Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Sumpter miner. (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 1904)
"Wli in jrjwMffNW 'y J. ss- -- iiiiii.i niinawwnwwp wf-"W' Wednesday, December 7. 1904 THE SUMPTER MINER 1W-7P- OLD PIONEER IN SUMPTER Pilotted a Pack Train From The Dalles Over Blue Mountains in '63. Camped on the Sites Where Pendle ton and Baker City Now Stand Before Either those Cities Was Dreamed of. A man who pilotted a paak train from tho Columbia river to Hoho iiasin, when tho west was young; who oatupnd ou the situs of tho present prosperous towns of Pendle ton au'J Baker City beforo a single bouse was built at the former place, aud long bofore it was oven vaguoly imagined that the loue ranch which thou marked tho site of Uaker City would blossom into tho commercial metropolis of eastern Oregon tbla mau has been in Sumpter for thice days, and departed this afternoon for hi home In Arl'ngtou, Oregon. Ilia uame is .lames M. Johns, aud be is the parent of Hon. Charles A. Jobus, mayor-elect of Maker City, aud of Cato J. Johns, who may be the next mayor of Sumpter. The elder Johns was oue of the builders of tho Northwest, an honored Oregon pioueor. He waa born sevonty years ago, in Ohio, re moved in 18i!i to Indiana, aud tho following year joined the exodus to Kansas, which was thou a terra in cognito. In 18f)0 ho moved to Jackson county, Missouri, where he married Miss Elizabeth Auua Darby, a Kentucky, girl, who la still hl9 loving aud beloved helpmate, accom panying him ou bis visit to Sump ter. In 1 857 the oldest sou, Charles, waa born in Missouri, and the year following the family started for the great .Oregon .country, .. via the Isthmua of Pauaina, arriving in Marion county in 1858, the year prior to the admission of Oregon to statehood. From Mariou county the Johns moved to Lyuu, aud in later years to Gilliam. It waa iu 1803 that the elder Jouba, after shipping a quautity of provisions and food from Portlaud to The Dulles by water, started with a train of forty pack animals for the mines in Boise basin. He did uot follow the beateu track of pack trains, pre feriug the Umatilla rivur route, and over the Hlue mouuatina. While making the trip be camped where Teudletou uow stauda, but which at that time waa an uuinbabited soli tude, except for coyotes aud wander ing ludiaua. After crossing the mouutaiua he camped oue night on the preaeut site of Baker City, which was tbeu a lone ranch, although Auburn, six miles up in the bills, was a camp of over 2,u00 souls. Mr. Johns is editor and proprietor of the Arlington Record and of the Bickleton News, across the river in Klickitat couuty. Oue of bia daughters, Mrs. Jobu Neal, who is a pioneer of Harney and Grant couutieH was one time owner of tho (Jraut Couuty News. The jourualistio tern pertneut seems to run in the family, aud it is odd that neither Charley nor Cato, both politicians and political leaders, never hutted into uewspaperdom. The elder JobuB and his wifo re turned this afternoon to Arlington. Curious Facts About Radium. Hadium never ceases to emit energy iu tho form of light, aud is per petually bombardiug its Biirrouud lugs with minuto particle? of its bud stauce, acting at the same time as a regenerative furuace, which, though without apparreut apparatus for re newals, is warranted to retain its heat energy for more tbau 2,000 years. Professor Rutherford aud 'Mr. Soddy olfer solution of this double conundrum. They allege that the corpuscles of the radium are constantly colliding, thus developing a state of chronic friction aud dis ruption competent to furnish tho phenomenal euergies of heat aud motion which tho radium displays, his belief, though accepted with considerable limitations by Sir V. Crookes, is repudiated as revolution ary by Lord Kelvin, who will not even entertain the idea of the dis integration theory as a working hypothesis. Noting the Curio itutberfurd estimate of the tre meudous pace at which radium spits forth boat for about a year, Lord Kolvin says that if this amazing omisbiou really lasts month after mouth, fresh energy must somehow be supplied from without, other wise the calometrio apparatu of tho atoms must fall out of workiug order. In other words, the requisite stoking la done by the waves of the ether which bring to the furnace fresh loads of euergy ad libitum. Still more conservative aie the eminent M. Berhtelot and his fullowors, who assort that the new radio-activity is possessed by almost all known bodies, aud that radium, like phosphorus, receives its euergy from the sun. Hxchaugo. GOLD STEALING IS UNIVERSAL The questiou of gold stealing iu Western Australia baa recently bdeu agaiu before tbe Chamber of Mines of westorn Australia. In a reoeut issue of tbe monthly maga.iue it is stated that some eighteen mouths ago there were Ufty receivers kuowu to the police, of whom one gentle man, whoae record was disclosed, was able to dispatch through bis bank about H0O ounces of smelted gold a mouth. The state of affairs was