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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 1905)
30 THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX. PORTLAND, OCTOBER 8, 1905. THE GREAT MINES OF SOUTHERN OREGON Six Thousand Acres of Rich Mineral Land Are Owned and Being Developed by the Lewises. rANOUAMIC VIEW OF THE FAMOUS GREENBACK MIKE. BY WILL, G. MAC RAE. VOU may talk of your new Tonopah discoveries, the gold mines that have been found in Goldfield and Bullfrog, yes, and even those that have been found In the frozen North of Alaska, but right in Southern Oregon, taking It by comparison, are riches Just as groat as those found In the places I have Just mentioned. There have been no booms in the Southern Oregon mining district; you don't have to climb up Impossible moun tain trails with snow 20 feet deep that's the reason there has been no stampede, and that's the roason.why there "hasn't been more gold taken out of the country. It is so easy to roach? It, there are so few obstacloe to overcome, that It has been practically passed up, I had hoard of the mines of Southern Oregon, but only In a vague sort of way. . Heard that gold, both placer and quartz, were to be found there, but not until I was literally kid naped and taken off tho train at Leland by John Lewis did I realize what a groat country that mining district is. I saw out a day of it, but during that day I talked with men who have lived thoir lives among those hills and what I failed to see in that one day I was told by the men who knew. Some few of us in Port land might think that we knew John Lewis. It has been known that for the past 15 years he has been mining In Southern Oregon, but because he has not on visits to Portland appeared laden with gold nug gets, the" size of hens' eggs, and bottles of yellow metal, .those who think they have known him believe that he Is min ing for a pastime. A Practical Miner. But there are two John Lewises, John Lewis the practical miner and John Lew Is, the man of the world, with a lo'efor politics that keeps him In touch, porhaps a step In advance of the political move ments of Ills own state and in close touch with National politics. It Is not John Lewis, the man of the city, with the la tent love for politics that I have to do with. It is John Lowls, the miner, whose pride and belief in tho. future of Southern Oregon amounts almost to a passion. He gave up his career-as a city business man to settle In the Graves Crook mining dis trict. Mr. Lewis had been told that he was wasting his time. To those who have told him this he has listened, smiled that engaging, smile of his that has won for him a legion of friends, and simply, said, "Come to Leland. I've a little bungalow there. Sam will cook for you and after you have feasted you can ramble In the hills, kill deer in season and fish In the creeks. I've a little mine there, also." This is about as much as I ever heard John Lewis say about the mining opera tions, and I believed, like many more who knew Mr. Lowls in a casual way, that ho was a droamor who dabbled In mines and mining, who dreamed if he missed the earth's golden store house to- ' day ho would surely find it on that mor row which never comes. I had promised to accept the Invitation to cat of Sam's cooking and enjoy the hospitality of the bungalow, but I never dreamed at the time I made promise that I would soon be breaking his bread and eating his salt. I had been to San Francisco to see the Britt-Nelson fight, and was on my way home. The train had reached Medford on Its Portland Journey and had stopped there to take on several passenger. Among them were John Lewis, to whom some one on the depot platform in saying good-bye called out, "Good-bye King of Southern Oregon." and C. W. Geddes. a mining -expert of great reputation. As Mr. Lewis was passing through the car to the diner he spied me. That settled it I must get oft with them at Leland. I must spend the night, a week, a month, yes, stay there If I wanted te, but I must get off and put up at the bungalow. John Lewis would not take no for a answer, so when the train stopped I stopped, too. Night had long fallen and when I caught sight of the one-story station, a sense of loneliness came over me, and If I hadn't known John Lewis well, I would have felt sorry for him. "When the train rumbled on I saw below me the twinkr ling lights of Leland. Great Mountains s.t Leland. All about me wore groat mountains, their sides studded with massive pines, giving them the appearance of having a green carpet spread over them. The sky was cloudless and blue, that vivid bluo that delles the painter. And in that vault of heaven shone a great full moon that lighted the country as the arc lights il lumine a city's streets. There Was a walk down steep steps leading somewhere beneath the hill where Hank, tho driver, was waiting. Into the four-seated buggy we got, and like myself. It was Mr. Geddes first trip to John LcwIb. There was a short drive that led us across a bridge, through a long lancllkc road that passed beneath giant trees. Mr, Lewis and Mr. Geddes talked mines and mining while I listened still wondering how far we were going and what we would find at