Wednesday, April j, 1901
THE SUMPTER MINER
O. R. & N'S NEW BOOK.
Colonel Donan on Oregon,
Washington and Idaho.
The O. R. & N. passenger department,
A. L. Craig, general passenger agent,
has issued a new book descriptive ot the
resources of Oregon, Washington and
Idaho. i is a handsomely printed pamph
let ol sixty-four pages, with a large map
of the three states, In an artistically de
signed cover. The book is illustrated
with excellent haft tones of lumbering,
farming, stuckraising, horticultural, fish
ing, shipping and mining Interests.
The whole Is pleasing to the eye, but If
you wish to "get on" to its real intrinsic
merits, just read a page or two then you
will surely peruse it all. It is a literary
gem of purest ray serene. English litera
ture furnishes no better descriptive work.
Then, too, It is a great pleasing, Interest
ing mass of carefully compiled statistics,
with not a "dry" line from cover to cover.
Of course, Colonel Conan Is its author
therefore nothing more commendatory
can be said.
There is one chapter on mining, from
which the following is taken:
None of the much advertised bonanza
lands of the country or the world offers
greater and richer opportunities to enter
prising prospectors and miners than the
eastern Oregon gold fields, of which Ba
ker City is the center and metropolis.
Stretching from the northeastern part of
Wallowa county down into the northern
end of Harney and Malheur counties, or
from the Shoshone or Great Snake river
far over on the tributaries of the John
Day, and including Baker county and a
large part of Grant and Union counties,
this vast mineral belt extends through
two full degrees of latitude and longitude.
That is, it is about 120 miles square, and
has an area of 14,400 square miles, or
within a trifle of as much as Massachu
setts, Rhode Island and Connecticut all
combined. It is traversed in every direc
tion by spurs of the picturesque Blue
mountains, from 6,000 to 10,000 tee' high,
and diversified by innumerable bold tor
rents like the Wallowa, Imuaha, Grande
Ronde, Burnt and Powder rivers, and the
tributaries of the John Day and Malheur.
There are immense forests of valuable
timber, the valleys are exhaustless In
their fertility, the pasturage for live stock
Is abundant all the year, and the climate,
equable and healthful enough for a per
petual sanitarium.
So far as limited exploration has done,
all Its peaks and foothills seem ribbed
with royal ore, and all Its gulches and
creek beds exhaustless deposits of golden
sands; while silver, copper, lead and iron
abound, and opals and other precious
stones are found In some localities. It has
produced untold millions of gold, that, in
earlier days, went to San Francisco to
swell the reports of California's yield.
Grant county has turned out over $5,000,
000 of placer gold alone, and Baker
county's aggregate production of quartz
and placer gold has certainly not been
less than $20,000,000. According to the
report of the United States mint director,
Baker, Union, Grant and Malheur
counties In 1893, produced i. 377. 479. or
about three-fourths of the entire output of
the state at that time. Expert estimates 1
credit these four counties with producing!
12,443,000 in 1897, and $2,950,000 in 1898,
of which Baker county alone was set
down as turning out about f i,6oo,ooo,and
Union county, $650,000. The product for
1899 ran at least $500,000 above that of
any previous year, or to a grand total of
something near $3,500,000.
An elaborate statement, prepared in
October, 1897, by Fred R. Mellis, of Ba
ker City, a well known statistical author
ity, showed that there were then, In this
unboomed and comparatively unknown
Oregon Eldorado, 513 mines, and more or
less developed claims In which me had
I been found. Now there are over 2,000,
j and fully 8,000 more locations and pros
pects. Among them are a numbei of the
l wonders in recent mining annals.
I More than S 3.500,000 has been washed
I out of the placer beds of Austin and Can
I von City, by the crudest, old time pro
cesses, and they are still producing.
About eighty miles northeast of Baker
City, the Seven Devils district In Idaho
promises to rlvel the world's richest and
most famous copper regions, and from
every direction come reports of new and
glittering discoveries, and irrefutable as
surances that there is, humanly speaking,
no end to the possibilities of the region.
But prospecting in It has hardly begun.
Of all its more than 14,000 square miles
of gold bearing territory, scarcely 500 have
been really explored. The surface dirt is
barely scratched. Hundreds, if not thou
sands of mines are yet to be found in it.
