The Hood River Glacier

Albino Flies and White Rattlesnakes Discovered Below the Earth.

In connection with the resumption of mining along the famous "Blue lead" in this section a most peculiar discovery was made. Among the mines now being worked is the old Potter mine, owned by Mrs. Ben Bishop, and rechristened the Bishop mine. When the Bishop mine was first reopened one of the Will boys entered a dry slope leading to a second shaft whose existence was unknown, owing to a thick growth of brush and trees about it, and had nearly reached the shaft when he noticed a large number of flies buzzing about him in a very troublesome manner. He made several slaps at them, and accidentally caught one. On examining it by the aid of his lantern he was nearly startled into letting it go by the uncanny appearance of the insect. It was absolutely white, with the exception of its eyes, which, having the usual red color, seemed unusually large and prominent. The red-eyed white fly, while not being common, is not unknown in the older mines, particularly the deep coal mines of the east; but this is the first time, so far as known, that they have been found in any California mine where access to light and the open air are too easily obtainable for flies to remain below long enough to fade out. Scarcely had Mr. Will recovered from his surprise at the white flies when he was startled again, this time by the whirring sound of a rattlesnake's musical apparatus. Looking carefully around, he saw the eyes of the reptile and threw a rock at them. The rattling promptly ceased, and a mass of white, glistening convolutions writhed into view from behind a protruding boulder. A couple more rocks dispatched the creature, which proved to be a rattler over four feet long. One of the rocks thrown had knocked off a good part of his snakeship's rattles, so his age was not to be discovered, but he must have been an old fellow. The color of the snake was pure white. Though a temperate man Mr. Will was not fully satisfied that he was in his ordinary condition of sanity until he had dragged his prizes back to the newly opened shaft and listened to the expressions of surprise of his companions at the appearance of the two captures. Professor Harlow Ballard, of Buffalo, who was visiting Bangor in search of mineral specimens, secured the snake and several specimens of the white flies, which he has preserved and shipped to the east. The professor is of the opinion that the flies are the offspring of some imprisoned in the slope years ago by the rising of the water in the lower workings. The old and partially filled shaft allowed air, but no light, to enter the slope, while the stream flowing into the slope may have provided them with food. The snake, he thinks, may have been carried down by the water while very young, as it is scarcely possible that it is 30 years old, which it would have been had it remained there ever since the mine was flooded. What the reptile ate during its long captivity is among the mysteries. Since the reopening of the Bishop mine the white flies have entirely disappeared, and a few which Professor Ballard kept in a small glass case resumed the colors of ordinary house flies within a week after exposure to the light.--Bangor Cor. San Francisco Examiner.