tho end of the Journey. Suddenly the endless song of the three toads was lost in the clamor ous bark of dogs. The bark of warning ceased and became a whine of welcome, and suddenly spread out before us were a .number of distinctly up-to-date cot tages with the lights blinking a welcome out of each window. Sam's big mooa face peered from the kitchen door, and in his broken pigeon English helloed a wel come to us, and at last we were at John Lewis' bungalow. It was a batchelofs bungalow, with a great big comfy fire place, with two great logs sputtoring and blazing. In one corner was a roll-top desk. In the other placed on a shelf against the wall was a pair of gold scales and an assayer's kit, a" table strewn with letters and assay reports and against the wall on the other side was a book case, in which, tossed with no attempt at order, volumes of Shakespeare were sandwiched between George Ado's "Fa bles in Slang," and the latest things In fiction. Like others who" knew John Lewis. I had wondered why he lived at Leland. New I knew. "While Mr. Geddes and I were admiring the bungalow, Sam was busy in his kitchen a short distance away, and al most before we were settled he appeared grinning like a schoolboy Just starting on his vacation, with plates laden with good things tb eat. Then the talk set tled down to mines and raining. Being the lay brother, I listened, and In the two hours and a half before bedtime the his tory of Southern Oregon was spread out before me like a fan. The little mine which John Lewis owned became an area covering G) acres. I learnod for the Arat time that Allen Lewis, a brother, and at the head of the firm of Alien & Lewis, was Interested in these 0030 acres, and that Mr. and Mrs. Lewis were visiting their big placer mine, the Columbia, at j the time. I had read in print or people owning big mineral belts, but I never knew of two men owning G) acres, upon which could be found both placer and quartz mines. The Lewises did not tell me. It came from the lips of a man who was born on the acres which the Lewises now own. that John Lewis and his brother, Allen, had invested in the Grave Creek district something like 40J.Mt From this same person I learned that John Lewis had expended in building trails and wagon roads something like 523.000. "While listening to tho talk between Mr. Geddos and Mr. Lewis, I heard the story of the Greenback mine, a preporty that was once owned by John Lewis, and Is now owned by W. K. Brevoort. dt the new find. In a place I believed Mr. Lewis called. Butte Creek; of the placer claim that was within 50 feet of. the bungalow; of the big ditch which the Lewises had built, and of the work that was being done on the Columbia placer mines, and of the prospects that were yet to be made and that had been made. The ditch that fur nishes the water for the placer mines Is a marvelous piece of engineering. John Lewis told me how long this ditch was. how many hundrods of feet of difforent kinds of piping that were in use. but in tho maze and mass of stuff that he gave mc I lost out. Because my visit was to be brief, only a short trip was planned for the next day. Mr. and Mrs. Allen Lewis had been notified by telephone that we would visit the Columbia and stay for lunch, after which there would be a hur ried visit to the Greenback mine. While wc were waiting for Hank and tho buggy. Mr. Lewis was busy showing Mr. Geddes samples of the gold taken from the placer mines, and pieces of quartz that had been discovered in a number of recent prospects. Gold was oozing out of these samples, and Mr. Geddes was waxing oloquent. Even I. who knew nothing about gold-bearing quartz, could see the virgin gold Imbed ded In the rock. I took a niece from a pile that lay on a table, and, without first asking whether it contained gold or not, began pounding and grinding it in an ! Iron motor. Whon it was pulverized into t dust, I began, in my amateurish way. to pan it.. All the time Sam was making fun of me. When my task was done, the gold was there a piece of stone weighing not over three ounces had. given me 25 cants of yellow metal that men, since the world bogan, have struggled to obtain. Visit to tho Mines. By the time I was through the team was ready and the trip to the Columbia placer mine and to the Greenback began. Allen Lewis has been working the Co-' lumbla for nlno years, but it Is only with- j lri the past few years that any great . amount of work had been done on tho i mine. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis were there to greot us. From the poroh of the cottage could be seen this mine. A gorge had been gouged out of the earth. The side of a great hill was half torn away and (he place had the appearance of having at seme time been devastated by a' huge flood. Timbers. piping, flumes, sluice boxas. roots of trees and- wreckage of all sorts grcotcd the eyes, and to a person who had never soon a placer mine It would have meant nothing but a lot of abandoned flotsam and Jetsam. