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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 12, 1905)
3 THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, FEBRUARY 12, 1905. NEW FIND OF PRECIOUS METAL IN NEVADA Stampede to the Sage" Brush Town of Goldfield Wnich Numbers 8000 People. TO SI J AGGERS -An Old Nevada Mfahy Prospector Who Hu Staked Out a. Dozsn Claims on. tho Nevada Desert. HAIK ETXEXT, GOEDFED. FIRST PACK TBATN TO GOLDFTEUD. QOLiDFIKLD, Nov., Feb. 7. (Special Correspondence- of The Sunday-Ore-gonlan.) Stage coaches, automobiles and every other kind of conveyance known to civilization arc landing hundreds of newcomers hero .dally. A stampede to Nevada's great new goldfields. has begun. Eight thousand people arc already camped on the ground, and at the present rate of increase 25,000 people will be here by Springtime. Lees than a year and a half ago this epot Tims an unpopulated strip of moun tainous desort. A couple of young pros pectors located a claim In the district, where the outcropplngs of sold ore as &yod into five figures, and then a rush ensued hero Xrom Tonopah, the mining camp 30 miles north. In the camp's early months the enor mous surface values were soon and ad mitted, but tho question arose, "Will these great, ledges and values continue, or will o lew feet find them exhausted?" Four great properties have since shipped over $4,000,000 worth of high-grade ore out of the district. This announcement has giv en tho stamp of permanency to the camp that is responsible for tho stampede. Rich, strikes of high-grade ore, pome as Baying as high as 520,000 per ton. are being reported daily in half a dozen direc tions, and people arc spreading out in tbe district, buying claims, locating townsites, opening stores, speculating in mining clocks and otherwise contributing to the tumult. A Wide-Open Town. The- town, of course, is wide open. It is very much like Leadvllle in '79 and 'SO. The restaurants and the saloons (of which there are about 30, and moro coming in) arc filled -with men. At the faro tables and the roulette -wheels the players arc , three and four deep. The city haB a j waterworks system on a small scale, but cleanliness is not encouraged, a bath costing $1. There is dust everywhere. It is fully six inches deep on Main street. It rises in clouds and envelopes everything In sight, Living is cxpenHlvc; a fairly eatable meal can be procured for 51. Wood at 520 ; per cord is equal to the demand, but there is no coal. I Peaked faces, rosy faces, faces like sun- i shin and faces over which ripple all shadows of expression arc seen in the I crowds. Every ono has money. The clink of 520 gold pieces, for no papor currency , is seen here, mingles with the noise of . the carpenter's hammer, which is heard i everywhere. Whoro not much over a 'year ago was an arid stretch of defcert a city i3 being raised in a nighU Town lots .on Main street aro selling as high as 5S000 each. Milk fetches 25 cents per quart, sugar, 20 cents per pound; kero sene oil. GO. cents per gallon; kindling "wood, 51S ppr cord, and other commodi ties in proportion. Working Up Enthusiasm. Town boomers arc handing out figures on tho street corners and convincing every Doubting Thomas that he has at last reached the land of honey and that Nevada's newly discovered mineral zone Is "the greatest over known." Up in Al aska, the great Treadwell mine is grind ing out a profit on oro that runs as low as 53 per ton. Here in the Goldfield dis trict, it is pointed out, where it costs $56 per ton to. move ore by mule-team to the nearest shipping point, 27 miles away, any ore that won't produce 5106 in gold to the ton is left on the dumps and not considered worthy of shipment. Mining engineers add to the enthusi asm. They describe the mineral zone, of which Goldfield is the center, as fully 200 miles in length and 60 miles in width. Thirty-five hundred claims are already staked out and over 150 mines are in ac tual operation. Every dollar now used In developing the mines is dividend money realized from prior oro shipments. The argument carries force. Men of capital who helped develop Tonopah and old-time mining men from Colorado, California and Utah contribute further to the excitement. In five years, they say. six giant properties have been developed on the same stretch of moun tainous desert at Tonopah. Over one hundred millions of gold producing ore has been blocked out there and is in sight. In a quarter of that period- Gold field presents twenty mines with ship ping ore, with tho oro bodies larger and the values greater than any found at Tonopah. The record of four millions of ore shipped from the Goldfield district during its first year smashes tho record of Tonopah, Leadville, and Cripple Creek and ties the showing of the Klondike for a like period, stamping the Goldfield dis trict as a mineral wonder. Not a single shaft, they point out. has been sunk in a Goldfield mine further than a depth of 350 feet as yet, whereas in Tonopah shafts have been put down below the 1000 foot level. Some Figures on Ore. About 7500 tons of ore, valued at from S300 to" 5500 per ton, are leaving camp weekly, and the second year of Gold field's activity will surely exceed its first, hut not all the oro is being shipped that might be.An endeavor Is being made by mine owners to block out the ledges un derground, to discover in that way tho true value of tholr holdings. Most of them don't know how rich they are yet. Besides, new finds aro apparently so easy in other sections of the desert, further south, that a great amount of force Is being spent in that direction. It seems apparent that the camp which has pro duced more valuable shipping ore in the flrat year of Its existence than did Lcad vllle, by 2000 per cent, and has equalled in that time the output of Cripple Creek during the first three years of its" his tory, is only in its formative period. The opinion seems to be honestly and widely THE TOWX OF GOtDiTKLD. THE MATTi COACH. 