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About The Sumpter miner. (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 1899)
rtni fl '" r1 1 THE SUMPTER MINER VOL. I. SUMPTER, OREGON, OCTOBER 29, 1899. NO. 7, $ M MINES NEAR SUMPTER QUARTZ LOCATIONS WITHIN A HALF MILE OF TOWN. 'Three Cent" Hill all Staked Out In the Put Few Days Large Body of Ore Discovered About Two MUct From Town Not Improbable That Bonanzas May be Uncovered. It is not claimed that any great bonanza has been discovered, but during recent weeks a number of promising mining lo cations have been made within three quarters of to three miles of Sumpter. Out on the Granite road about two miles from town, what appears to be a large body of ore has been discovered and tiled on. The ledge can be traced several hundred feet on the surface. Several shafts have been sunk, from five to fifteen feet, and all encounter mineralized rock, carrying from four to twenty-eight dollars in gold. It is mostly free milling, but some refractory ore has been found "frozen" to the wall rock. The ledge is from twenty to thirty feet In width. This find looks good. The property will prob ably be explored this winter. On the peak just west of town, the base of which is distant only about half a mite, known locally as Three Cent, and sometimes Gimlet hill, three prospectors have been at work some days past and have located quartz claims all over the western slope. Good surface Indications have been exposed. Discovery shafts have been sunk on the Little Ruby and Morning Glory. No assays from these properties have been made public. It is a mining truism, full of signifi cance, that "gold Is where you find It," meaning, of course, that no known fixed law governs Its location; that it is often found in the most surprising localities. It is also true that prospectors, the world over, display the two sheep characteristics of following a leader and flocking to gether. For these two causes the hills .around Sumpter have been neglected by men looking for quartz claims. Now, however, that their attention has been at tracted this way, soon no square foot of all the adjacent ground will remain un prospected. Nor will it be surprising If some rich ledges shall be discovered In this Immedi ate vicinity. Three Cent hill took its name from placer grounds almost at its summit, which yielded an average of that much dust to the pan. And the coarsest gold ever washed out In this dis trict came from the diggings on Gimlet creek, just beyond this mountain. The natural conclusion Is that the source of supply for this coarser dust is different trom that which furnished Powder river placers with their rich horde of gold. That It comes from as yet undiscovered ledges in this hill Is just as sensible and accurate a guess as the wisest expert can make, at this stage of the game. Twenty Thousand Pamphlet. General Charles S. Warren Is contem plating the Issuance and distribution of 20,000 pamphlets, descriptive of Sumpter camp, setting forth its inducements to mining investors, prospectors and labor ers. Acting on the suggestion of Attorney Richards, made in THE MINER last week, they will be circulated extensively on Puget Sound, among returning Klondlk ers, disgusted Atlinltes and unsuccessful Cape Nomers. The descriptive matter will be prepared from actual facts, which need no coloring to make more strange and interesting that the fiction the Alaska transportation companies have so long been writing to attract travel. The men who come south from the Alaska conntry and land In Seattle, and the men who foregather there from the ends of the earth headed toward the golden north, are kept painfully Ignorant by Puget Sound papers or even the existence of such a camp as Sumpter. In the geography of Puget Sound dailies there Is no such names as Sumpter or eastern Oregon. General Warren's plan is to show that there is such a place, and to prove by con densed history of this camp that it stands high among the rich gold producing dis tricts of the world. W. L. Vlnsnn Hat a "Hen On." W. L. Vinson returned home Saturday from somewhere; Portland probably, Helena may be, or most anywhere else possibly. He transacted business that would require some people a month to get through with, paid out a few thou sand or so wages and left again Monday for some unknown destination. The air Is full of rumors about one or two, or pos sibly more, big deals that Mr. Vinson has under way, which will give this section of Oregon a lively jolt when he does decide to launch any one or all of them. The nature of these propositions are rather vague as yet. He controls water power sufficient to turn nil the electric dynamos in the state. This opens up a boundless field of speculation and surmise as to what he is going to do with it. Then, too, he has been coquetting with the O. R. & N. road for n month past has actu ally been caught in the act. That he Is not engaged In any kindergarten enter prise Is a dead sure thing, for he Is not built that way. It Is very likely that he will be back Saturday evening to preside at the meeting of the Sumpter club. Crossed Five States In a Wagon. Stewart Wilcox, alumnus of Michigan University, class of '89, law, who during the years since his college course, has pol ished the rough edges of a legal educa cation with newspaper work in the mid dle West, drifted Into town yesterday from the Black Hills. Away over there he heard of Sumpter camp, and heard also the wonder tales, yet true, of the rich gold districts back of it. Mr. Wilcox will probably locate in Sumpter. He is one of a party of six who came by wagon across five states to try their luck in the new camp. Change in Capital Saloon. J. D. Bellinger has sold all his Interest in the Capital saloon to F. W. Gertridge, of Salmon City, Idaho. Mr. Gertridge Is an old and experienced saloon man, and comes with the highest recommendation from prominent men of that section. The firm name still remains Frank Rogers & Co. J. D. Bellinger having rented the Van Duyn hotel, will take charge Decem ber 1 and open up a place that will please his many friends. Both enterprising firms will surely meet with success. W. W. Looncy Buys in With Caie it Co. W. W. Looney has bought an Interest in Case & Co.'s furniture business. The name of the new firm has not yet been decided upon. They will remain in their present crowded quarters until a more commodions building can be secured, which growing business demands. Mr. Foreman