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis were enjoying a brief outing and at the same time Mr. Lewis was planning for the opening of the mine os soon as the Winter rains began. Half an hour's drive from the Colum bia mine is the Greonback. a mine that has never cost its owners a dollar other than the original cost. Mr. Brevoort's mine, like those owned by tho Lowls. is not for sale. The Greenback mine has turned over to its owners over a million dollars. Beginning with a five-stamp mill, thlp mill has been added to until it has reached a 30-stamp mill. The mill was formerly operated by water, but when It opens next week ten more stamps will be added and the plant will be operated by electricity. It has cost Mr. Brevoort almost H0.CC0 to change the motive power and add the ten new stamps. This mine I undoubtedly one of the greatest in the State of Oregon. The miners are only down to the fifth level, but they have ore enough In sight to run the new mill for five years, and a marvelous part of this, they can figure within 520 monthly output of this magnificent property. Like the Lewises, Mr. Brevoort and his superintendent are comfortably located. Here also Is a great fireplace modernized, for a coil of pipes makes the grate of this fireplace and from the pipes Is fur nished hot water for baths. The cottage la fitted throughout with electric light and the power for these lights, like that which will operate the ml.l. Is furnished from the big plant recently built at Gold Ray. Mr. Brevoort Is a New Yorker. He has mined all over the world and, like John Lewis, his faith In the great future of Southern Oregon is colossal. Too Easy to Reach- After reading all this, there, may be some tendency, to think I've been romanc ing. Skeptics will ask If there is so much gold In the Benton-Graves Creek country, why hasnt It been developed. The first answer to thla is because it is too easy to reach. Miners and boomers have passed It by because there were no hercu lean tasks to overcome in order to reach it. Back of thly is a still greater cause Mr.. Harriman and the Southern Pacific. People In certain parts of Oregon have been crying for railroads, and the rail road magnates have answered, "Get the people, and you'll get the railroads." The people of Southern Oregon are crying, not for railroads, but for the Southern Pacific to throw on the market their -railroad lands and strike out that mineral clause. The section of the country which has to do with this story Is fit for nothing else but mining. The Southern Pacific owns every alternate section. There was a time that this land could be purchased, but of late It has been withdrawn from the market. But even when It was on the market, what good did it do to buy it. for in the papers of transfer was a cute little clause which set forth that shouM the purchaser of the land discover mineral on the land, the property reverted back t the original owners. A nice law a law made specially for the rich corporation the Southern Pacific railroad. Every foot of this seetkm of th country has been prospected, and soma vory valuable prospects have been found., but many of them have either been found on railroad sections or so near them that In the course of opening the mines the .miners would finally find themselves on railroad land?. So it's not another rail road that the people of Southern Oregon need. They want the Southern Pacific Rail road to throw upon the market the land they are holding up and give each pur chaser a clear and lasting title to the land. SLADE, THE NOTORIOUS SLATE MEDIUM, DEAD - - N THE rush of more important news. possibly, the death oh "Dr." Henry Sladc In a Michigan -sanitarium re cently gained littlo attention. And yet "Dr." Slade. slato-wrltlhg medium, was one of the most curious of figures. Ho had been a rich man at least 'twice and a pauper twice. He had exhibited his "powor" to Monarchs and to paupers In almshouses in which he lived during his times of adversity. He had been In dorsed as having: genuine powers by people as eminent as Honry Ward Batcher, and he was the star perform er in England hl3 expose which nearly cost him a throe months' term in Jail. Excepting- tho Fox sisters, no medium was ever so famous. It is said that he was the original of Mr. Sludgo in Browning's poem. Slade. while perhaps not the originator of the slate-wrltlng trick, brought It to perfection and made it popular. So well was he known in connection with this device that tho agents for the goods used by spurious mediums still advcrtlso their best slate-writing- ap paratus as "the exclusive device of the groat Slade." He gave another tradi tion to the profession of fake medium ship. These people usually use high falutln language, mixed with a gTeat deal of bad grammar. In this they are following- Sladc, who was a man of de ficient early education, but had picked up a great deal of mystic and pscudo scientific talk. Slade started as a farmer boy In Niagara County. He was scarcely In hfa teens when ho began to astonish the other boys by table-tipping, slate-wrlt-lng and the like. He was in New York In the late '60s and early '70s. His slate-writing created a furor. Honry Ward Beecher saw him, and ad mitted that the thing was past him. "Many believing spiritualists, who ad mit that Slade was proved a fraud later. think that he had real occult powers In his early days, but that his "control" was uncertain and