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About The Sumpter miner. (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (July 30, 1902)
VOL III. INTERESTING RUMOR. REPORTED SALE OF SUMPTER VALLEY RAILWAY. Deal Knocked by Rival. Interest Parties Who Want to Control the Lumber Butlneu Here Themselves Had Suf (icieot Pull in Washington to Cautc Forest Reserve Order to be Issued. Tlit'M! is 11 rmnur of nil absorbing in terest uictly whisimred around iimoiis; very few of us knowing out during the past fun days, relative to thu establish incut of that aggravating forest reserve, involving an alleged sale of the Sumpter Valley riiilnutil, the Kasteru Oregon I.umlMsr company's mill anil timber lands, an intiinatioii of themunipulation of the Interior department liy a iwer fill lumber syndicate for scltlsh ends and the defeat of the plans of a rival concern ami, in fuel, a hunch of rumor, equal ly absurd, the skeptics will insist. "Whether or not there in any truth in the story Tiik Mi.nkh will not venture an opinion. It sounds reasonable, inakeH giss.1 reading matter ami must, there fore, hero lie told. Ah readers of Tiik Mixkk know, for several weeks, past the woods hereabouts have been lull of cruisers, representa tives of two or more big Imuhcrcompan ies, with lieadiuarters in Wisconsin ami the world as their Held of iiiuratioii. One of these companies, knowing a gtssl thing when its trusted agent sees it, coveted the splendid bodies of timber lands in thu Hlue mountains, recognized the fact that in order to control thu sit uation a railroad is necessary, and not being willing to wait the time required to build one, opened negotiations for the purchasf-of thu Sumpter Valley Hue. The story goes further and relatesthat these negotiations proceeded to the sat isfactory point of thu parties to thu deal agreeing 011 a price for both the road and the lumbering interests, and fixing August 15 as thu date on which thu pur chase price should lie paid and thu transfer of title made. In this connec tion it is said that thu gentleman who was to close thl transaction is now on his way to Sumpter, with a New York draft for seven llgures, exclusive of thu two ciphers representing no cents, se curel;' pinned in the inside ockct of his vest. Of course this establishment hero of a forest reserve is going to knock thu sale, and the above mentioned knowing ones aver that the reserve wan established for this purMtau ; that a combination of east ern men who dabble in politics us a Hide line to their lumlier business, thereby having secured a pull at the national capital, also have a yearning for eastern Oregon timber lands, want it In largo tracts, decline to take it in homeopathic doses, and so took this method of shut ting out a rival concern, until they can SUMPTER, OREGON, JULY jo, 190 have time to turn around, as it were, and ierfect their plans for a wholesale rtiKi of the virgin forests. No one has thus far named these gen tlemen with the strong Influence with the Interior department and the re sourceful underground tactics. Will Inspect the Friday Mine. Nell .1. Nircuseu and Olto llerlis'ker will leave for the Friday, just over the line In Idaho, one day this week. Neither ha been there since Superin tendent (irillith uiiwatereil the mini1, finishing the job several weeks since. A force of men is now engaged drifting on the levels, and every rcsirt received Is to the effect that the old rich on- Isslies left intact when the mine was shut down several years ago on account of litigation, are holding their own, Isith as to extent 'and values carried. It is understood o lie the intention of the company to sink another UK) feet this season, giving a depth '-WO feet and doubling the amount of ore in sight. If this has been detitiltely decided Uhiii, it has, however, not been publicly an nounced. Everett Brown a Busy Man. Kvcrett llrown, manager of the Cali fornia and Cracker-Oregon mines, is the busiest man in the camp. I -urge forces of workmen are employed at the mines, voodaud timbers are being gotten out and the plans are about completed for the erection of a ten stamp mill on the Cracker-Oregon and for a concentrating plant 011 the California. The manage ment of this all falls on Mr. llroun, formerly of I'eiiu Van, New York, and the way In has taken hold of matters demonstrates his large capacity for business. The concentrating plant on thu California will be pushed to com pletion as rapidly as osil)lc. Latest Rumor About the E. & E. Again it is reported on the streets that the K. A; K. deal has In-uii closed. This time the rumor has it that the purchasers will take Misscssion Septem ber I, and Is'iiin work u week later. II. T. Ilendryx, of linker City, who has been working oil the proosttiou in con nection with .K. I'. Cow en, jsud who went to California some mouths since, succeeding in securing the signatures of Jonathan lioiirneand wife to an iusiru incut agreeing to transfer the great Idle property under certain satisfactory con ditioiiH, was in town yesterday, hut gave out no information regarding the transaction. Twenty Claims Suiveyed lor Patent. John llagel has been surveying the Kaglu Mining company's claims, in the Cable Cove district, for some days misI. He has finished the Held work, and went out yesterday with a party of gentlemen interested in the company, lie says this survey Included twenty claims, for which patent will lie applied. It constitutes the largest body of mineral land ever patented in one