Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Sumpter miner. (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1905)
rr"j - I If THE SUMPTER MINER Wednesday, March i, 190$ f H OH, THE JOYFUL ITALIAN CLIMATE tho of Abas, tho early spring I shoutB miner of this camp. More snow I wiiIIh tho ranchors the lower valleys. Jj I tiger, linger, oh winter, in tho tap of spring! inoHtitiitoH tho mer chants and buBlnea-i moii of Sumpter, who kuow on which side tholr com erojal hroHfl is buttered. "Rotten roads!" grumble tho teamsters hotwoon gnashing of tooth. "Thero won't ho ouotigh snow water thin your to iiuiko a whlskoy chaser," walls th') placer minora from Sparta to Canyon, "and our giants will lay idle and our alulco hoxoa ho (imply." "Unloaa more hiiow falla in tho hllla, our alfalfa crops will ho fizzles, " ia tho melancholy plaint of tho valley farmera, "and our Hpuda will ho linked in the ground and our green peaa ho aa yellow jih the New Voik World." "Now ia the time to awlui tiie pup, 'cause tho pond ain't frozen up," chortles tho timely "poto. " Never aluco Mount llaldy waa a hole in the ground, hIuco tho im mortal Hoc waa a canine infant, tdnoo the morning stara sang their Hymphonln lullaby to a uat'tl world - -haa thero been such a winter ai thla one of l!l(M-5. "Winter" la a uiiHiioiiier. It Iiiih heeii a per piitiial May-day a continuoua vaudeville with April lions and liitnliH, and Juno hugs, and aummer huiibMiio aplrlta and fairiea, and humid moonlight trolea and giiomoH mid dworga, aa chief perforuierri In the atmoapherlc and meteoro logical comedy. Of couihu, there Iiiih lieeu hiiow, and freezes, mid Hidden NUti-zero Htunta of the thermometer, Jtud Arctic inoriiiiiga, when to hop out of hud and kindle a lire, clothed in the dlamphoiiioua drapery of a tduglo-plcoo robe do unit, with the mercury IlirtiiiK outrageously with the bulb at tho end of the tube, haa been provocative of Language spell oil with capital "L. " Likowiao, there have bwiiu huratod water pipea, and empty coal bina and vacant woodsheds, Kuoh things are inovlt able in a town which nintles between tho ahouldor-i of the lilue range of iiiouutiiiiiH, towering t',000 teet above the clam boachea ol the I'acitlc, and located at tin. ultlmute extremity of a funnel-like valley which fc'uthoiH all tho wintry winds within reuch and aliuuta them in one chilly Jdunt through tlio little end of the funnel. Long will live the memory of that cold Hiiap in tho early part of thin mouth, which aim toil from the other aide of the Aictio circle, whistled for a clear truck, opened the throttle to the limit, overlooked all way htiitioiia, and lauded in the lilue MountaliiH with a whoop aud riiur that fairly froze the the sap in -all the pine tieea. llaldy lake froze isolid, it ia wild, and split a wide urack in the (iraut county divide, J 1 Ito m water pitcher cracks on a cold night. On the other hand, future his toriaua will record the story written 011 the obverse Hide of the coin. Memory will ever retain a record of skloB aa beautifully blue as orer bout an azure arch over a sunny Noopolitau bay; of a sanguine sun, blazing itH roBO-dawu way over tho eaatorn poaks, Hailing majestically athwart a cloudless aky, and burning au orange aud pink and roao and blood-red path dowu tho western eud of tbo world, leaving a calm night aud a memory of a glowing, warm, peaceful, wonderful day. Nut Hoon will it bo forgotten that ou tho U.'ird day of February, iu the voar 1005 of our aweot contempt for leaa favored cllmoa, achool boya played marblea iu tho glad aunahiuo, rohiua aaug their matin lays, mead ow larka, full-throated, bathed the air iu wondoroualy aweot melody in welcome to aprlug, while over all au Italian aky, aud a Mower-land aim hung like gentle spirits, lout iu a voyage frirn aonio faraway Pacific ialo, where soft-lapping wavoH are liquid aunahiuo, aud whero apicy- Hconted aca-wiuda waft fragrance from the dream-like world beneath tho Southern Cross. All of which iu very nice, of course; but it don't