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About The Sumpter miner. (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 17, 1904)
&i i? THE SUMPTER MINER Wednesday, August 17. 1904 THE TYPICAL PROSPECTOR Volumes have boon writtoti about the prospector arid tho atory then only half told. Ho lu u oroaturu of hope, optimiHin, cheer and industry. With it grubHtako and a box of pow der ho will toil on day after day and lilno tlmoH out nf ton Ih like tho triHhnian who Hold a initio for 3H, which afterwards paid millioiiH in divldondH, will never sell "until ho digs thu other fut. " For one foot deeper in tho IrlHhinau'H abaft bo nana oro wiih uncovered. Had DlokuiiH, Thackeray, or ovon (iourgo Ado discovered 'tho goiuiH prospector what doForiptiotiH might wo not expect from thoiu. Hut biiiiod in tho mountain, Holltudo, (untouclmd liy tho csuri'H, Wiles' 'and vIcoh of civilization, ho Hvoh and dioH. SomotlmoH ho makoH a' wlo, and, betaking hiuiHolf to tho noaroHt camp, blowH it In against wiuo, woiiiou and faro bank. At IiIh cabin ho Ih a prince in paupor'H apparol, bin latch Hiring Ih alwayH mil, and if you bo hungry or tirod, food and nloop may bo yours with out ovou ho much an tho asking. JO. .1. Kennedy, of tho Coldon West, mini!, down uoar Koohford. huiiih up tho prospector in a littlo book oallod "Tho Mack Hills" in a iiiaunor HouiidiiiK like I'-v-ra Kendal, MiyH tho Deadwood IMomior TIiiioh. Of tho truo prospector ho troatri tho mattor fairly and squarely, and ho for tho oiuakor woll, wo havo all mot him. Ho Ih alwayH on bund, liko a sore finger. "Mini iik," Hiiyri Mr. Konuody, "liko ovory othor industry, Iiiih I(h peculiarities only morn of thorn. Commencing with tho prospector and li Ih proHpoct holo, wo confront a propoHltiou both iiuiiiio and inter esting. Conoinlly speaking, thu pros pector In a man who novor hud any thing and uovorwill not ovon a wlfo. Ho roaiiiH ovor tho moiiutaiuH, with a few pack animalH, building cablna hunt and thoro, and digging IioIoh in search of oro, and only 0110 pros pmitor out of tlfty ovor IIihIh any thing that aitorwaidH booomoH a tm tin of any coiiHoqiionoo. "Ho Ih a man ahln to Htand lotH of haulHliipH, Hvoh principally on tlapjankH and plg'H bosom in times of prosperity, and whoii ho in out of luck, an ho ciiIIh It -which iiioiiuh whoii tho faro tabic workH bad ho will out undent tin ciiiih, old rubber bootH or any old t hi iik- H" Ih alwayH leu ly to pick up and run to every new million o.vltomont. Money and (1 int iiiifo cut no figure. He will sell you hlri claim for Slfi. It Ih tiuo ho asked you a million for it a month before. Hut lie llnally runs hiuiHelf down in the ouursojof yearn. Then, again, ho alwayH IIiiiIh jiih! what ho was luokiug f'"' all "I" Hfe, in very largo leads of high grade ore! Ho Ih unable to hIiow it to you, but ho known it in there. Can't you nee the formation Why, it Ih just liko the Huuiostako, for all the world and right in line I' " 'Hut, old 1111111, Il'h a littlo lean right luuu. in it notY' " 'Oh, yen; but you know tho Holy Terror mine at Keystone had a loan Htrouk lu it. Vou must go deep.' "Then it Ih discovered that the old iiimii has contracted tho pros pectus oouimoiily called 'quartz crazy' mid from that day ou be in tb happiaat mortal on earth, h Itoulua that auy millionaire might onvy I He Uvea Id exalted expecta tion. Ho bus u million, but can't nond u cent 'just now.' But be la good old bouI, .and will give you half of anything ho baa got in hie cabin, and will stnko you when ho soils hia mlrio if ho be a true proapoutor. "There la of odd humanity in thla unique) diatriot atill another tpyo tho would-bo proHpootor, known ua tho oroakor. Thla Hpooimon aitH in tho dark and predicts diaaator. Progress and ontorprlHo aro hla por potual night maro, and a auggoation of adopting modorn mothoda la to him an emetic. Ho la a man who attomptH to diaguiao cowardice and timidity under the name of 'oon Horvatiam.' "Ho Ih praticularly couapicuoua during tlinoa of proaperlty, propheay lug the early onllapHo of what ho ciiIIh an 'unnatural boom.' JIo aeoa in every mining doal a atock-jobbiug Hchemo, and ovory aiiocoHaful atriko Ih regarded