Wednesday, September 10, 1902
THE SUMPTER MINER
t
MAN WHO WANTS
TO BUY A MINE
, Something of the Tenderfoot
In a Mining Camp.
Much luiH l)ooii Raid and wrltton of tlio
tnnn who has n mining property for
pale, of hit trickH, of IiIh peralHteucy, of,
hi hih'cchwh mid IiIh failures. Those
KtnrioH are untially highly colored, Home
are bawil on faet, otliern are the product
of the rolator'a imagination, entirely.
Hut of the man who i-omex out nf the
on t to the mining camp for the purpone
of buying a proerty, one hear and j
ri'iuln hut little. Of the two, he in the i
more interesting study. The man who'
in Helling the mine i at home, iw purau '
ing 1i!m life work, in xtrlctly within liia
own province and merely displays his
own individual uliaracturiKtics.
On the other hand, the buyer In a HhIi
mit of water; he in engaged in a task,
nine times out of ten, altogether new to
to him and there could Ih written col
umiiHou hixanticfl that would add vastly
to the gaiety of nations. Ah a general
thing, he represents conseratie busi
ness men in some town or city east,
who, having heard of the great fortunes
made in mining and having money to
invest, have derided to take a (Iyer at a
irold proMsitiou. They have also deter
mined that they will go at the job in a
business-like way; will take every pre
caution to proteet themselves. With
this idea in view, they select one of their
number to make the trip nut to the min
ing district, look over the ground him
self and lw sure that a gold brick, in
stead of a mine, is not unloaded on them.
They choose a man reputed tobeshrewd
on a trade, considered a wise guy by bis
friends, generally a lawyer. Of course,
he doesn't know a mine from a building
stone ipiarry, the waste dump from a
pile of concentrates.
He lands in Sumpter and loafs around
town for a day or two, enveloped in
mystery. He is a stranger and the local
middlemen sot him. They throw them
selves in his way, start a conversation
and the chances are two to one that be
fore the interview terminates he eon Ados
to his newly made acquaintance, in
strictest confidence, that he has come
hero to buy a mine. This thing happens
with a half dozen brokers in the course
of a couple of days, and in another every
mining man in town knows the object of
his visit and Is trying to unload on him.
In a week, he doesn't know "where he
is at."
He iiiHH'cts a halt doxau or more prop
erties, listens to orations on their re
spective merits, is widely disappointed
in his preconceived idea of what a mine
looks like, and can't be convinced that a
really promising prosect is not the
rankest kind nf a transarent fraud. In
nine cases -ont of ten he becomes aus
picious and imagines everyone ia trying
to "do" him. In the rare Instance
where he is willing to pay for the exam
ination by arid opinion of an expert, he
bring! one in here from aom other state,
who ia not familiar wftrf the district,
know nothing of local formations and
condition, inajpwte awne-onrf two
1 properties, ia unable to form an intelli
gent eetiiMte and, for fenr that be wiU
main n nttoUkn Mr to be detested,
"fan down" tten property 1 tries to
etorUMto)fernfiMloMiiiMibt
SBjSBS; SW"' WWW SMV) '""'Pf i
iIlnlw,Utohrirm.
Mm Mtorn
. mmmmmf
of m' '
wnwaifn taswy. He Uriah
rtnH.Ww-Hrtici! tor
Jim. After earryinn.enn..
' . ' v
a dozen damp tunnels, if he chances to
have seen clearly defined foot and hang
ing walls, smooth as glass, with tho
ledge matter between of strikingly dif
ferent appearance, he imagines he is a
pretty good judge, himself when he be
gins to make all kinds of a fool of him
self and furnishes amusement for a
community. To record in detail inci
dents of thjs character that have come
under the observation of the writer
would fill a 12mi volume.
The tenderfoot is, of course, hamper
ed with innumerable instructions.
First and foremost of these is to be care
ful about tire title. That Is an import
ant feature, of course, but only a chronic
thickhead would lw fooled on that score,
where few locations are more than five
years old, fewer still have passed from
the hands of the original owner and not
one er cent have boon patented. Ono
of these men who was here in July, a
tyH! of the smart Alec class, had laen
instructed to look for only a tunnel
proposition and wouldn't get out of tho
buggy if tho claim was on n hillside the
top of which he could see without the
aid of his Hold glasses.