buy anything that it, it'a too much Jiku a temper ance Hurmou at a browora' picnic, or au Orangeman iu a St. Patrick 'a Day parade. What tho matoriallHtio mining man and teamaterH aud valley farmera and morohauta with goods to Hell and deliver to mountain camps waul --ami want, prouy nan ia hiiow, aud plenty of it. They don't want roirh hub-deep with mud juat yet awhile; nor do they llnd auyhtiug at all pleasing iu tho proupect of a suow-wator short age this aummer for placer milling and irrlgatliu. Or course, some of the valley farmera are natural-burn poetH, aud can go out in tho cowyard these davH aud bathe iu the mellow suuahiue, and listen to molodloua carolling of tho dioky bird on tho worm fence, Hinging. In a spasm of sprlug-fever ecstacy and scratching ItH neck for very joy. Hut tho pi aHiirablo emotions felt at first by such a poet -farmer will soon give place to scowls, as ho pictures dry irrigation dltohoH, sick-lookiug cab bage patches, ot cetera, et cot., et. Hut the out-and-out poet, who poHHeHH"H no placer mine, nor potato patch, nor ore-hauliug contract, sings yo-ho for the glad aprlugtime, aud the line Italian climate, aud tho cerulean sky, and inch. What a pity that such sickeuiugly material things as Irrigating ditches and hydraulic giauts aud mucky roads should intervene iu a full apprecia tion of a short winter aud a beauti fully early spring. of the local miners' uuions the mine owners were compelled to abandon their intention in the matter. Since the conditions have considerably changed, tnere being far fewer white miner? iu the district than formerly, while it haa been clearly showu that it ia not possible to profitably operate many of the Allin hydraulic prop erties without largely reducing the coat of labor. Under these circum stances, reports Cousul Smith at Victoria, B. 0., 11 is probable that there will be loss opposition to the aoutemplated employment of Chinese labor, particularly as it 1b proposed to Increase the wagoB of white miners now in the district, who will be employed as foremen or overseers. STAND4RD OIL A STANDING MENACE Opp Mine a Big Producer. Reports come from the Opp mine that the new 10-stamp mill lately erected aud put iu oneratiou at thut mine ib turning out the gold at a rate that is extremely satisfactory to the owners. With a force of twenty men an avorage of thirty-five tons of ore ia milled per day aud tho gold pro duced ia close up to 81200 a day. On a recent cleanup after a 15 day's run, $1000 was taken from thojilates and concentrates wore saved that would yield 81500 and no oioati-up of tho mortars was made, which always hold considerable gold. This mine, which is located .'10 miles from (irant'a Push and a mile aud a half from Jacksonville, is owned by J. W. Opp, Dr. J. R Noddy aud R T. Perry, who have a close corporation known as tho Opp Mining compauy. No stock of this company ia for sale aud none was sold to install tho mill, tho capital buing supplied by those goutleuion. Tho building was erected for 20 stamps and the othor 10 stamps arc to bo put in at lo dhtaut day, but tho owners prefer to wait until auch time as they can meet the expense without involving themselves too heavily, foi they plan to have tho mill pay its way aud not have a big lot of stock out with tho owners clamoring for dlvidonda before the mine ia in perfect working order. Rogue River Courier. New Mineral Worth $1.50 a Pound. Chinese Miners in British Columbia. It has been found impossible to successfully work hydraulic mines in many portions of Hritish Columbia at the prices paid for white labor, aud iu consequence au effort is to bmade axaiu next sonsou to introduce Chi nese labor iu tho hydraulic mines at Atlin, iu tho northern section of that province. A few years ago a uumber of Japanese were taken iuto the dis trict for this purpose, but iu oouse- balmy, sunshiny days; of clear blue jquouco of tbo determined opposition A now miueral, valued at 8150 per hundred weight, has been discovered iu Ceylon. Tho fact is recorded iu