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About The Sumpter miner. (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (March 8, 1905)
THh bUMPTER MINhR ARTHUR BACKDOOR TONAPAHS THAT 5. V. EXTENSION bringing the east and the west to I get her, instead of sepaiatiug them, as It did In 1800. 1 faot, the whole J tendeuoy toward an Invesment basis of commercial and Industrial deal ings teude to unify tbe nation ao j oordlug to a rule In wblob politios has little oonoern.' Indeed, polltios I is Itself building upon Industrial and mam Wednesday, March 8, 1905 Arthur Buokbee, of Salt Lake, the genius who rehabilitated, retnoorpor Ifled and revamped the famous old Virtue mine, the process of evolu tion being from the lethargy of a five-year period of abandonment into a dividend-payer, arrived In Sumpter thh morning from Boise, where be hai located bis headquarters while developing mining properties near Sliver City, owned by himself and by the Canadian company which be represents. It was in 1001 that Mr. Buokbee closed down his com pany's Cumberland mine at Silver City aud devoted bis energies to re opening the old Virtue. A magnlfl cent success attended his effort). It is a mutter uf history that in J 1)01 from a pocket on the Chioago and Little Pittsburg claims of the Virtue group, Mr. Buokbee extracted ore of such fabulous richness in wire gold that one chunk, weighing 02 pounds, yieldod 814,000 in a crucible furuaoe, built especially to treat the wondrously rich quartz taken from the Chicago blow-out. Four sacks of ore were stored to await teatment, each sack weighing about 200 pounds, and worth lu the ag gregate 140,000. The tale of bow the Obioago pooket wmb discovered by Fred Braze, a verbal lease bolder, and of the trouble which followed be- fore Mr. Buokbee discovered the ex traordinary nature of the htrlke, has already been related In these columns. From the output of the Virtue during Mr. Buokbee's management, adjoin lug claims, including the Con-Virginia, owued by Hamburger & Keith, mining millionaires of Salt Lake, aud 1500 aorei of placer ground ou Virtue Hat were purchased. So successful was Mr. Buokbee's operation of the property that h's Canadian principals gave bim free hand aud carlo blanch to proceed upon whatever Hues of development he choose. Mr. Buck bee Immediately begau tbe sinking of a 1500-foot three compartment shaft, moving a 9100,000 deep-sinking plant from the Cumberland mine for that purpose. His plan was to get outside of the subterranean water course which caused so muob trouble in tbe old 800-foot Virtue shaft sink 'below tbe stoped out level of tbe fain jus 1200x800-foot Vrltue puysboot, aud cros-tcut to tbe eight known veins in tbe Virtue group. The undertaking was lather monu mental, both from a geological aud financial standpoint. Hardly bad he begun the carrying out of these plans, wbeu for some reason or other, hia Cauudiuu principals contracted a case of cold feet. On aooouut of an empty treasury, Mr. Buokbee wa forced to suHpeud all nparatious, aud the mine lay idle until a reorganiza tion of tbe oompauy was effected by Baker City nieu. J. K. Romig, of the Sauger mine, was installed at geueral uiauager, but very little is being doue. The Virtue is credited by United States mint reports with an agitregato production from 1802, tbe date of discovery, to 1808, of 32, 180,000. Mr. Buokbee's visit to Sumpter at this time is on buisuess iu conueotiou with tbe smelter. He is au enthusiastic believer in the future of Baker county as a great gold min ing oamp. Arthur Buokbee says: "There are Tonopahs and Goldfields In eastern Oregon. Yet there are uo stampedes. Why? "I would like to wager that had the old Virtue mine been In Nevada or Colorado when I was operatlug It a oouple of years ago, it would have caused the biggest mining excite ment ever known since '40. I toak out ore worth one dollar au ounce. From one chimney 1 ex tracted $105,000 lu less than a month. The ore was lousy with wire gold. Had that sort of thing happened in Nevada, Colorado, Mon tana or California or even Utah tele graph wires would bavo hummed with tbe news and n stain pede would have followed that would have put tho Tonopab rush to shame. "Now, why didn't the sensational incldeut at the Virtue cause a Htam pede? Fur oue thing, I guess it was because Pullmau oars run witbiu seven miles of the mine. No perilous juuruey was needed to reaoh the scene. No danger to health or per sonal safoty presented itself. Dis tanoo and inacaoslbllity were not lu evidence to create encbautmeut. It was too much like u bsok door strike. "I am willing to weaer that In a year or two there will be plenty of Tonopabs In Baker couuty miuus the stamped i , features. By this 1 mean that operatirs hereabouts will in a short time be I roduulng more gold than the Nevada camps pro duce. There Ib plenty of rich ore in Tonopab aud Goldfleld. We all acknowledge this fact. Bui a caaual glance over the hlatory of eastern Oregou will reveal iuatauoes of strikes of far more sonsutloual nature than have been reported from Nevada. "As agoneral proposition stampedes are bad things for a camp. Tboy create a suddeu prosperity, it is true, but the after-effect is bad. Depres sion in all business lines luevltably follows. I hope there will he uo stampedes to Baker couuty, but 1 waut to see aud am sure I will a steady development of the min eral resource of this camp along le gitimate and scientific line, knowing that such a policy will result soouer or later In tbe building up of a min ing iudustry here, bigger, broader, and more profitable than can ever ou our iu tbe stampede-camps of Ne vada." Permanent Ore Exhibit. Assltsant General Mauager J. 10. Reed, of the Sumpter ore exhibit, is rushing tbe work of remodelling tbe old racket store for