Wednesday, August $i, 1904 THh bUMPTER MINhR VALLEY QUEEN RETTER STILL Tom C. Gray, superintendent of the Valley Queen, came in from the mine last night on a busiueas visit. Work now, Mr. Gray says, is being prosecuted oo the main crosscut. The receut stringer encountered in dicates that a ledge is being ap proached to which it is a feeder. It is a figured that .either the main Valley Queen ledge Ib being ap proached, or another which has not hitherto entered into the calculation. The stringer in itself is rich. Assays from it go $48 in gold. Preliminary surveys have been completed and it is the opinion that the present shaft over the divide is the properplace for permanent sinking. The bottom of the shaft now down .fifty-two foot shows a good body ofjoro, with assuys running as high as .!8. Tbo cbnructer of tho rock in the crosscut bus proven much softer aud bettor progress U being made. Mr. Gray says that tho sbowiug of the property is bottor than nt any pre vious poriod In. Its history. RUSHING WORK AT BLUE BIRD MILL O. C. Wright, gouoral manager of the Blue Bird, returned last night from this proporty. Millwright Potter, of Baker City, and a full force of meu are thore on the mill construction. The object is to push tbo work to completion. The plant will probably be finished in thirty days. Of course, it can not bo definitly statod, but tho preseut progress of tho work looks liko it can bo completed in this time. A big force from tho Virtue mine was brought iu to do tho work, and uo time will bo lost. Myrtle Creek Placers. John Clemeut took his departuro last Satrnday for tho Myrtle Croak placors mines with a back load of supplies. He goes ovor to commouco workjjou a large ditch, which whoti oompletod, will carry ample wator for tho opoiation of tbo Myrtle Creek placers duriug tbo entire summer season. This raiuing property was discovered soveral years ago, but water has been too soarco for its operation to any great extent, havlug heretofore depeudod wholly on water that flowed iu the gulohos duriug the metling snow. He has surveyed a ditch which wheu constructed, will render it possible for him to have at least 150 inches at all times during the year. Blue Mountain Eagle. TONAPAH AND GOLDflELD AT POINT 0FSTARVATI0N Reno, Nevada, August 25. Cloud bursts and washouts in Tonopah and along the lines of the Tonopah and Carson & Colorado railroad were the most disastrous in the history of these districts. On the Tonopah road all of the tiaok rebuilt after tho last washout has been swept away, and it will be a week before any traffic can be resumed'. At Walker Lake, near Hawthorne, -thetraok 1s under tbree feet of water for nearly four miles and the lake has risen above its level from six to nine feet. Great ohasmu have been washed in the desert and traffic is iu a state of obaos., .ttjftjjj - . Tonopah aud Goldfloids, which are on the verge of starvation, are being temporarily relieved by tbo rushing in of supplies via Crow Springs, Silver Peak aud Caudelaria by wagon trains, but this is only temporary, as over 5000 people must be fed in the different camps and ex traordinary measures adopted for their relief. Food supplies at the campB are practically exhausted. Flour, haoou mud alt. staples have run out, only canned goods remain ing. Heroic measures are beiug adopted and with the resumption of stage lines relief is hoped for. While the situation is critical aud much suffering must be oudured it is hoped that the noxt fow days will bring about better conditions. MACHINERY FOR HUMBOLDT MILL .7. W. Wright camo in from the Humboldt, in tho Greenhorns, today, wuoro ho is ougaged iu eroding boarding houses and buildiugH for tho now mill to go in. Mr. Wright is hero to get teams to haul tho machiuory for the mill from Greenhorn to tho property. Tho boradiug house, a niuo room build ing, has boon completed, aud work will bo started iiext week on the mill buildiug. Tho machinery is to bo plaood at ouco. It is a threo stamp Merrill plant. HIGH GRADE ORE AT THh MOLMAIN MEADOW MINE A. W. Ellis is exhibiting somo very fluo gold sulpbido ore today which came from tho Mountain Meadow, over in tho Rook Creek din triot. Thore aro four clainiB in the group owned by Mr. Ellis, George Turner aud tho Biswoll ostato. The oro shown by Mr. Ellis in vory high grado. It camo from a two foot streak in tho main drift. Somo high assays Imvo previously beeu received from this property. May Build This Pall. JoHopu Woat, ohiof ongluoer of tho Sumpter Vlaley, and II. Uolknap, prominent lumberman of Ogdeu, went through to Baker from Tipton this afternoon. Mr. Bolkuap in making a gouoral visit to eastern Oregon. Re garding tbo John Day extension, Mr. West says ho is to moot ProHident Eooles iu Baker and tho matter of building this fall will bo decided upon. Soma grading,, however, has been done beyond Tipton, aud the survey is well under way. Faith In the Standard. F. M. Riley, of Des Moines, Iowa, who is with the Killon, Warner, Stewart company, aud Dr. J. L. Williamsou, also of Des Moines, left today for the Standard. Dr. Williamson came iu several days ago, but owing to sickuess could uot visit the property sooner. He says bis Iowa friends pin absoluto faith in the Staudard and its mauagemeut. They have no doubt as to tho ulti mate outcome of tho property. The Miner does job printing. IRON DEPOSITS ON DEER GREEK W. G. Ballou is iu today from Deer Creek, where ho is