We were into use layer now and the four foot cap was completely empty only pieces.we started down into the solid mass of glass and seeds and quickly realized that the
bottom wasn't going to be much better than the fill as everything was broken. I finally treed a fruit jar and it was a whole 1858 Mason
in a ground top wooden whittle mold, it had two little marks on the bottom a small bump and a small crude asterisk, figures most fragile thing in the pit and it's whole. Ricks next turn in the hole turned up
a clear fancy piece of glass that was OP. If we got anything whole out of this pit it was going to be good that I had no doubt of. we dug for a while longer with nothing but broken glass and ancient tops sporting crude
applied lips and twisted necks including three broken hosteters bitters one in a honey amber and the top of one that was olive green, this pit was 1850's or 60's and almost had to be the old pit we were looking for but the lack of
bottles was starting to seriously worry us. Next turn in the hole I cornered a crock beer... would this one be whole?... Nope! top half of it was gone "Damnit" before I left the hole I was cleaning a little out of
the NE corner and out popped an extremely crude ink that was close to pontilled well finally a good bottle! Rick and I were positive at this point that if we found any more bottles they would be collection pieces.
Rick's next turn in the hole would confirm our OP pit theory and also make us virtually physicaly ill. As I was standing above the hole contemplating the pit and lack of bottles I heard Rick say "Man this is going to make you
sick" He came out with a busted piece, one side the back and the bottom intact. It had the name of a city on the back and it said Liver Complaint
on the side the glass was green and paper thin in places and thick in others the most sickening thing about it was the huge OP on the bottom. Next I heard Rick say something and as I looked into the hole he was wiping off the front piece of the bottle which he had found "Dr. Hooflands German Bitters" Now I was really sick!
I got back into the hole and dug for a while but came up dry again, by this point the discouragement was really starting to set in. Rick got back in and started working on the NW corner of the pit. After
a while I heard him say that he had a bottle treed and that it was a good one if it was whole. He worked for about ten minutes and I couldn't get a good view of the bottle over his shoulder so I waited to see if it would be
hole. He finally came out with the bottle and it was whole and one look told me if it wasn't OP it was surely close. "Dr. Harter's Specific Ague" Rick finally said as he handed me the bottle with pride showing all over
his face, "Hmmm fruit jar oo Harter's I think I know which one I'll be picking if I win" I said as I looked at. It wasn't pontilled but it was wooden whittle mold and in mint condition, great bottle!
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