remains with the new firm. Mr. Looney will not give his personal attention to the business. SUMPTER REALTY. Temperature and Prices Both Rising Rapidly. The Sumpter real estate market Is get ting a trifle torrid. The value of property is climbing up with head-reeling rapidity. This Is not confined to Inside business lots, but applies with equal force to resi dence lots and acreage. When Seymour H. Bell, of T.icoma, was here about the middle of August, he secured forty acres of land from the Sumpter Townslte syndicate, which he and his business associates intended to plat and put on the market at an early date, thinking, perhaps, that they would begin to realize on this good thing about next spring. Mr. Bell returned to Sumpter this fore noon. W. C. Calder, secretary and treasurer of the syndicate, threw n good lunch Into his appreciative corporeal sys tem, and began, In his diplomatic way, to discuss real estste In general; and about the time the first cigars were burned out, threw out a feeler to see If Mr. Bell was at all Inclined to part with his holdings. That gentleman is n young veteran In the business, so he recognized at once that this was a bait thrown to him by n skilled angler. He nibbled. The game dragged along for half nu hour, both enjoying the sport and giving the other the laugh, on the quiet. Finally the business In hand was tackeled In earn est and as THE MINER goes to press Bell Is hesitating whether or not he will accept n hona fide offer of four times what he paid for this forty acres a few days less than five weeks since but it Is no sure thing that he Is lost. The higher the offer climbs, the more suspicious he becomes that Calder Is not acting frankly about the matter, as a friend of long years standing should net; that he Is holding back something perhaps n card concealed up his sleeve. The fact of the business Is, Bell recog nizes that he Is playing on the outside of the game, while Calder is on the Inside, and the plunger from Puget Sound Is do ing n whole lot of speedy thinking thou sands are involved. - " Two Important Real Estate Deals. Two Important real estate sales have been made this week by the firm of Brock & Herlocker. One consists of five acres of the Sumpter Townslte syndicate's land, toanO. R.N. official, foriooo. This trans action was consummated by correspond ence. The other is one of the most sightly residence sites in town, fronting on Mill street, about 500 feet this side of the reservoir. It was sold to T. C. Cul bertson, one of the best known mining men In this section. He will erect thereon n handsome residence at an early day. Maps of Syndicate's First Plat. Blue prints of the Townslte syndicate's first plat have finally been Issued. It Is a handsome piece of work. The property platted lies to the east and southeast of the present built up portion of the town. It Is seven blocks north and south and eight east and west. The north line rests on North street and extends south to Beech; Granite, Auburn, Clifford, Austin and Ash1, all running through the addition. The western line is on Ibex street; Climax comet next, then the streets are numbered from west to east numerically, extending to Sixth. The topography of the ground was taken Into consideration In laying off the lots, and they nre not of uniform sle, some be ing thirty and others forty feet front, gen erally corners being the wider. Now, If some one will make an accurate, revised plat of the entire town, something like a clear, accurate Idea of the town could be secured by those whose business In life Is not to know all about such things. Machinery For the Bunker Hill. One carload of machinery for the Bun ker Hill, consigned to Captain C. H. Thompson, ariived In Sumpter today. It Is part of the compressor, drill, etc., which THE MINER stated last week had been ordered, and which will be Installed to develop that property. Captain Thompson and Angus McQueen nre out In the hills this week on a general tour of Inspection. They are expected home to morrow. RICH MINE ADJOINING GOLCONDA . Portland Man the Latest to "Make a Kil ling" Near Sumpter. A second Monte Cristo I Richer than Aladdin's cave I Retter than the grent Golcotida, which it adjoins I These were some of the exclamations made on the street last evening when Victor A. Schilling, the city passenger agent of the O. R & N.nt Portland, showed to a group of admiring friends some of the rock he had just brought down from his mine In the Cracker creek district. The ore Is very handsome, and Is exactly similar to that from the Gol couda, the celebrated English property. Mr. Schilling acquired Ills mine but a short time ago. It consists of two claims, called the Free Coinage, which are an ex tension of the Golcouda. The mine Is yet but a prospect, but Is being developed ns rapidly as men and money can do the work. A tunnel Is already well under way, and the samples of ore brought down last night go $$0 to the ton. Mr. Schilling says that he will have 300 tons on the dump before Christmas, and confidently expects to tap the same fabu lously rich vein only recently opened In the Gnlconda, and which has made the Englishes renowned over the whole min ing world. Baker City Republican. Long Poles For Electric Wires. A large number of long, straight poles are being accumulated near the Electric company's power house, to be used In stringing wires when the new machinery of increased capacity is installed, a de tailed description of which THE MINER published some weeks since. Mr. Vinson Is having these poles gotten out himself, every one being carefully selected. Super intendent Thornton Is in bed today, hav ing worked nil last night on the water supply for the feed pipe. If any China men placer miners, who give him all of his trouble of this kind were killed during the busy night, their bodies were properly and promptly disposed of. Shipping Ore Uncovered in the Badger. Word reached Sumpter yesterday that a body of shipping ore, four feet thick, had been encountered In the Badger mine, located near Susanvllle, Grant county. The report Is very meagre as to details, no Information further than the rock Is very rich and that the pay streak Is of the above mentioned thickness, was received. The strike is an Important one, for It means that another shipping proposition has been added to the list of paying mines In the Sumpter district. Handsome lithographed stock certlfi. cates, and job printing of every descrlp tlon at THE MINER office. 4.