by him aa a booat to raiao the price of Hharea. lie coudomua ovory Hoction of tho country except tho one ho may be interctHod in, and with him ovory winiplo of ore lu 'Halted' or the iiHHayor a fraud. "Ho haa boon uiiHUCco.Haful himaolf and hooh everything going that way. Ho uovor hoM a piece of ground in bin life ho did not havo the nerve --ho wiih afraid hoiiio one would make Homethlng out of it. "On the whole tho typical proa poolor Ih a hlosHing to tho community and a doproHHiug proHpoctor of thla atripo Ih a nuisance to tho community and a doproHHiug iullueiice for the country at large." SECONDARY ENRICHMENl The Hooondary onriclnnout of oro dopoHitH by the oxidation of the orea of the Htilphide .one, and the rep re cipitatiou of the muioralH under con ditloiiH which wore favorable to thoir rodiHpoHitiou, at lower IovoIh, Iiiih come to bo accepted iih a fact, but there are instances wherein it Ih ditllcult to account for the extreme lictinoHft of Home of the oro found in tho one oC oniiohinonti The phe nomena have been chiotly studied with roferonco to the copper depoaitH of Mntto, Montana, which appear to oiler tho mont tangiblo evidence to Hiipport thiH really rational theory. It wiih recognized for many yearn, before the "secondary enrichment" theory took detluite nhape, that thu iron gossan of many coppur bearing dopoHitH hail been deprived, to a great extent, of the copper coiitoutH, and that in many hiataiiccs, beneath the "iron hut" wiih found a one of rich carbonate and oxide nron of copper, beneath which again wiih an ; enriched Hiilphido zone, in which the ores wore usually "glance" and similar minerals with high values in silver or gold, or both. It was realized or believed that these rich ones were tho rolult of tho pieclpiiition of ores from tho ox id l.ed Hiirfaco portions, but the secondary enrichment theory, as now generally understood, bad not yet been ottered to account for those occurrences, lu most cases where the secondary enrichment of copper ores hud occurred the amount of superficial ore which has been leached haa evidently boon suttlcleut to furnish all the copper found iu the zoue of enrichment. There are, however, other deposit, wherein the enrichment must have been produced by the continued precipitation of solutions from below within the zone of and during the period of oxidation, for no other theory could account for the unusual richness of the oroB, and their amount. Take, aa an example, the rich chloride silver-lead deposits of Fryer hill, at Leadville, Colorado. The famous mines of that fiat emiuouce tho Robert E. Lee, Matchless, Little Pittsburg, Annie, Littlo Chiof, Chryaolito and othorB all within tho oxidized zone, and occur ing rolativoly within a few feet of tho aurfaco aud above tho horizon of local drainage and conscquouly of poHBlblo secondary enrichment produced milliona of dollars. It la now a well known fact, long Hiiicoeatabilahed that the normal oro of .tho loud-silver mines of that district aro low grade pyritous ores, containing an abundauco of zinc sulphide aud hoiiio coppor sulphide, aud that the normal oro, with "a few except Ioiih, Ih now in silver. On Fryer hill there was not ouough oro available above- -the lovol of these rich depoaiH to havo supplied the liirgo amount of silver 'chloride aud sul phide found in those noted deposits, wlthlif tho zone -of secondary enrichment, consequently the large amount of Hilver, mrstly as the secondary products of the alternation of silver sulphide, must have boon derived from below, not necessarily from the ore lying iu the immediate neighborhood of the rich superficial deposits, but more probably from HolutioiiH which continue to rise from great depth, and which supplied the ore found in the normal deposits. There Ih no ovidouco, in fact, that thoao HolutioiiH are not atill riaing, and by thoir slow aud imperceptible action Htill forming ore bodies. Thu evidence furuishod by the exposure of thu rock strata in mine workings in Leadville diatriot loads to tho conclusion that tho oris woro formed iu' Hourly horizontal beds at great dopth not less, probably, than 10,000 feot, aud that tho fault ing which Ih such a marked foaturo