THE SUMPTER MINER
Wednesday, January 6, 1904
The Sumpter Miner
OFFICIAL l'AER OF HIE CI TV OF SUMPTER
puausHiri ivirv widnisuav by
J. W. CONNELLA
T. O. fiWVNNC. - EDITOR
fcnltred at lh pittofflce In Sumpter, Oregon, lor
tfanimlnlon through Hit milll at teconj clati
mailer.
SUMSCKIPTION HATSJ
One Yar...
.! Month
ALWAYS IN AI1VANCR.
It hoohih t(i bii tlm general desire
iiruoiiK tlio knockers in those parts
Unit tlio other follow tlirnw IiIh liatn
nitir in tlio scrap lump.
It 1h a Ihw of iiiiluro Unit men, uh
wiill hh wator, finally roach their
lovol; howovor high tlioy may appear
to bo soaring for a tlmo. , .,
Koliahlo roportH stnto that coast
iiiIUh havo in stock ovor two bun
dled million foot of lumlior, for
which thorn is littlo tlniiiHiiil, domes
tic! or foreign honon tlm depression
In thnt uartor.
It looka vory much hh if Unrnmn's
oppoHltion to tlio I'hiinuih treaty Ih
inspired liy hlri hope thnt the Uhus
continental railroads will oomo to
IiIh aid In his proHlilontlHl aspira-
tlODR.
Tbey, feuwover, havo little influ
new Id demaoratio couventlou,
and that U where Oormau will havo
the flight of hi life, to secure tho
nonlnatlou.
Another wild cat roKiou Iihh boon
exposed. During tho laHt nix
month, the Wichita mountains havo
boon botiiuod aH a gold -hearing ouun
try. (lovornmoul AasHyor lliiln, who
made an examination of tho country
uiidor the diroctlou of tho Intorior
departinotit, roporta that noun or tho
assays allowed orn in tho proper
tie u mo of tho word mid that tlio teginii
Iihh no present or prospective value
mb a mineral producer.
The atnluod relations between
Japan and UuhkIii are almost wrought
up to tho shouting point, Hiid war be
tween tho two uatloiiH in iiiimlueut.
An Indiciitioti of thin h that Lloyd's
ratoH fur war risks on vessels bound
for tho lar Kant have boon nil nod.
Jnpnti In firm lu her resolve to pro
vent the Russian aiiiilMitlon of any
Korea n seaport, and desires a dellnllc
settlement of far Kaidoru conditions,
while Russia, for obvious reasons,
would keep them uuttottlod.
Kvory limn engaged in practical
milling knuws that the way men spend
tholr time and money, too, when otf
duty Iihh much to do with their elll
otetioy and a ureal deal with thogou
eral sentiment of the employes to
ward an entorprlHo, think the IV
clllo Coast Miner. With t Iioho ho If
evident factit ever proHout in mining
districts, It would soon, that the
wine owners and tho mine managers
would havo a apodal reasou to give
consideration to the hoc In I welfare
of the meii employed. There are
evroal American instances of the
adoption of such a fur-sighted pol
icy, but too oftou tho opponlte Ih the
case, lu many Instance the com
puny stores make it a point to fid I
all the intoxicating liquors tbey can
to their employe.
Tho Express-Gazetto, of Cincin
nati, shows in Uh January Ishuo a
marked decreaso lu train and stage
robhorioM duriug 10011 an compared
with 11102. It gives tho following
Hiimmary with tho record for tho past
fourtcooii yeurs: Tho total number
of triilim hold up in fourtei'on years
was :ill ; tho total number of people
killed nl not y nine, and tho numbor
of people Injured (shot), 10!). The
number of trains held up in 10011
wan thirteen, as compared with
twoiity-two in 1002. The number of
Hinge robberies in 100JI mih six.
Lust yeur'H record shows that no pas
sengers nor trainmen woro killed by
robbers, but there were hIx wounded.
In 1002 one was killed and thrco
wounded. One lobber was killed in
1 0011 us compared with three killed
lu 1002.
