Wednesday. March 16, 1904
nolia. Mr. Jones ie one of the own
ers pt the property, and it la thought
there may be a new deal coming up.
They will probably not return before
tomorrow,
MISTAKES OF
MINE OWNERS
CRACKER OREGON
TO RESUME SOON.
LOOKING AFItK THEIR
SUMPTER INTERESTS
l:
THE SUMPTER MINER
President Michael Here And
Brings Good News About
His Properties.
Joseph Michaol, of Minneapolis,
president of (hii Turuagaiu Arm coin
pany, operating tho California, mill
largely Interested In the Cracker
Oregon mill Cracker .hu;k in tlm
Cracker Crook district, nrrlvoil tlnn
mnrliiog t look uftor tho oMirntlou
of IiIh prttpoi t Iih. Mr. Michael
hrlngH most encouraging nmvH. Tim
Cracker Oregon will roHiiiuo opera
tiotiH within tho uiixt three tuoiitliH,
or irohiihly 11 sooner limit.
"Wo would Htnrt up nt once,"
Hitj'H Mr. Michael, "were It not for
tho faol that tho toniIh Hro In h do
plorHhlo condition, mid tho getting iu
of supplies li h mutter attended with
grout dlllloulty. Just a hooii as tho
wuathor opeus up, however, wo will
begin oporntloiiH, hikI wo hope thut
It will not ho ho lung rh tho 1 1 in 11 I
have mentioned,"
This property it equipped with h
(on stamp mill hiiiI iii1ihUii(o ma
chinery. Operations, according to
Mr. Michael, aro to I in resumed on an
extended miiiIo.
Itogardlug tho touiporHry closing
of tho California, Mr. Michael says:
"Among tho piomliiiiut conditions
which nnido It necessary to u uml
millliiK operations for a short time,
wiih tho dltilciilty with which thu
transportation of supplies was at
tended, duo to tho snow Mini tho liml
wtuto ot romlH. It was uoxt to i lit -possible,
tit least h viry stietiiions
FACE OF DRIFT
NOW IN TALC.
Tom 0. (liny, superintendent of
the Valley Queen, mine iu from tho
111I110 last night. Ho icports Charles
Warren, vlco president of tho com
pany ami foreman of tho works, lunch
Improved from n threatened attack of
pneumonia While Mr. (iray does
not take iiuy ot tho eiodlt of the
approach!) u recovery to himself, it is
believed (lint it Is duo to his jiidl
tdous nursing and apppllcatiou of
simples. Mr. (Iruy is hero on urgent
matrimonial business which would
not brook delay.
Work at tho mine, he says, is
going on In good shape. Tho drift
on vein No. I, recently started, Is
now Iu twenty feet uud tho face is In
talc, which, as Is well known by
mining men, Is a good iudlcatlou,
Work hi tho other parts of tho mine
is proceeding satisfactorily.
mutter, to get In our cyanide and
other supplies, ho wo (Inured it more
expiidii-nt to i Ioho down temporarily
thiiu to iiltcii it to run under such
conditions, lint thu suspension will
1 ho Tory brief. Just hh hood iih tho
weathur opem up, wo will ho going
again.
"And lot 1110 say rlftlit hero that
those who are wagging their tongues
aliuut tho California's mill not heliiK
a success, aro speaking about some
thing concerning which they have
not tho remotest knowledge. Tho
California mill Ih a success, as has
Iioimi thorotiKhly demonstrated duriiiK
tho time it wbs operated. It la ad
mirably nulled to the trcatmeut of
the orv, and there in uot the remotest
fault to be found in thin direction.
I No defect or deficiency In the mill
has anything to do with tho close
down, it was due to the conditioun
1 hare stated, lloro in a point. We
are, absolutely Hiiro that the Cali
fornia Ih a mine, and a good one; we
hare all kinds of oro iu sight, and
our mill ha satisfied us that the
treatment is a success. It Is ouly a
question of time, and a very brief
time at that, until wc will he going
aguiu at full blast."
Mr. Michael will remain iu tho
city several days looklug after his
interests. The situation In the cast,
he Miys, is v orv encouraging, and bis
companies aro iu moat excellent
shape.
WENT TO EXAMINE
MAGNOLIA MINE.
Al Jones, Al Celser and Engineer
Esselstyn, who left for the Magnolia
yesterday to in like an examination of
this property, met with hud luck be
fore they reached (iratiitc. The re
port came iu this moruiug that their
team gave out before they reached
(iraulte, and tho three had to foot it
to (Iraulte, where they tecured a
fresh span and preceded on their trip
this moruiug. The Informant states
that when the horses gave out tho
trio got busy to give assistance, am)
when seen in this act about a fuot of
A I Jones' persou was sticking out of
the siiow, Hud barely the tops ot
Esselstyn'a aud ISeiser's heads could
be seen.
There are sundry rumors regarding
the uilssiou of these meu to the Mag
D. Jones aud A. Snyder, of Du
luth, vhu are interested iu Oregon
mineral and timber holdings, arrived
here this morning to look after busi
ness matters. Mr. Snyder is the
father ot Mr. Snyder, a member of
the former mining brokerage Arm of
llnrks & Snyder, of this city.