of the district, geologically, topo graphically, and iucidontally com moruially, occurred loug afterward, but there is no evidence that, tho mineral solutions are not still coming up from the barysphore. It is an established fact that minerals aro being deposited In certain fumaroleu and hot spring formations, whore the solfatariu action Ih Htill iu ovidouco, as at Steamboat Springs, Washoe county, Nevada, aud at Sulphurbauk, California. Curiously enough, tho principal mineral doposlted iu each of these instances Ih cinnabar, thougfi at the former place, it is said ou good authority, both gold aud silver also exist. An attempt was recently made to mine at Steamboat Springs,!! shaft being sunk iu the deposit, which, had it proven successful, would doubtless have furnished much valuable information iu reference to thu formation of mineral deposits; but the great heat of thu mineral workings, the sul phurous gases, hot water aud thu low grade of thu oru found uuidu thu attempt commercially aud prac tically abortive. Thu Comstock Lode at Virignia City, Nuvada, atfords ouu of thu most notable examples of extensive mineral deposition as a result of aolfatarlo actiou, aud without doubt mineral is atill bo ing deposited iu that system of fissures. To what the bouauza deposits owe tbeli origin is a matter for discuwiou. Mining and Scientific Preaa. DRIVE LONG TUNNEL ON GOLDEN WIZZARD J. M. MoPbee, manager of the Ooloden Wiuzrd Mining and Milling compauy, returned today from Tacoma, whoi" be went with Dr. L. O. Miller, ol J iiree Kivors. Michi gan, presideut of tho company, a woek ago to attoud tho annual stockholders meeting. With tho exception of two now directors elected to tako tho places of K. Frury, Michigan, and C. E. Peterson, of Tacoma, who has moved to Ruyomud temporarily and could not sorvo ou this account, the oiiicers aro tho same as before. Tho now directors are C. F. Owen, of Tacoma, mi no inspector for Washington, and Dr. McOmber, of Uerrior Springs, Michigan. The oflicors are as follews: Dr. L. O. Miller,- Threo KiveiB, presi dent; A. 11. Cardiier, Threo Kiveis, vlco presidout; .A. 11. Hunker, Three Uivers, secretary aud treasurer; .1. M. McPhou, of Sumptur, goueial manager. These with tho two named form tho directorate. Tho minutes of a mooting which wiih held in Michigan just before Dr. Miller came west were read aud othor important, business transacted. The stockholders have concluded to make survoys for a tunnel at some point on Stovepipe gulch, where sufficient depth can bo obtained and drive a tunnel to drain the heavy flood of watot from tho ininu. This tunnel will tako somo twelve to fifteen months and wheu completed will give plonty of backs to last tho mill a number of yours. Consequently it wiih decided to dispose of tho sink ing plant now at tho mlno aud turn this mouoy into tunnel work. Dr. Miller left for Micbigau after tho adjournment of (tho meeting. Speaking of thu minutes of the meet ing reforrod to above, Mr. McPhee HayHttitffciK? niiii "When those become known to thu pnoplo of tho district, as 1 intend thoy shall bo, they will very likely seo that there aro times when thu local aud loug distance tenderfoot aud tinhorn knockers are badly mistaken." Thoro was only ouo copy of the minutes in question, aud Dr. Miller took his back with him, but Mr. McPhoo intends to havo a duplicate sent him, which ho thinks will place auothor phase on the situation. E. & E. SAWMILL STARTED TODAY The North Pole sawmill, operated by William Kobertsou, closed down yeserday for the roasou that a suf ficient supply of lumber had not been socurod, tiii'l Mr. Kohortson moved his crew down to the E. aud E. saw mill, just above town, of which he also has charge. He started cutting thoro today. Tho E. aud E. compauy is getting out. lumber for the new cyanide plant which is to be erected at onco. The democrats of Miuesota say they are goiug to run J. J. Hill for governor, aud his boom has passed tho formative stage. J. J. is a life loug democrat generally speaking, but a republicau iu spots, as self interest prompts. For instauce, in Washington he is with the repub licans tooth aud nail to defeat the railway commiasion.