200-FOOT LEDGB OF HIGH-GRADE GOLD ORE. LKDGE OF GOLD ORE THAT CROPS OUT FOR 4000 FEET. entertained that It will take 10 years to . remove the ore bodies now in sight and J that if the development work continues j to showv at lower levels, what it has al- j ready shown near the surface. 50 years will be necesary to make a clean up. Four banks are doing a land-office business here. They get from one to throe per cent per month for time loans, and already have over 51,000,000 on deposit. There are a number of substantial business housos that carry stocks valued at from 540,300 to 560,000, and all are doing a big business. A magnificent hotel is to be built at once, the town is to be lighted with elec tricity and there is a project under way, for the construction of an elec tric line from Goldfield to the neigh boring towns of tho district. That a railroad will be built into the district within a very few months is assured. Tho town is rapidly assuming cosmo politan appearances, -and visitors to camp during the next twelvemonth will be provided with every comfort that could reasonably be expected In a min ing center Stories of Trick Fortunes. Stories of fortunes made in a night are heard on every side. Some of these are the results of fevered imagina tions, but any number of instances can bo verified of men who came into this district grubstaked and are now rated tho possessors of many thousands. R. L. Johns struck camp about a year ago with 5100. Ho now owns a third in terest In the January mine, that pro duced 5625,000 in ore during the past twelve months, and Is heavily interest ed in other big properties. He was formerly a life Insurance agent. H. W. Knickerbocker, a Los Angeles real es tate agent, is reliably reported to have made 5250,000 within six months in mining transactions. Tom Lockhart came to Tonopah a few years ago, just about the time the camp was attracting the attention of tho outside world. He looked the dis trict Over and 'located a group of claims upon whloh there was not the sllghest showing of mineral. He had, "however, determined to his own satisfaction that with sinking he could catch the exten sion of tho great Mlzpah ledge. Al though practically without funds, he refused to take partners in with him and, unaided, he put down a shaft to a depth of 60 feet, drilling the holes alone, tiring- the shots with fuses long enough to permit him to climb to the Hurface up a ladder, and then going down and filling each bucket, he -would again ascend to the top and hoist the waste. He afterwards sold out for 5200,000. He is now one of the prin cipal owners of one of the great mines qf Goldfiold, and is classed among the millionaire mining men ofNevada. Re cently he purchased a 5100,300 ranch In California, where he intends to pass his declining years surrounded by hl3 family. - Women Who Struck It Rich. Mrs. Addle Williams, a matronly woman of 85 years, -who . came 'here from an interior California town, has amassed a snug fortune by her own efforts. She bought town lots when the original townsite was laid out, and has since disposed of them at a profit ranging from 500 to 5000 per cent. She also got in on the ground floor in several of the big paying mines here, and is known to be one of the heaviest depositors in the local banks. . An other woman who has distinguished herself Is Mrs. H. "W. Lang, of Ala bama, the wife of a local broker. She Is known to have cleared 550,000 on a single raining transaction and to be & very heavy holder In several proper ties of which no stock is on the mar ket at all, because the owners prize it so highly. Lb Lb Patrick, a mining engineer of Denver, came here a little over a year ago and secured an option on what has since developed into ono of the greatest producers of the district. After several failures ho succeeded In Interesting Chr cago capitalists in his proposition, and tho property was purchased . for 575,000. The first payment of 55000 came out of the profits of tho purchasers, and the balance was paid from ore taken out in sinking a single shaft to a depth of 75 feet. Mr. Patrick owns, in addition to many valuable Interests, an eighth of the property mentioned, which Is now paying regularly a dividend of 540,000 per month. He is easily worth a million and a half. The disease in which the suspension of the whole nervous energy on a chanco or risk becomes as necessary as the dram to the drunkard is very marked among many newcomers that have recently flocked here But on the' whole, calm business sense prevails, and there Is so strong a representation of mining men of experience among the populace that it appears entirely improbable that the fanatical scenes that marked the early days of Lcadville and Cripple Creek will be duplicated. Vorld's Output of Gold. While this district is but a little more than one year old. It has already, pro duced close to 53,000,000 in gold, and this production has been made in face of the fact that only ore with a value greater than 5150 to tho ton has been shipped. Tho ore with a value less than this figure is left on the dumps of the mines await ing more economical transportation and treatment facilities. While the world's production of gold for 1903 was the heav iest on record, there Is little doubt that the production for 190-1 will greatly ex ceed that of last year. The Transvaal Cripple Creek. Colorado and Australia have In the past been the chief sources of tho world's gold supply. The produc tion of the Transvaal for the first six months of this year amounted to 53S.00O, 000. This