron bottom perforated with half
inch holes.
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