Wednesday, November 28,
i.;oo
THE SUMPTER MINER
NATURE'S WONDERS.
Eastern Oregon a Museum of
Topographical Freaks.
A. J. Johnson, forestry expert for this,
state, has given the Oregonlan an inter
esting interview on eastern Oregon. He
Mates that there are Immense lava flows,
or beds, comprising many curious forma
tions in which scarcely a. living tiling is to
be found. In Crook county in a large tract
uf magnificent yellow pine timber, free
from undergrowth, and the ground cov
ered with grass, he found a sink or de
pression In the ground which exposed the
entrance to a lava cave, said to be two
miles long. The entrance Is large enough
to drive a four-horse team into, but the
interior roofs, walls and bottom, are
fearfully rough and jagged, so that ex
ploration is very difficult and unpleasant.
Only a few miles from this lava cave
the timber ends and a desert is reached,
Some four miles out on this desert are a
uumrter of ice c ives, of considerable ex
tent, but they are of no use to any one, as
they are too far from any settlement.
On the upper branches and tributaries
of the John Day river are what are known
:is the famous fossil beds of the Pacific
loast, where a great many rare and valu
able fossils ot prehistoric animals are
found imbedded in large hills, and along
liver and creek bottoms. This region
was once inhabited by races of animals
not now found on the earth, but just how
so many of them came together in one
place, to be destroyed and buried there is a
tuery which only Professor Condon can
explain.
There are a number of strange geolog
ical formations in the territory traveled
over by Mr. Johnson In the John Day
country, but one of the strangest is what
he calls a "rock torest," on a steep moun
tain tide, where there stand pillars of
rock, several hundreds of them, some as
large as 2$ feet in diameter and many
Irom 2$ to 150 lectin height, standing
like trees in a forest, and having the ap
pearance of a forest which had been vis
ited by a cyclone, breaking off the trees at
various heights. The pillars vary greatly
in the materhl oi which they are com
posed, and show streaks, veins, bands
and blotches of different colors, forming a
most wonderful spectacle. The task ot
explaining the form .Hon of this wonder
tul rock forest, Mr. Johnson leaves to the
geologist.
Some 20 miles from this rock forest is a
section of several thousand acres known
as "the devil's potato patch." 'I his
patch is covereJ with round buttes run-1
ulng up to sharp points, some of them '
1000 to 1 soo feet in height, some a mile
through at the base, looking from a dis
tance like a lot of gigantic potato hills.
These buttes are covered with sagebrush
and hunchgrass. The devil selected a
they form a stream 50 feet wide, three
feet deep, is cold as ice and clear as crys
tal. Half a mile from its source the
stream is over 100 feet in width. This is '
the shortest river and the widest for Its
length to be found anywhere. Mr. John-1
san saw hundreds of remarkable and '
strange things in that wonderful region, 1
an account of which would till a book.
In regard to the forests of eastern Ore-1
gon, he says lie has located and reported
1,000,000,000 feet of lumber, which the.
government has never known existed in I
that part of the state. The principal vari-.
eties are yellow pine, tamarack, lodgepole
pine, white fir and mountain spruce.
There is considerable sugar pine scattered '
on buttes In southern Oregon. There are
hundreds of thousands of acres bearing
but juniper and mountain mahogany,
which trees are quite valuable to that :
country for fencing and fuel. l;or fence-'
posts the juniper Is a good timber, being
very durable, and It is also a good fuel.
The mountain mahogany grows to a size
of live to six inches in diametei and makes
splendid fuel, equal to nut coal.
Stamps Will Soon Drop at the Gold Hill.
Col. James A. Panting, manager and
under whose personal direction the mines
of the Burnt River Mining company at
Gold Hill have become great and valuable
properties, is in the city on a brief busi
ness visit. Col. Panting is as happy as
a clam at lii'h tide over the splendid
showing being made by his mines and
says inside the next 30 days he will have
10 stamps of a 1000 pounds each dropping
on ore that will net handsome returns and
a continuous run. The mill will crush 35
tons of ore per d ty. l:or three years past
the Gold Hill mines have been In course
of development and at this mine 30 miners
are employed. Thousands of feet of de
velopment work has been done and there
is a world of good ore blocked out. The
company has all along preferred to do de
velopment work and block out ore rather
than be hasty in operating a mill, which
policy shows practical management.
