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The Metal Matches By Taylor Nash Related to Emory L. Hamilton April 2, 1941 at Wise, VA. His great-grandfather, Jessee Ramey, one of the first to settle in Wise Co. from the Carolinas told him this. From the WPA Project Papers, The Alderman Library, The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. We was goin through the Coeburn section along back about the year 1849 an a lot of talk had seeped through this country somehow 'bout gold bein found in the West somewhere an a lot of people pulled out an after sellin lock, stock an barrel started in that direction. I met a man one day an first heard of Silver bein in this country. Well, since then I was one my toes all the time to see or hear what I could about anything of that sort. Later, I come into knowin him an a year or so after I had met him I heard all kinds of tales about him. Once though, I had a experience that taught me to not make so light of the stories I d heard an since then I knew what I s talkin 'bout. Well, me and some of the fellers from the Town of Coeburn, it wasn t that then though, an a pal from the old trail country near the Carolina Line was caught in a rain storm one cold evenin an had to take to the trees fer shelter. The trees don t help much in a downpour though I guess an we was ringin wet 'fore we knowed what it was all 'bout. We stumbled 'round in the half darkness an misty rain till finally come to a small cave of a sort under a big rock an under it we slid. Ever 'thing we had was wet an as the night drawed on we was awful cold an not comfortable at all. I was layin on my stomach an felt somethin hard beneath me but for a while thought it was some loose rock or shale that had fell from the top of the little cave but it kept hurtin me sorta an I twisted an turned till I could get my han s on it. Well, Sir, it was some of the brown slag-like metal that had been melted somehow an left in the bottom of that little cave. As I said I had by then made up my mind 'bout Swift an his silver an had it in my head that he had put some metal 'round somewhere an shore 'nough this looked like it was partly silver an some kind of hard metal an slagg of some kind. It was still pourin the rain an we had to stay there all night an long 'bout at midnight I wanted to smoke my pipe an couldn t do without it long but I knew we had to be careful 'bout Indians but I knew they couldn t see an it rainin so hard and I then found that I couldn t light my pipe as ever thing was wet an there I was layin there holdin this old piece of metal in my hands cussin 'cause I ouldn t smoke. I give the ole piece of metal a rake down over the face of the rock over our heads a what do you think happened? Sparks flew out of it in a streak an when I looked at it close I saw that there was some flint of a sort in with the other metal. Well, we smoked but we was careful not to make too much fire an I used the flint for fires when huntin on many trips huntin later. I told this to some people an when they saw the metal pieces I had found they too thought of Swifts Silver an all said they thought he had hit it in this country. I could warp that stone partly with straw an swife it over a rock an have a fire in no time to tell. I could light paper too if it was good an dry. |
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