Mr. Jones is one of the heavy
stockholders In the Esmeralda In the
Cracker Creek district. It Ih re
ported that this property is to resume
operations at au early Jate, but Mr.
Jones bad nothing to give out iu
confirmation. However, it is a valu
able mineral holding, situated in a
favored locality, and the general
impression here Is that it Is suou to
be worked.
Mr. Jones is extensively interested
iu timber lauds In western and south
ern Oregou, also iu Utah, aud iu
mines iu Colorado, Arizona aud Brit
ish Columbia. He is one of the
stockholders In the Calumet aud Ari
zona smolter at Douglas, which has
just completed a most successful
yvar's run. Msesrs. Jones aud Sny
der will be here several duys looking
after their Interests.
Prussian Potash Mines.
The potash that is dug from the
royal Prussiuu mines, located at
Stassfurt, niuety miles from Ilerllu,
la the sole source of the world's sup
ply. Hefore the mines were discov
ered the best substitute that could bo
found for the product was wood ash,
such as tho southern plantations used
iu the old days for makiiig lye soap.
The Prussian mines aro twenty-eeveu
iu number aud were devoted to the
production of salt before the salt rock
was discovered. When tho new va
riety of salt was given to the world
about forty years ago, the Prussian
mines were temporarily abandoned,
aud iu a few years a search for rock
salt was instituted. The salt was
found, but in a badly adulterated
condition, and au analysis of the
adulterant revealed the fact that it
was the most valuablo part of tho
mineral. The potash was at ouco
turned to use as commercial fertil
izer, aud establishments iu Kentucky
aud other southern states took a large
proportion of tho production. It is
au lugredieut of the material iu
which the Tjiii;?suo aud South Caro
lina phosphate in lnrly used. Tho
mines are coutrolled by a syndicate
ami aro miner 1110 supervision 01 mo
empuror of (iermauy aud king of Prus
sia. They employ "21,000 men, and
ylled 1.U00 carolads a day of potash.
Of tho entire output To per cent is
used for agricultural purposes, while
tho remainder is used for chemical
purposes. It is lurgely utilized iu
the cyanide process of extracting gold
from tho ore. Exchange.
Resume Work at Gold Coin.
The Maker City Democrat reports
that Tom Kenuerly, of the Hold
Coin, iu the Ureeunorus, has re
turned from the east, where he has
beeu for six months past, aud will
resume work ou that property iu the
spring. He is accompanied by F, C.
Uanter, of Philadelphia, who will
have charge of the work.
Rush Into Mills Without
Knowing Kind Best Suited
To Ore.
In tho opinion of John Arthur, of
the Sumpter Sampling and Testing
works, the thing which is militating
most against tho best interests of
mining iu this district is the estab
lishment of mills uusuited to proper
treatment of the ore.
"Of course," says Mr. Arthur,
"you will accusn mo of talking up
my own business, slnco 1 have gone
to considerable expense to equip a
testing riant for the recommendation
of the process betl adapted to a given
ore, but you have ouly to look about
you to i each the conclusion that the
mistakes iu this direction are not a
few. A great many alleged miuiug
men seem to thiuk that among the
first things to be done is to equip
their piuperty with a reduction
plant. For the most part they are
ex-fanners or dry poods clerks whose
kuowledge of miuiug, to say the least,
is limited. The machinery man who
cau put up the smoothest spiel un
loads a mill ou them, without any
reference to Its adaptability to the
reduction of their ore. With a great
flourish of trumpets it Is then an
nounced that such and such a prop
erty Is going to Install milling ma
chinery, and tho eastern stockholders
begiu to imagine themselves rolling
in weultb and luxury. Hut in many
lustaucea their dream is short lived,
for the first thing you know the plant
is closed down aud some vague reason
assigned, when the truth of the mat
ter is that it wouldn't save the val
ues. 1 am not mentioning anybody
or auy property, but speaking gene
rally and one will not hare to start
any very exhaustive inquiry to learn
that what I um saying is gospel
truth. This gives the district a
black eye. Outsiders begin to wag
their tongues and eay, 'Why did such
aud such a mill clnso down? Why
does uot this or that mine pay divi
dends?' "The ore la here undoubtedly and
iudisputaly. It is here in vast quan
tities, aud of n quality that if treated
correctly will yield immouse returns.
If before rushing into a mill with a
flare of tinhorn", tho operator would
pay a small sum to some reputable
aud therefore unprejudiced testing
institution which would guarautoe
the process, it would save tho abso
lute throwing away of largo sums of
money in useless machinery, aud at
tho samo timo save the district from
slanderous talk. I know I am
preaching up my own trade, but at
the same tiu.e I um glvluus stiuigbt
goods, as far as the best Interests of
the camp are concerned."
Timber and Homestead Filings.
Timber and homestead tilings, as well
as filial proofs, can bo made before
Charles H. Chance, United States Com
missioner, office in First National Bank
of Sumpter building, Sumpter, thus sav
ing applicants expense of a trip to Lt
Grande.