in fact so bad that the Police Act was amended to deal with the matter, aud for tbe time apparently with satis factory results. Familiarity, how ever, is said to be uow breeding, if not contempt, at least skill, iu eva sion, aud tbe Chamber is asking for more drastic peualties. At thy same time difficulties are no doubt ex perienced in administering tbe law from popularity of tbe praotice as revealed by tbe exteut of tbe loss. Western Australia is uot the only field which suffers; it is a commou complaint co-extensive with gold mining. SVbere fields differ it ia witbiu tbe power or good will of the legislature aud exocutive to curb the practice As a rule with colored labor, as iu tbe Transvaal, whore obstacles to drastic legislation are uot the wmo as among white miners who eujoy the franchise, the ques tiou. is more easily dealt with, though iu British Guiana we have boeu told the administration dare uot interfere, aud the difficulty in tbo case or large mines being opoued would be a most serious one. West Africa, too, does not seem to bo too well situated iu this respect, aud the local paper bears witness to the extent of I ho practice ou t hi Kolar field. In tho Transvaal the loaders of the mining industry, with their Kimberloy I. D. H. expi riuiico, possess perhaps the most effect ivo legal control. Uudor section 118 of tho present Gold Law, trading iu the commodity with a native involves a maximum penalty of .CI ,000 tine or five years imprisonment, or both, while iu the case of the colored person for the flue til ty lashes Is sub stituted. The same penalties are provided under Section 12 of the Unwronght Precious Metals Trading Ordinance of lOO.'t. This act. further restiicls the trade to licensed traders (who must pay .tUft a year), bankers and claim holders as regardH the produce of their own claims, under maximum penalties of tiUK) line or two years imprisoi.meut, or both for a first oil'ense aud for subsequent transgressions the same penaKies as for trading with a colored person. Oue important provision is that a register mint be kept' iu which with in twenty-four hours all transactions are lecnrded, showing parties, price, and weight of metal, under a penalty of 50 flue, or in default six mouths imprisonment. It is a commou feature of such legislation that tho accused has to establish his inno cence, aud the temptation (o "traps" is. of course, such that among white communities there is great reluctance to entrust tho police with the arbi trary power which (he executive of such measures involves. At the same time it is probably more satisfactory to all concerned than to leave it in the hands of the management to adopt a system of scrutiny and search, the effect of which iu the case of the Lucknow mines will be remembered by many. In a good many cases something might bo done by acts of local ap plication to consult public con vouiouce without diminishing the efficiency of tho control. Loudon Mining Journal. Beautiful Columbia River folder. The passenger department of the Oregon Hailroad & Navigation com pany has just issued a beautiful and costly pauoramio folder ontitled"Tht Columbia itiver, Through the Cascade Mountains, to the Pacific Ocean." From Arliugton to Portlaud, aud from Portlaud to the Paul tic ocean every curve of the river aud every poiut of interest are shown, while Mount i'ood, Mount Auams, aud Mouut St. Helens, perpetually cov ered with snow, stand in all thoir beauty. On the back of (he map ia au interesting story in detail of the trip from Huntington to Portlaud aud, from Portlaud to the ocean, uot overlooking the beaches aud the San Frcisco trip by ocean. Acopy of this folder may be secured by sending four cents iu stamps to pay postage to A. L. Craig, General Passenger agent for the Oregon Haiti oad A Navigation compauy, Portland, Ore gou. By sending the address of snm frieud iu the east, aud four cents in postage, the folder will lie promdtly mailed. hSseillllMANtiF && Only transcontinental line dnssing directly through Salt Lake City, Leadville .'' I Colorado Springs and Denver Three splendidly equipped ' tra na daily TO Aid. POINTS EAST. Through Sleeping nud Dining Cars and free Reclining Chair Cars. The most Magnificent .scenery in America by daylight. Stop overs allowed on nil classofl of ticket h. I'or cheapest rates and descriptive literature, address W. C. McBRIDE; - General Agent RIO GRANDE LINES Portland Oncoon Oregon SHOIgrUNE and union Pacific TO Salt Lake, Denver, Kansas City. CHIC4B0 ST. LOUIS NEW YORK Ocean steamers between Portlaud and San Francisco every five dy. L.ow Rati ! Tickets to awl from nil arU of the United States, Canada and Europt. Through Pullman Standard and Tourist Sleeping Cars daily to Omaha, Chicago, Spokane; TourNt Sleeping car daily to Kansas City; through I'ullmau tourist sleeping oars (per sonally conducted) weekly to Chi cago, Kunsav City; reclining chair cars (aeats free) to the Fast daily. For particulars, call ou at addreas M C. IkjwKMs, Agent, Maker City, Or. m A ii