Tho Mining mid Soloutiflc Press
thinks that the copper market shows
signs of woakuoss, tho anticipated
rise in prlco not having materialized.
Tho output for tho yoar has bean
largo, mid tho consumption has
practically been equal to it; but still
tho market has slowly declined, aud
it Is now at 12 1-2 to 111 cents, with
Indications for a still lowor price.
Tho disturbed Industrial condition of
tho country Bnd lack of contldenco on
the part of Investors is responsible
to a grout extent for the present con
dition of tho copper market. Num
erous anticipated electric Installa
tions and extensions have not been
mado, because of uncerainty of labor
conditions, and copper has not been
lu ai great demand aa was expected
a few months ago. And thla empha
sizes the advantage of a gold camp,
eastern Orogon, for Instance. No
market thlmbloriffgers cau depress the
prlco or ahut off the demand for our
product.
One of tho problems to which on
gluooring schools ought to give Im
mediate utid serious consideration
has grown nut of tho practico of ob
taining professor, by " I ir brood lug,"
as It has been characterized, meaning
by this the recruiting of the young
teachers, hooii to bo developed into
full-Hedged profossors, from among
recent giaduatos, with littlo more
limn their school experience to tholr
credit. This species of soloctiou has
become an increasing fashion within
the past ton years, says Cusslor's
MitUHzine, or, perhaps, hotter put, in
an increasing necessity, duo to tho
crumped lluaiicial couditlous ruling
with most of the schools, aud tho re
sult has undoubtedly been a narrowed
degree of usefulness of Instructors
and professors, aud u more closely
circumscribed value In tho engineer
ing market of tho young graduates
forced lutu iu. In a few instances.
It is truo, promlnout ougiueera
nctively engaged iu professional work,
have been Induced to lecture occa
sionally at such schools, thus vital
izing the collego atmosphere with tho
spirit of actual engineering, and
through such looturos some good has
been accomplished, lu several receul
Instances, also, men fresh from engin
eering Holds have been secured us
the heads of engineering school de
partments, aud as such alTord ad ml
table illustrations of a policy which
is to no much commouded. Hut
these are only Isolated examples of
what should bo generally practiced.
Andrew Caruegio does not beilevo
In stock speculation aud Is oi t iu n
letter denouncing the whole business
as gambling of the worst sort. It
may be like the dovll quoting Scrip
ture, but Andy has made some whole
somo ' observations nevertheless.
Ho aays:
"ttuying shares upon a margin,
called 'speculation,' is, in its
essence. Bumbling. It is immoral
because the aim is to got something
for nothing. Speculation is the par-,
aslto of business, feeding upon
values, creating none. It carries its
own punishment. If the gambler
wins, his winnings uro ill gottou
gain; if ho lose, be nrobubly robs I
his family and dependents. To'
those who are ropnrted to huvo lost J
lu gambling, I oxpress tho opiuiou I
that It Is hotter thnt they huvo lost
than won, provided they resolve to
gam bio no more. To those who
huvo won I would say suy, wealth so
obtained can bring no blessing.
The spirit of speculation throughout
tho cities of our land Ih the suddest
of recent developments. I hope our
good old city of Pittsburg will re
cover Its former reputation as a solid,
conservative, honost, hard working
community. Our manufacturers
should return to the making of iron,
steel, glass, coke, mining of coal,
otc, and glvo up the making of or
dealing In paper certificates."
In a mining way, the year just
ending has been one of unexpected
prosperity in tho Sumpter district.
Never in the history of mining oper
ations here have a twelve months wit
nessed so many and such vast im
provements and developments. In
the matter of gold production it is
next to impossible to obtain reliable
statistics, for the reason that opera
tors In this particular are reticent to
an onreasonble degree, but mill con
struction and development work have
shown for themselves. While it Is
believed that the gold production for
the year will more than average with
former years, auy attempt Jit statis
tics, however, would bo the merest
guess work, for tho the reasons stated.