oporatiug the Iron Mask, a two claim property upon which he recently began work. Tho claims show an unusually high per cent of iron, something un common iu this district. Mr Ballou brought in samples which assayed at the smelter ran 910 in gold, uine tenths ouuues of silver aud forty-flvo per cent irou. Ho has drifted thirty or forty feet ou tho veitit which shows tho ore for tho full width of tho drift. Tho vein hat uot yet boou crosscut and its width is, there fore, not knowu. Tho oro apears to be red homatito, vory rich iu irou, uot to mention the gold aud silver valuoa. It is valuable from tho fact that tho smolter will tako tho ore for Mux. WAS INJURED AT THE RUBY MINE Edwin Colony, who has charge of tho work at tho Ruby mine, six miles from 'LSumptor, mot with a Horinua accident yostorday while at work in tho tiiuuol. A stone weighing somo 150 pounds fell from tho roof upon his neck as he was kneeling and dill Hug. " That ho escaped a biokon nook is a miracle, Ilia back was in jured and where his chin struck his knoo, hurt his chin besidos cutting through his tonguo. One hand also was bruised. Assistnaco was summoned, and today Mr. Zolouy was takeu to the homo of his brother-in-law, T. K. Clark, of Baker City, gonornl manager of the proporty. Mr. Zolouy is a student of tho Ca?o school of applied sciences at Celveland, Ohio, and Is doing practical work now couuee tion with his studies. MAY QUEEN MILL STARTED YESTERDAY John Thomson, manager of ' tho May Queen, returned from' tho rifinu today aud left for Baker City. Tho mill, Mr. TiiotnsoiV'says, wart started yesterday for tho purpoHO of making a test run. There are be tween 1100 aud 100 tons of ore on the dumps and the plant will probably bo kept in operation for tho next thirty day. Tho May Quoon has a ten stamp mill. PREHISTORIC WATER DAM ON S1RAWBERRY BUHE A traveler returning from the John Day today aud passing through to Baker City ou his way east tells a re markable story of a discovery made in the Strawberry Butte region. Ills name is Christopher T. Vernel son, aud he 'hails origually from Albany, New York. Ho has been loukiug after min'fu interests in tho Quurtzburg' district! Rotative to his discovery ho says : "Iu company with several mining men, friouds aud acquaintances of miuo, I journoyed through ' tho vari- our ranges of mountains known by the general though somewhat in defluite name of Strawberry Butte. In one of the canyons cutting into the maiu oponlug,we discovered what we bolioved after mature observation to be prehistoric dam dating back for probably hundreds or thousands of years. While digging on the mountain sido looking for mineral bearlug lodes, wo came acroHH some aucient masonry, which had evideutly beou used for tbo purpose of dam ming tho small water course which finds its way through tho canyon, and furnishing power for somo prehistoric machine The antiquity of the work is evidenced iu the fact that by natural "wear 0?o 'vtater had i out through tho solid masonry, and worn it dowu until only tho abutmeuta projecting from tho mountain sido wero left, aud theso wore so deeply oovored by talus from the neighbor ing slopes as to rouder them in visible and unsiiBpocted to casual ob servation. It wuh only the accidental prospecting which brought tho old iiiaBoury up to light. "1 have only a general theory to olfor, " continued Mr. Vornolaon. "The water power furnished must have boon of enormous force, aud tho only conjecture 1 can frame is that it must have boon used for tho opera tion of Home aniuent mills or other works used in prehistoric t linos by some ancient inhabitants of the John Day valluy. No trace of any machines, however, could be found, though we Hoarohod diligently1' Baker-La Grande Electric Road. The eastern Oregon electric lino no homo of Dr. J. M. Boyd, father ot Mayor L. Frank Buyd, contemplates a road from Baker City to La Grande, forty-five miles, which will take in the towns of Haiues, Union and Hot Lake. A branch line to swing around the Grand Rondo valley la also talked of. Dr. Boyd said : "Tho plans aro only begun for tho project. An expert .street car man aud a corps of ongiuoora will leave for tho ground tomorrow aud when they report we will know what we have. We have the promise of easteru money to back the proposed road when wothavo made the survey, secured Hie power and have title to tho right, of way. 1 own considerable property iu Baker City, some of which will be used , for tormina! grounds. V Spokesman Review. , ., - ' i Lawton Sold by Sheriff. The property, of the, Lawton In vestment company was sold at sheriffs sale last Satruday to JO. ,1 Summerville for $11,000, ou an exe cution, to satlbfy a judgement in favor of Li mi II. Sturgls. Tho prop erty sold includes, the towusite of Lawton, a boom town in the Green horn mountains two miles west of Granite. Canyon City Eagle. Land Withdrawn From Reserve. Seymour Bell has returned from a trip to La Grande, where he went to look over tho official plats of the quarter of a million acres of land re cently withdrawn from the temporary forost reserve. He says that very much the larger portion of it has arleady boon entered; many home steads, some desert, aud timbor claims aud a fow tracts have been script. Thoio aro very few quarters, comparativey speaking, that will tompt settlors to file. ' WANTED Twenty cords of black or yellow pino, four-foot cord . wou'd!" Enquiro Miuor offloo. ''