tho report on tho results of tho min eral survey iu tho island, just issued, which statoH that a samplo which was (opposed to bo urauiuito, or pitchblende, provos, ou complete analysis, to bo a new mineral, which it is proposed to nanio "thorlauito. " Its principal constituent ia oxide of thorium, of which it contains 70.22 per cent, an amount far highor than that of any mineral known hitherto. Thoria, which is used iu the mauu f act ore of iucatidesceiit gas mantles, is scarce, aud is at present chiefly extracted fiom tho mouazito sands ot Brazil. "Thorianite," adds tho report, is also a radiative, aud a fent uoto to the report states, on tho au thority of Sir William Ramsay, that radium is present in tho miueral, aud that it furnished considerable quail titles of helium. Pumps for the I. X. L. Manager Fred T. Kelly, of the 1. X. L. mine, iu tho Greenhorns, an ouucea tnat he will leave for Chicago iu a few days to purcase a new pump iug plaut, to haudle the heavy flow of water at thla mine. Pond iug the in stallation of the new pumps, work has beeu suspeuded. About tweuty years ago in a con gressional investigation the methods of the Standard Oil company, then in its vigorous infancy, were laid bare. The rapid rise to power and affluence of au obscure corporation; the mys terious failure of established refiner ies, aud how men who had been wealthy and who had giveu employ ment to mauy operatives fouud their trade leaving them without knowing bow or why; the unaccountable prosperity of this new company; its offers to buy out its rivals, rejected at first and then reduced offers ac cepted all these things were dis closed. Other refiners bad complained of the railroads of discriminations, but the answer to these complaints was to show the books aud prove that the freight rates were the same. Then came tho final exposure of the secret rebates, which the company had obtained by various methods, aud which had enabled tbo Standard to ruin its rivals and tako possession of tbo oil trade of tho United Statos. All thoso things wero de scribed in a series of articles written for the Sun at the timo by tho late William L. Wilson. I Whou we cnusider the enormous powor and wealth of this corpora tion wo are forced to believe that even the United Statea, tho moat powerful couutry iu the world, is at a disadvantage iu a contest with it. The compauy controls tho produc tion, tho manufacture aud distribu tion of about two-thirds of the out put of American petroleum aud its products. It cau crush out any rival in any business with the utmost oaso. It fixes its owu priooB aud its own terms whou it buys or sell). It can omploy tho ublnst members of tho American bar to attend to its law huaiuopa; if thero aro venal legis latures or venal cougrossmou it Iiiih mouoy to buy thorn; it oan for coral 1 roada to do its biddiug. After spending millions iu tho ex touaiou of its business, building pipe Hues and acquiring oil fields for tho future, it dhtrlbutea from 140,000, 000 to 815,000,000 a year to it shareholders. The shares aro hell by a fow millionaires, who aio directors in the company, aud thoir divideuda onablo thorn to acquire by purchase of stock for invest ment the control of batiks, of trust companies, of railroads, of every ageucy of power which tho dreams ot avarice may suggest. Aud theso millions so iuvosted annually iu various enterprises yield other millions, and thus a vast amount of the wealth of the country is going into tho bauds of a few 'men, aud with this wealth a proportiou of power aud iu Jluuuce which it is not wholesomo to the body politic that a fow men should weild. Haltimoio Sun. Ore txhibit In Racket Store. Tom Gray closed a deal aud Joe Reed today for tho building ou Mill street, formerly occupied by the Racket store, iu which to iustall the permanent oro exhibit. Mrs. ilickok is the ageut for the property and siguod a lease for two years, with the privlege of exteuding it foi another year. Carpeuters are now at work iu the buildiug getting it ready for tho ore.