tract in the state. The impression prevails, somehow, that there is a conflict of interests in this deal and that all kinds of trouble is brewing. NORTH POLE OWNER HERE To Consider the Building of That Electric Line to Bourne. .Mr. and Mrs. Alexander llarini: ar rived in Sumpter yesleiday and weie driven at once to the North I'ole mine, which Mr. Haling owns. This forenoon 'I'm: .Minimi attempted to establish telephonic connection with the gentleman, for the purNc of learn ing how he enjoyed tho-e trout from Olive lake that he had for breakfast; when he is going to start work on that electric Hue fiom Sumpter to ('able ('ove, with a branch hue' to llourne; whether or not it is a fact, as rcMirtcd, that a million and a half, dollars in gold have Imhui taken out ol the North I'ole during the past live months, and If so would he kindly send down twenty or thirty H.unds of that i.'KHI.lHK) rock as .1 MH'ket piece for the editor; whether he calls London his home, as is generally supsiMt, or is a resident of eipially benighted New York, us the writer is apparently leliahly informed, and of making a few other pertinent enquiries of a purely public nature; but llie at tempt was a dismal failure. Unfortunately, Kmil Melxcr, the ab solute dictator of that small hut rich principality in the absence of Its owner, answered the phone, and the courteous ret 1 ilex I of the uewspaM'r man for some I11I01 matiou as to Mr. and Mrs. Daring's movements while in eastern Oregon was turned down with boorish incivility, colored with lofly scorn. Mr. .Mel .or Is one of those men who consider a gold mine a sacred thing, that should 1st worshipped as is the symlsdic calf made of its priHliict; who coiisideis public interest in a mining company nothing less 1 1 tu 11 profane sacrilege and a re porter's impudence in approaching his august peisoinige for the purHisti of In terview iuu him, as a species of lesv majeste. If he lives in America a million or so years, he may ierhaps slightly revise this estimate of himself mid opinion of others. Mr. Ilariug is here at this time for the esN'cial purpose of considering the proposition of building an electric rail way fiom Milliliter to llourne. At the last meeting of the cityiouncil 11 fran chise was granted to construct and oKirate the road Ihrouuh the streets of Sumpter. The franchise was granted to Tom McKweu, who, it is positively known, is acting for Alexander during and K'rhaw others. It was his desire to have the matter set lied then, that the whole prniositiou might be pre sented in a business like, complete manner. There is 110 question hut what the mad will prove a uiy!ug in vestment from the start, and thu hoM i NO. 47- N generally entertained that it will ls ready to oernte alsiut the tlmu the -inciter here l blown In. Mr. Itariiii! hereby assured the most cordial co-opeiatiou and considerate treatment by this municipal govern ineiit, (he H'ople of Sumpter and the entire district. In case he decides to en untie hi the enterprise. Encouraging Rtpjrl Prom the G'psy King. V. II. Mather telephoned from thu Clpsy King to I'. C. Ilrodic Monday that he and Al Otucss had, after doing con siderable prelimlnaiy work, begun sink ing on the rich ore shoot. When down only ulsiut six feet eighteen inches of solid ore was encountered, which show ed every indication of widening out to the full seven feet between the walls. Thi" is the phenoineiiallv rich ore lasly of which Vo much has been said by tho pi ess of eastern Oregon. It was found as broken ledue matter nu the bank of the creek and assays from '.1W to f-100, never less than thu llrst tlgure. Mr. Mather said they will wmiii I si Isithercil with water; that they probably can't work longer than this week without starting the pumps, which will be work- led by water siwer for the present. Lindsay Party Goes to Alaska. The Lindsay parly, from New York and Milwaukee, that was here last week, left Saturday for a short pleasure trip to Alaska. Thu gentlemen were mom than pleased with the country, viewed from a business staiidMiiut, and after in sectiug a number of the prisluciug mines, several procrtles in which they are interested, especially thu Oregon Monarch, they decided to carry out one or two large enterprises which they hail under consideration. It is especially gratifying to learn that after wrsonal examination they decided that a smelter here in Sumpter Is a irood business proi- osltiou, Is'tter even than lr, Mueller and his associates had pictured it. Thu party will return to Siimpler in alsiut two weeks, liefnrc going east. That Bnd on the Constellation. It. II. Kemp, in charge of V. A. Me- Naughtou's huslucs during hlsjibscnce, with all nllico over llie Hank of Sumpter, received a letter from him a few days) since, wiltten Iroiu .sun rrancisco. no explained why he could not he, here on thu twenty-fourth Instant and take up the Isuiil on the Constellation, which expired on that dale. He said he coulil not Imi litre for alsiut twenty (lays, ami asked for an extension of the IniiuI for thirty days, which will probably bu granted. Mr. McNuiiglitou is working on a big electric siwer deal, also, anil is hoM'ful of carrying it through success fully. He has shipped from San Fran cisco to Sumpter a coiupletu assaying out lit for his own use. I loth he and Mr. Kemp are assayers. Call for Bids. Ilids wauled 011 running a fifty-foot tunnel, on a mining claim near llourne. For particulars apply to Chas. II. Chance, First Hank of Sumpter building.