THE SUMPTER MINER.
vol I.
SUMPTER, OREGON, JANUARY 3, 1900.
NO. 17.
IV
SUMPTER
SUMMARIZED
Its Past, Active Present and
Promising Future.
GOLD IN THE HILLS.
This the Foundation Upon Which Its Pros
perity Rats. Its Nature-Given Position
to Command Local Commerce the As
surance of Permanency. Most Active
Camp on the Continent Today, and the
Boom Has Scarcely Begun.
The death of the old and the birth of
the new year always starts people who
own thinking apparatuses to conjuring
up the past and speculating on the future.
With Individuals these reveries, for such
they are, usually partake of so intense a
personal nature that they would interest
no second party, and even if they should,
said second party, unless a mind reader,
will never penetrate the secrets of such
musings with oneself, while yet the year
is very young. There is a philosophical
idea concealed in this awkwardly con
structed sentence, if the reader can only
discover it, which redeems these appa
rently irrelevant remarks from being Inex
cusably inappropriate to what follows
tor this story has nothing to do with sen
timent; it deals exclusively with material
tacts.
Now, with a newspaper, as distin
guished from the individual, although it
may be very much the same, it is alto
gether different and that's no josh,
either inasmuch as it can truthfully tell
what this season, pregnant with thoughts
of the past and hopes of the future, sug
gests relative to its locality, without em
barrassment to itself or fear that the
reader will yawn during its perusal; for
those who are not interested In the past,
present and tuture of Sumpter will skip
even this brief recital of its long, uninter
esting dormant period, its sudden awak
ening, its swift strides towards a position
ot Importance in the world and the prob
abilities of its reaching that position.
Sumpter has been a "camp" for lo,
these many years, and volumes could be
written on its history, based on the semi
traditional tales told by the pioneers who
happened in here during the early 'sixties
and had neither the enterprise to move on
or to take full advantage of what they
had here, but THE MlNEK doesn't care to
deal in ancient history.
Go back so short a time as one year,
and, so far as Sumpter itselt is concerned,
little of Interest can be found to record.
It was merely an unattractive mountain
village, the end of a logging road, the
headquarters of two or three stage lines;
it boasted of a general store, or maybe
two, a hotel, blacksmith shop, a barber
shop, where the he gossips congregated
to discuss neighborhood news and won
der when another mining sale would be
effected.
Hut even then, outside of the cam), a
few miles in this direction, a tritle further
oft in that direction, and ten or fifteen
miles over there, influences were at work
which could not be prevented from calling
into quick existence a thriving, prosper
ous town. For all around, in the neigh
boring gulches, far up in the surrounding
Blue mountains, gold was being taken
out of the ground. Capital that had be
come rusty waiting for Investment during
the previous years of depression, Its pro
verbial timidity having been overcome by
impatience, sought here successfully an
opportunity to secure that populistic bug
bear, the "unearned increment." Some
months previous one or two of the more
promising mines, that had been slowly
developed by long, arduous Individual
labor, had come into the hands of enter
prising men with money. Their value as
gold producers had been established. This
fact became noised around In Northwest
ern mining circles, and last spring manv
mining men, prospectors, promoters and
capitalists, visited the district. They
came, they saw and were conquered; the
sleepy days of Sumpter and the Sumpter
mining district were past.
Six months ago the impetus began to
be felt, some weeks later the name of
Sumpter "got Into the papers" and the
camp and its fame have been spreading
and growing ever since. In August the
deal was consummated whereby a syndi
cate of northern capitalists, from Rutte,
Spokane and Kosslaud, purchased loo
lots in the then platted town and about
600 acres of adjoining land. That set the
proposition afire, and since then all real
estate and mining boom records have
been smashed.
It is not necessary to give a job lot of
statistics In detail to prove the accuracy
of this assertion. The time has been too
short, the growth too rapid and those
mixed up In the transaction too busy for
any statistics of a reliable nature to have
been compiled. Those who have been
here during this brief period, about four
months, know that the population has in
creased from 400 or 400 to about 2500;
that the price and value of business prop
erty has jumped up on an average of 500
per cent, and in some cases the Increase
has been ten fold; that residence property
has increased proportionately; that rents
have more than quadrupled, and that to
day almost any price which one has the
nerve to ask can be secured for either bus-
Iness houses or residences. The volume
of business transacted here has kept pace
witn me growm aiong one ,.ues, as is
evidenced by the multiplication of busl
ness houses and the fact that all are kept
busy, and frankly confess that they are
making money. This is today the most
active, prosperous mining camp on the
American continent.
And do the conditions warrant this state
of affairs? Well, there is gold in the
mountains; plenty of It. This Has been
demonstrated by the successful operation
of mines, by primitive methods, for
twenty years.
During the past year or eighteen months
the most improved modern appliances
have been employed and the results are
still more satisfactory. The most famous
mining experts in the world have placed
the seal of their approval on the district.
Conservative mining men and their repre
sentatives from every where are here with
barrels of money to buy anything from a
promising prospect to a developed, produc
ing mine, prices ranging from a thousand
to a million dollars, and. sales are being
made daily. Hundreds of properties are
being opened and no discouraging report
has yet been made public. Every one in
a position to judge, say that one of the
great:st stampedes in the history of the
West will head this way in the early
spring; the O. R. & N. officials declare
that at least 20,000 people will come to
the Sumpter district this year.
And when any one tells you that Sump
ter will not receive far the greater portion
of this Immigration and the resulting
benefits, turn your further Investigation
to your Informant's motives, and it will be
found that he Is endeavoring to turn the
tide away from Sumpter, that his Inter
ests He elsewhere. Nature gave to Sump
ter the position of commercial command
in these mountains and no human effort
can take from her the scepter.