Democrat.
Eight Feet of $20 Rock
Word was received in tills city yester
day that the ledge had been tapped in the
Proebstel tunnel on the properly ot I'roeb
stel Hros., in Rock creek district. The
property is not far from the Chloride and
Deer Lodge mines. The tunnel has been
run a distance of 680 feet to tap the vein.
It is said the face of the tunnel now shows
eight feet of ore that assays ?2o a ton.
The character of the ore is sulphide sim
ilar to that found In the Chloride. This
is the most Important strike for that dis
trict. The Proebstels are residents of La
Grande. Democrat.
Off For Mexico Again.
A. L. McEweu received instructions
yesterday from the British syndicate
which he represents to proceed at once to
Old Mexico,for the purpose of experting a
mine and he left on the afternoon tiain,
Mr. McEwen was married only about two
Fraser and
Chalmers
Chicago
MM I ING MACHINERY-Rnlls.
Stamps, Crushers. Pertmatrd J
Atetnk. Jies. Priie Vanners. I:tc. J
MINING MACIUNEUY-Hoilcis, j
including Sederholm Holler, Ah t
Compressors, Reldler Pumps, Pur i
naci's, lit.". Wiitt to our Chicago J
ultuf lor Catalogue. 3
Represented by MENNO UNZ.'CKER, Hotel Warshauer,
BAKER CITY, OREGON
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HwrFirirg Klilljlj ' 11 1
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'WW'Vk.
OPERA HOUSE SALOON
SUMPTER BEER ON DRAUGHT
BILLIARD AND POOL TABLES
Agents for Matting
ly and Moore Wilis
key a 20-year-old
whiskey as good as
Elixir of Life. All
whiskies arc out uf
bond and guaran
tied the genuine ar
ticle. Popular re
soit for Commer
cial Travelers and
Miners.
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SUMPTER,
OREGON
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A. P. (JOSS, President
A. J. 50bS, Cashier
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S Bank of Sumpter 3
TnnmU Ctinril linkln liitlniti
Interest Allowed on Time Deposits
Drafts drawn on all parts of the world. Special attention to collet lions.
Safety Deposit boxes lor rent.
SUMPTER, OREGON
4'wrf
level tract ot country for his potato natch I week,.,,nce anJ, liaturally, was not much
and the wagon road wends In and out I
among these buttes for several miles.
The rivers and lakes of eastern Oregon
are also very peculiar. Some lakes are
fed by a number of streams and rivers and
have no visable outlet. They rise and
tall with the changes of the seasons, but
are said to be constantly growing smaller
and more shallow. Many of the rivers
are headed by immense springs, run a dis
tance, disappear and reappear miles away :
and finally fall into some lake, and that is
the end of them. One river particularly
attracted Mr. Johnson's attention. It is
calleJ Spring river. This river is only
three-fourths of a mile in length from
head to mouth. It is ted by enormous
springs welling up from the ground.
There are hundreds of those springs with
in a small area, all bubbling up like foun
tains, of all sUes, and where they unite,
about 100 yards from the main fountain,
elated over the necessity of making the
' long journey. It was only about a month
ago that lie returned from Mexico, where
, he went on a similar mission. The prop
erty which he goes to examine now is in
1 a different district from the other.
Vale Turn a County Scat Trick.
The tnivn of Vale is erecting a court
house by subscription, to be presented to
the county of Malheur. It is thought this
move will go a long ways toward retain
ing the county seat at that place. The
building is to cost $$000, and will be mod
ern in every way.
Lcuona in Lace.
Mrs. Marsh, next door to MINER office,
will give practical instiuctions in lace
work. Materials and hundreds of pat
terns to select from.
Bousum & Spalding
CRYSTAL T-Tp Company
Free delivery of Pure Ice. Leave orders at office of Columbia Brewing and
Malting Co., next door to MlNI-H otfice.
5
Paul E. Poindexter,
MIN
EIS
corono McNcal'S Code.
iumpter, - - Or.
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