Indicates a production of at least 576.000,000 for the year. The largest production was in 1S9S. being 579.213,000. Cripple Creek is now producing at the 7-73 of over 52.000.000 monthly, and Aus tralia is steadily gaining in output. With Goldfield adding its quota there Is reason to believe that the world's gold output for 1904 will amount to $350,000,000. Whll this great production no doubt Involves danger of a "yellow peril" akin to tho silver peril which the United States only rccently forgot, there Is no denying tho fact that tho enormous output of gold during tho past ten years. andthe great er production that yeoms assured for years to come, will have prodigious effect upon tho business and speculative actlvt tiea of the leading nations of tho globe. DANCING IS TO BE STUDIED SCIENTIFICALLY Columbia University Teachers Will Take It Up as a Regular Course. LEADING educators are showing a re markable interest at present in the art and practice of dancing. A class In rhythm and dancing is now being organ ized as a regular course in the depart ment of physical education In Teachers' College, Columbia University. This class Is intended for teachers and others inter ested in the study, and is open to both men and women. Tho course will include a study of sim ple movements and activities of little chil dren, of the rhythmical development of such activities in plays, rounds and dances and of the simple folk dances and folk music, with a study of the technique developed from them. Such a course upon 'the curriculum of a great university is a novelty, and au gurs well for a rehabilitation of the an cient and noble art of dancing. "From the artistic standpoint," said a Columbia "University instructor, "dancing today represents, little or nothing; It Is merely an expression of social activity without artistic value. The wholo sub ject is. to be discussed at an association meeting, to be held in Teachers College in April next, both from the educational standpoint and with regard to the place of dancing among the arts of motion." Miss Caroline Crawford, instructor of tho rhythm and dancing class in Teach ers College, says: "This class is an attempt to study the dance along the lines of its development among different peoples as the artistic expression of emotion by way of music and movement. It will include dramatic action, songs and ring group dances, with the original music, and will tend toward the study of national dances and national music, the two being taken together as they were originally, and not separate, as they now are. "This, we believe, to be the right edu cational attitude toward the study of the dance. The child naturally expresses his Ideas through movement; the pantomime and the dance are the two most marked ways In the history of nations in which primitive peoples expressed themselves. Both from the standpoint of the child's natural means of expression and in the light of the historical development of the arts of motion, namely, dancing, poetry and music, the logical method of teaching the child seems to be to allow him to ex press himself and to direct him to ex press .himself through these channels. "There is, thus, a socialogical as well as an artistic reason behind this course. Two valuable things will be got out of it movement as exercise and expression, and a knowledge of early musical form. In strumental muslo developed In conjunc tion with the dance for a long period be fore the appearance of modern music We wish again to give, to the child the whole rather than the part." In his discourse on "Tne Church and the Dance," In Calvary Baptist Church, the Rev. Dr. R. S. MacArthur said there were only three possible attitudes that the church can take as to dancing. They are indifference, bitter denunciation and wise discrimination. The church, said Dr. MacArthur, has no right to be indifferent, and to condemn indiscriminately Is wrong both in principle and policy. He declared that the only true attitude was one or wise discrimination and declined to join hands with any sect or body that de nounces what the Bible itself does not denounce. Mikado's Income. Success. The Emperor's yearly expense of liv ing is limited. For this purpose he draws 53,000,000. from the National treasury. His personal wealth is not to bo spent on his own living, so that 53,000,000 is really his yearly salary as manager of tho country. Ho has got to pay out of it some 1000 employes. The lady-ln-waiting is said to bo paid 5150 monthly. I have no doubt that even a washing girl is paid about 570. Japan Is a country where a laboring man's wages are not more than 50 cents dally. The -chief cook of tho im perial palace Is paid 5200 a month. The Emperor's daily fare is Japanese. He is perfectly satisfied, for breakfast, as a common Japanese is, with a bowl of bean soup and a few similar dishes. But his dinner usually appears in splen did stj-le. In some 20 courses, although he always denounces It as a useless ex travagance. When any official feast It held the cherry-blossom-viewing party at tho Kioshikawa Botanical Garden, or the chrysanthemum party at tho Akasaka palace, for Instance he will not sparo any expense in preparing an elegant European banquet. Tho Empress is the manager on such an occasion. She is a noted economist She always gives a hint to her court ladies and the wives of the Ministers how to arrange their dresses and how to save expense. She is regarded as an exemplar of loveliness and womanly sweetness. There never was a woman truer to the old teachings in re spect to womanly disposition and demeanor. Corinthian Monkeys are not very intelligent, are they? "Oh. I don't know. I saw one today that ought to make a good bookkeeper." "What -was It doing?" "Running up a col umn." Houston Post. f 5