The whole vast mineralised empire Is rich
beyond computation, and there is not in
all the world today a field of more glor
iously golden opportunities, for the intel
ligent and enterprising prospector and
miner, than eastern Oregon. No need to
go to the Klondike, or Alaska, or any
where else. Fortunes, without danger or
hardship, are here for thousands yet to
come.
Wonders of the Latest Ray.
In 1895 a French chemist discovered
rays emanating from the elements ura
nium which possessed properties similar to
the Roentgen rays. They were called
Becqueral rays, after the discoverer. But
while the discoverer, Roentgen, aroused
great Interest in the whole civilized world,
leading to radical changes in medical diag
nosis, the Becquerel rays were only em
ployed in physical laboratories, and an as
sertion by the French scientist, Demar
cays, that they were not emitted from
uranium, but from a new element, made
no impression. Recent experiments by
Berlin High School of Technology have
proved this assertion that a new element
Is respoiiiblc for the Becquerel rays and
the interesting fact has been observed
that these rays rendered almost every
transparent substance luminous in the
darkness. These rays made it possible to
tell genuine diamonds from artificial ones
in the dark. This will prove of great
practical importance in testing. The ex
periments have also resulted In obtaining
for the first time large quantities of the
new element, which lias demonstrated
that rays emanating from a larger quan
tity make the air such a conductor of elec
tricity that it is hoped this property can be
utilized In wireless telegraphy. Experi
ments for this purpose are being made in
the Berlin Institution, but the deepest
secrecy is maintained concerning them.
It is stated that the results will soon be
laid before the emperor, whkh seems to
indicate that the discovery Is regarded as
one of great Importance. Extract from
report of Consul General Guetither, at
Frankford, Germany.
Patent Your MIn'ng Claims.
One of the oldest and most experienced
mine owners gives this sensible advice:
Push your mine to patent. What is the
use of practically paying taxes of $100 per
year on it, in the lorm of regular annual
assessment when, by patenting, the yearly
cost will only be a few dollars. As soon
as five assessments have been properly
performed, an affidavit of $500 improve
ment can be honestly made, and then a
patent Is obtainable. The order for sur
vey will cost $30; the survey $30 to $50;
the land office fees $10: attorney's fers for
drawing papers, fnm $25 to $100; the ad
vertising from $25 to $45; affidavits, etc.,
perhaps $10, and final entry expense, if a
10 acre lode claim, $50. Total $170 to
$270. Then you have a property with a
positive title, and can give a warranty
deed for It if necessary. Exchange.
1 ?
M. M. FLYNN
A
W
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'
MEN'S TAILOR
A Line of Woolens and Spring Suitings
such as would be louud in a large city.
Look for vourself. Work guaranteed
and prices right.
DON'T BE A JAY
nnJwo.tr tore tlolhoi
1
(irnnlii Sifrol. Nut in
I Irjt Hank til Sumpter
SUMPTKR, ORK.
Golden Eagle Hotel
American and European Plan
T. T. DANILSON, PROPRIETOR
Sample Rooms for Commercial Men. SUMPTER, OREGON
'V'.'''W'.1
A. P. GOSS, President
A. J. GOSS, Cashier
kofSumpter 3
Tnniicti Ctninl Binklni Builntu
Interest Allowed on Time Deposits
Drafts drawn on all parts of the world. Special attention to collections.
Safety Deposit boxes for rent.
SUMPTER, OREGON
-.-WW.i
....The Elite Cigar Store....
L. HARRIS, Proprietor
Newly remodeled and refitted. Smokers'
resort. We are daily receiving fresh cigars
of the leading brands. No stale goods in
stock.
Healy Block.
Cor. Granite and Center Sts.
Eureka Feed & Livery Company
H. K. BROWN, Proprietor
Horses Boarded by the day or Month. First
class turn-outs and saddle horses. Our spec
ialty is the quick and safe delivery of freight
and passengers to any and all points.
HAY AND GRAIN FOR SALE-
W. S. BOWERS
ABSTRACTS
Real Estate, Loans and Insurance. Mining Patents Obtained
Years of experience in Baker County Records.
No. 2104 Court Street, Baker City; Oregon.
SUMPTER BOTTLING WORKS
Manufacturer ol all kin4t ol Carbonated Drinks and Cider.
OperateJ In connection Willi Ilia
Kentucky Liquor Hou
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL.
GAGEN A. SLOAN, PROPS.,
SUMPTER, ORE.