The news columns of The Miuer have
contained a faithful account of ibe
mill b'lildulg and development rec
ord of the district for the past twelve
months, and without any attempt ut
a resume nere, mo siaiemem win
readily be credited by those
familiar with the situation. And if
all indications do not fail, tho com
ing year will be vastly prosperous. A
great niauy companies are now plan
ning to put iu new plants, new prop
erties will be opened up, and develop
ment energy will be redoubled,
while tho old producors will go
steadily aboad adding to their output
and equipment, as they havo done
durug tbo past yoar.
Under tho caption, "Tightening the
Screws," tho (irant's Pass Minimi
Journal tells of the handicap that
section of the stato labors uuder, in
this wise:
We do not forget that we are a
long war from "civilization" and Its
markets. We acknowledge that
what we have and are is largely due
to the agency of various railroad
lines, and are duly grateful. Hut
oven our gratitude does uot blind us
to the fact that the short sightednoss
and "penny wise" avariciousness of
the Oregon lines and eastern con
nections is bound to prove a positive
detriment to the commonwealth and
to southern Oregon in particular.
The policy of the Southern Pacific
In regard to its mineral lauds in this
part of the Btate is a blow at the lu
dustiial development of this sectiou,
aud a blow that will rebound upon
tho railroads itself, for it is a self
evldeut fact that whatever teuds to
restrict development of territory is
detrimental to the railroad system.
In past years the Southern PaciHo
has been fairly liberal towards the
locator, who was able to secure lands
at the rate of $2.50 per acre. Now,
In addition to advancing the price to
85 an acre, the compauy attaches a
"string" to every tract of land sold
to settlers, In the form of a clause iu
its deeds, according to which the
locator is debarred from developing
auy of the mineral resources of the
laud which ho has purchased; nnd
furthermore gives to tho railroads
tbo privilego of entering upon said
lands at uuy time for tho purpose of
prospecting or developing the said
resources.
It must bo a coiiriigeous settler
who will cuter ou railroad land in
this section with such a condition
attached to it.
Speaking of Itoosevelt's chances of
nomination, the Now York Commor
cial finds no prcccdout; in fact, that
none of tho vlco-presldouts who havo
accidentally become president was
over uomlnated to succeed himself.
It says:
"Several newspapers are pointing to
the fact that nono of the vice-presi
dents of the United States who have
hitherto become president by acci
dentTyler, Fllln.ore, Johnson and
Arthur has been nominated to suc
ceed himself as president; and the
precedent is cited as ominous of tho
fate that maybe in store for Presldeut
Roosevelt.
"One very important point, how
ever, is overlooked by these news
papers: Unlike Roosevelt, neither
Tyler, Fillmore, Johnson nor Arthur
was nomlnateud for vice-president In
order to "get rid of him." Roose
velt was nominated for that office
much from the same motive that
members of the Hrltish House of
Commons are sometimes "kicked up
stairs" by the bestowal of a peerage
the vice presidency would be a
place of dignified retirement for him.
"He was not nominated primarily
to balance his party ticket geographi
cally, but to shelve effectually what
some of the party leaders had come
to regard as a troublesome personal
factor. His nomination was not a
peaco offering extended to a stormy
and daugerous faction as was that of
Arthur; neither was be a "dark
horso" like Fillmore. He was a
popular figure both in and out of bis
party just then, and it was believed
that his nomination for second place
on the presidential ticket would servo
to strengthen the latter aud at the
sumo tlmo dlsposo forever of bis pres
idential ambitions.
"Noue of the four vice-presidents
already mentioned was nominated un
der such circumstances a fact that
makes Roosevelt's case staud out by
Itself. For all of that, lots of things
may buppeu in the course of the next
half-dozen moons."
Work at Cracker Highland.
Dan Cabill. superintendent of the
Cracker-Higblaud, came in from the
property lact uigbt, and reports
good work on the vein, showing satis
factory ore bodies carrying good
values. He left this afternoon ou
a business trip to Raker City.
Timber and Homestead Filings.
Timber and homestead filings, as well
as final proofs, can be made before
Charles II. Chance, United States Com
missioner, otlice in Fint Nutional Ban
of Sumpter building, Sumpter, thus sav
ing applicants expense of a trip to La
Grande.