With these known facts as a basis on
which to estimate the future of the camp
and district, the reader must form his own
opinion. That the future is bright with
rich promise, is the sure thing; the extent
of the growth reaches Into the boundless
realm of mental speculation and there Is
where THE MINER draws the line; "rings
off."
HYDRANTS FINALLY ARRIVE.
Fifteen Will Be in Position by Saturday
Evening.
The long waited for hydrants have
finally arrived; twenty-eight In all, fifteen
of which are now being placed in position.
This work, Foreman Cornfield says, will
be finished by Saturday night, when the
water will be turned into the mains from
the reservoir.
Coming down from the reservoir on
Mill street, where the big main is laid, the
first hydrant Is located near the corner of
High street; the next is at North, the
third at Granite, the fourth at Auburn,
the fifth at Austin. At Austin and Bo
nanza there is another. On North street,
besides the one at the corner of Mill, there
will be placed one on Ronnua and an
other on Cracker. On Cracker there
will be one on the comer of Granite and
another near the warehouses, at the head
of Auburn, and one at the Intersection of
Auburn and Bonanza. On Granite, the
two already mentioned, at Gracker and
Mill, and two to the east of Mill, near the
school house, and one still further on.
J. H. Stoddard Buys l,5JO,000 Feet of Logs.
Manager Stoddard, of the Sumpter
Lumber company, denies the report that
his company will build a mill on the Tlet-
jen tract near town. He says that he has
hmih,,h(. timher .hen,. Ps,,.,i! tn
1 h mminil nnj .. ...if ...... ...! nnw ims
1 0e ouit ,okr,r lhercand ,iau,l)R t0 hs
; ,, ,,,, Hs con,ract Mmn ,,,, year
in which to remove the timber. The
water ditch broke last night, north of
town, and the mill was shut down a few
hours this morning while repairs were be
ing made.
Meeting of Fire Department This Evening.
About )oo was realized from the ball
given New Year evening for the benefit
of the Sumpter tire department. It was
equally successful socially, as It was
financially. During the evening, at the
request of Chief Shelton, Attorney Rich
ards announced that there would be a
meeting In Ellis opera house tills, Wednes
day, evening, for the purpose of perfecting
the organization of the volunteer fire de
partment, and requested all the young
men of the town to attend.
Work, Work, All the Time.
Joseph Barton, general freight and pas
senger agent of the Sumpter Valley road,
is In town today. Speaking of the'im
mense business the road is doing, he said:
"It is work, work, all the time,1' and that
is the feature of the situation that has
evidently left its Impression on him, one
of the officials who bears the extra burden
Imposed. He thinks realty values are
too high here.
New Furniture Store.
W. H. Allen has secured the building
on Center street, in the rear of the Sump
ter Meat market, and will put in a full
line of house furnishing goods, furniture,
cooking utensils, tinware and so forth.
He wiMalso deal in second hand goods.
STRIKE IN BUNKER HILL
LEDGE OF PAY ROCK UNCOVERED
IN THE CROSSCUT.
Twenty-Five Feet in Width and Assays
$6 to $22 in Gold-Anothcr Case of
"Never a Failure in the Sumpter District
When You Go Down" Company Owns
Three Claims on the Famous E. Ac E.
Lode Prominent Canadians the Princi
pal Owners.
Another mine has been added to the list
of those which can be cited to prove the
claim that there has never been a failure
in tills district to find good pay rock where
they have gone down deep.
The Bunker Hill had an excellent sur
face showing, the outcropplngs standing
in places forty feet high, but the values
were low. Had the property not been so
favorably situated, It would have required
much nerve and little judgment to spend
large sums of money In development
work, considering the unfavorable assays.
Rut It is known to be on the same ledge
as the North Hole, E. & E., Columbia
and Golconda on the northeast, with the
now no less famous Ibex to the south
west, and on that true fissure vein, where
values have Invariably. Increased with
depth, It was correctly thought that suc
cess was merely n matter of intelligent
and sufficient development; and on this
basis of calculation the work was Inaugu
rated. The ledge was tapped I'ecember 8,
when the crosscut had been driven joo
feet through country rock, at which point
the vein is 2$ feet in width. Since then they
have been drifting on the ledge, and up
to Dec. 31 had gone 100 feet. Indiscrimi
nate assays of ore from here run from six
to twenty-two dollars in gold and that's
pay rock.
The Bunker Hill company owns three
claims, one from which Its name is de
rived, the Myrtle, the Lilac and a mill
site, also called the Bunker Hill. The
head office of the company Is in Slier
brooke, Province of Quebec. The officers
are: President, Hon. M. H. Cochrane,
who is vice-president of the Eastern Town
ships Bank,- of Canada; vice-president,
C. A. French; secretary and treasurer,
Frank Thompson, of the banking firm of
Frank Thompson 4 Co., all of Slier-
brooke. J. J. Penhale has charge of the
office here In Sumnter. and In his capacity
as general manager of the company, is
directing the development work. Among
the directors are some of the leading
statesmen and bankers of Canada, and
one or two prominent mining men ol
Spokane.
Twenty men have been employed In
I the mine since August, and a depth of 12$
feet has been reached, bulking will be
the plan of development In future. The
company has on hand a complete com
pressor plant, which has not yet been
used, and it is quite probable that thl
will soon be installed, which will facili
tate more rapid development work, than
by the old means of hand drilling.
The time is not far off when a mill will
be required, making one more complete
mine to be added to the Sumpter district.
Death of Henry Duckworth.
Henry Duckworth, an old and much
respected citizen, died at McEweu today
of pneumonia. Funeral services and
burial Friday at his home.