a permanent home for tbe display. Contractor J. W. MoVickers, with a crew of met), is iustalliug platforms, shelves and wall cabinets. The Case Furniture company will repaper the interior aud lay linoleum ou the floor in a fow days. The various ub-distriot members of the board of mauagers report suoous iu securing ore for tbe exhibit, hut have beeu instructed by tbe assistant general mauager to hold buck their respective shipments uutil tbe permanent home is iu shape for reception. Tbe exhibit will be open at all hours cf the day, aud will be iu charge of a competeut mau. Tbe formal opening will probably be celebrated. Tbe Baker City Democrat an nounces that a map of the Sump ter Valley railroad company's 20 mile extension from Tipton to the John Day couutry has been filed In the United States land office at La Graude. The Democrat says that tblB meaus the oommeuoemeut of gradiug as soon as snow disap pear i. Speaking no doubt by the card, it announces that gradiug gangs aud equipment will arrive in a fow days. Tbe exfeuslou will be ouward to tbe summit of Dixie mountain lu Grant couuty. Tho compauy'a articles of incorporation provldo for a southern termluus at Burns. MINING MEN ARE COSMOPOLITANS There is small cbauoo for pro vluoiallsm among tbe miuiug dis tricts of tbe west. One will en counter a few sections of a strictly mining character where the citizens boast of tbelr "oldest Inhabitants," but where such places are fouud to day It is usuaally whewother Indus tries aud commercial pursuits have bee i built around them. "Gold Is whero you Dud it," aud the same may be said of the typical miuiug mau. You find him whore you find the gold. Tills fact im presses itself upou one who goes in to a now mining oamM whero old highways of acquaiutaiioosbip meet agaiu, aftor havlug divergod for a season. Ouo of tho first comers at Croode may, porobauoe, get into Cripple Creek ou au oarly stage, and the first mau met is au old aoqualu I uce from tbeComatock lode. One goes to the Kloudike iu 1807 aud the other to Tuuuder Mountain iu 1001. In 1004 they both meet agaiu at Goldfleld. Tbe mining Industry of the west comprises one grand domain. There is little to be said, aftor all, about state boundaries and county Hues. Tbe miuiug mau's local pride Is ex pressed iu terms of ouuees fine in the colors that his pan reveals. It is usually tbe citizen of a state wbo really have uotbiug to do with mill ing, except iu the matter of owuiug stock tokens of the busiuoss, that love to tell about their state's re sources as agaiuet those of a rival state. There are uo stale jealousies iu the autivo miuiug mau's makeup, wheu onoo he starts ou tho road. All mining states are good states to live in, aud the mining industry is the realm to which he owns allegiace .Sectionalism is not measiued by geographical lines, hut by common i merest. A few years ago, wheu the "silver" question was alive in poll tics, the west was aaoused uf section -ulism with some justice, perhans. The tendency now is for tho sec tionalism of the mining industry to widen its hounds aud take iu a good part of the United State. This is be caue of the special iuterest that tbe aut is takiug iu the resources of the west. Tbe mining industry is uuiuiuviuiai uvat i uub, nau uauuuii- I tatlou, for this very reason, la the order uf the day. In the Investment world the mining man ha spread out his own domain until it comprehends the country from west to east. It is one of the sigus of the times that eastern capital Is more than ever reaching out to commaud tbe opportunities that present themBelveB In the undevel oped mineral resources of the Rooky Mouualn region. Thoro are no state and seotioual Hues wheu It comes to industry and fiuauce. Dally Miuiug Record. BIG CHUNKS OP NATIVE COPPER FOR THE PAIR Oros are bolng gathered in con siderable quantity by many mining compaulos for tho exposition. The Fidelity Copper company, operating lu the Sevan Devils district of Idaho, aud Josephine county, Oregon, has sevral huudred pounda of high grado bornlte, glances aud somo remarkable chunks uf native copper, wbloh will be put ou exhlbltlou. Other com panies are awakening to the urgency of making a flue exhibit, aud applica tions for space grow more numerous. The time for completing arrangements la limited, aud many mining men are wakening to the value of the ex position wheu It Is almost too late. The Fidelity oompauy took its ore from the Seven Devils group, largely fiom tho surface cuts aud pita near1 tbe Kloluschmidt grado road. All of tho metal shows u state of thorough) oxidation. One of tho native metal nuggets weighs more than DO pounds, aud there are many weighing a few pounds each. William Trevor, vice presidout of the company, says that tho native metal as a rule is fouud ou tbe footwall of fhe vein croselug the Nugget claim, dlorlto beingJJ ou that aoutaut. Other veins have beeu opened. March 15 Is the date fixed by the management for resuming develop ment. At (bat time a considerable force is promised for drlvlvg a deep crosscut, wbloh already has ooppor Indications iu the face. HURD WILL DO BIG WORK THIS YtAR W. H. Hurd, of Portland, who operates tho Potosi aud Chelan group ol mines in the Greenhorns, passed through Humpter this moiuing, en route to tho hills from Ohicejio and Boston. Mr. Hurd states that he has heon most successful iu promoting and has surrounded hmiself with sufficient capital to do extensive work this year aud will commence operationa ou a large scale at once. Mr. (I ii id says money is plentiful iu the east aud the tendency is to in vest iu miuiug. fOastern Oregon milieu are much talked of aud have a good standing there. He says thou sands of people will visit Oregou this year aud much capital will oome ready for Investment in our wines. " Mi L ,- ..r