Unless tho stranger within our gates
is endowed with more than the average
share of common sense tho rarest hu
man attribute in which case he handles
himself "wise" in whatever xeition ho
may bo placed, the roputablo broken
soon tire of him and he falls Into tho
hands of tho scalers. They know their
business, ono of the axioms of which is
that it is easier to swlndlo a fresli green
horn than to close a square deal with
him. They move on the lino of least re
sistance and another combination of
eastern gentlemen who pride themselves
on their conservatism and who deter
mined to apply business principles to
mining, make a failure of the enter
prise. Thk Minkr knows it is not exactly
fair, recognises the fact that it Is "tell
ing tales out of school," but it can't re
sist the temptation to reveal ono of the
secret tricks of the mining trade, to ex
pose a hook concealed in an alluring
bait. After hearing one of those syndi
cate representatives repeat time and
again the statement: "Of course, I may
bo mistaken, hut I prefer to err on the
side of caution and conservatism," the
average mortal Itecomes a tritle weary,
and should not 1m too harshly judged if
he replies in this n'ise: "look here,
now. I can't sell this prnierty for less
than $115,000 that is in tho ImiihI hut I
iiiii making a commission of $21,000, and
it you euro to do business with me, I'll
break It up even with you. I need the
money to develop a claim of my own
that is not for sale. You are doing your
principals no injury, for they can't buy
it for less. If this proMsition strikes
you favorably, get In and drill Wore
noon tomorrow. This is tho last call."
That halt has caught many a one.
Tho celebrated Guild's "the beer of
good cheer" always on draught at Dun
phy's The Club.
Hoffman's llakory makes a Hccialty
of furnishing ice cream for parties.
Prompt attention given all orders.
BLUE BIRD
MINING
COMPANY
Capital $200,000
FULL PAID AND NON-ASSESSABLE
MINES LOCATED IN GRANITE MINING DISTRICT, EASTERN OREGON
50.000 SHARES OFFERED
sgflBjnjajannnnnjpr
Writt tor iptlal prlctt
and proiptctua
WHEELER A. CO., !
It BROADWAY, NEW YORK
Mtntlon No. 6a and Iht North Antrlcan Miner will Dt malltd you nx nonlhi tn
GRIZZLY STOCK...
93,tH Hliares at less tlinii ground floor price. You can
have it for 2$ cents in one lump, or .'I cents in broken Iota.
EST BUY IN EASTERN OREGON
Write for particulars to
BERNARD FLYNN sumpter, ore.
:
IF YOU WISH TO
!
. Eithat U buy OIK Etff Stacks, a Praaaaat
that it 'HIm Mikiftj tf MiM," f that
ia akaatfyajaa'a, writ in what fan waaf
ffW PWMIra www .M MfMf m ptwWWIVil
AS0RCSS
E SANDERSON SMITH I
- '''('
MINES AN MINIMS STSCNS
A
NEW
GOLD
MINE
THE STOCK OF THE
NEW GOLD MINE
THE
CRAGKER
OREGON
Located in the same dis
trict with the famous
North Pole, the Eureka
and Excelsior, Golconda
and Columbia mines in
the Sumpter District in
Eastern Oregon, is now
being offered, to provide
money to do the neces
sary development work,
such as run tunnels, build
mill, etc. This mine
shows an ore ledge which
extends for a distance of
$,ooo feet on the prop
erty, showing a clearly
defined vein of from 10
to 40 feet in width. It
will undoubtedly prove
to be as great a producer
as its rich neighbors. The
price of the stock is
50 CENTS A SHARE
Par value $i.oo, Non
forfeitable, Non-assessable,
and no personal
liability.
TMMatttavMklifiitii1lii
ww aiajsmi jri sanw w i aPisasaWi
warn on call upon
THE
OREGON
DEVELOPMENT
qo.
LEE5.OVnT.Agl.
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