that he resorted to fraud In order to ma'ke results a cer tainty. Investigated by Scientists. Spiritualism was having a big run Just then. Slade's earnings were large. He was already a rich man when. In 1876, he went to England and was a nine days wonder. Committees of savants had sittings with him and re- i ported that they could not explain it. The celebrated Dr. Carpenter said that . he was "shaken in his belief" In splr- . itualism. The London courts and police ; took notice after a time, exhibitions ' of fortune-telling being against the law In that city. Sergeant Cox asked Pro- lessor E. Ray Lankester to havea sit- ; ting with "Dr." Slade and report. ! On September 11, 1876. Professor Lankester attended a seance. He got a theory, and came back four days later to prove it. The scanco took place in a well- f lighted room. The medium and his i "sitters" sat on opposite sides of a j table. Slade brought out a slate, with ! pencils, and showed both sides to prove that it was blank. Placing a pleco of pencil on the face of the slate, Slade pressed the face against the under sur face of the table so closely that no hand. not even a finger, could be Introduced be- I tween. There would be a slight scratch ing noise, and Sladc would show the slate ' with a message on it. Professor Lankester, who pretended ab- . solute belief all through, noticed that ! there was an Interval between the show- ing of the clean slate and the placing of j the slate under the table. During that In- J terval Slade coughed as though he had ' a bad cold and did unexpected things to turn his sitters attention to another part f of the room. Also he thought he saw a j slight raptlon of the muscles of the arm I with which Slade held his slate under the table. ! On the second visit the professor and an assistant caught and held Sladc Just as he was placing the slate under the table. Although tho slate was supposed to be clean, they found a message all written our Slade tried to shake something out of his hand. They caught It, and found that he woro a thimble colored like his skin, with a bit of slate pencil on the end. He had written the message on his knee during his coughing spell. If that failed, with his thimbled finger he could sprawl off a message while holding the slate under the table. This brought the message on the wrong sIdoof the slate, but he would detract attontion for a mo ment while he flopped the slate over. Slade was arrested, convicted and got three months In Jail, the limit for that misdemeanor. On appeal he got off through a defect In the wording of the commitment. The case attracted some attention in Europe. The Russian court wanted, a medium, real or false, for Its diversion. They sent for Slade. He exhibited before the Czar, and was a court sensation for a St. Petersburg, season. He dropped out of sight very suddenly, but bobbed up again In this country in the early '80s. broke and showing In small towns. He went abroad again, and had a renewal of popularity In Berlin, where he exploited ideas about the fourth dimensions. He was even honored by a heavy German treatise, "Transcendental Psychics," by Profcssor Zollner. For ten years the world lost sight of him, until in 1S33 he appeared again on the streets of New York, old, ragged, walking on crutches. He had a paralytic stroke the first day after he landed, and was treated in the Roosevelt Hospital. The physicians noticed that his hands were calloused as though he had been doing hard work. He came West and showed up at lost In Detroit. There he lived, old. broken, and half insane, in one room, and mado his living by giving "testa" to servant girls at 10 cents a sitting. In time ho got too broken even for that, and was sent to a sanitarium, where he died. Slade never had any confidants. Hp was always a man of mystery. No one knows how he lost or spent the fortune, esti mated at 51,000,000. -which he dropped be tween his day of popularity at tho Rus sian court and his reappearance In New York. How lie Knew. It was a beautiful day. without a single cloud in the sky. Tho man who was buying some food in a delicate ssen store remarked on the weather. "Yes, it'3 fine, but It's going to rain," replied the dealer. "Impossible!" said the customer. "I'll bet you a fiver." said the dealer, "that It rains before the day la over, although I hate to take your money." The money was put up, and the cus tomer went away chuckling. Before night the rain was falling In torrents. The man who lost the bet stopped at the deiicate-essen store to see the winner. "How did you know it was going to rain?" he demanded of the storekeep er. The latter chuckled. "See that Ice chest?" he asked, point ing to a big box In the corner. The customer saw the Ice box. It was sweating big drops of water. "That chest," said the storekeeper. "Is my barometer. When there is rain in the air it begins to sweat; when rain is imminent It sheds those big drops you see now. I've had it over two years, and It never yet prophesied falsely." "Never too late to learn." sighed th customer, "but sometimes a little knowledge comes high." PLACER MIXING ON ONE OF THE IX WIS CLAIMS. rrxDXAUiia peacxr mining on tux Columbia claim of i.. a. invis. f f