COVERS
THOROUGHLY
THE
GOLD PIELDS
of the
INLAND EMPIRE
EASTERN
INVESTORS
IN
OREGON MINES
Pay for
AND READ IT
I
SOME HARD-LUCK
MINING STORIES
"U'hii hard, cold, cruel worlil,"
iiiurriiiit'ucl a tlpHy prospector whom
thu barkoop at (hi) Now Olympia
saloon tint rofiiHod a froi) ill ink UiIh
morning.
"Hpiul hid none of your hard-luck
stories," retorted (tin barkoop, no
iniifiti)(l with thi) (act that, u tour
Htartiug tain wiih forthcoming.
'I'ho prospector wiped tho Hall,
tours from IiIh eyes and ambled out
to toHt tho sympathies of other bar
koopH. "Speaking of hard look Htnrlrs "
began Colonel 10. N. Topping, who
happened to ha at tho oiKar lighter
"tha hoHitory of mining in tho wont,
is full of thoiii. Tfioro Ih, of onurso,
a brighter Hido. i do not. need to
rolali) to you tho namim of tho iiioii
who liavo uiado millioiiH upon
iiiilliouH in woHtorn iiiIiioh. Hut
wilOII till) HUH HiltllOH brightest tho
Hhudowri art) dixipoHt. 1 iuivo it theory
that look Ih governed hy tho law of
equilibrium. Whou Jim .Ioiioh
strikes it. rich, Tom lirown Iohoh his
grubstake. Whou Poto CuhIi opens
an out body forty foot, wldo, assaying
tlvo hundred to tho ton, Monk JOokor
itoholilH hia void pinching out to tho
thickness of a pick haiidlo. U'h
a groat gamo-thlH mining ImihIuohh
Mtid iaiiaiUHo tho stakes aro big,
with tho percentage all on tho Hido
of tho pliiyor that Ih tho reason
some of iih never roHlKii our Heats,
today playing a stack of IiIiioh, to.
morrow wagering a single whlto chip:
hut always playing- yonr In and
year out.
"Thoro Ih always ii hit of humor
in thoM) haul look mining stories.
A fellow limy not hod it at tho tlino,
hut U'h thoro. liHtor tho humor may
appeal, and instead of sadness over
what might of havo linen, ther opuiea
fooling that what might have boon
will ho. And that's Hiiothor reason
why wo uovor quit tho game-
whether lonor or winner. A healthy
optimism it just hh much h part of
tho mining inau'H make-up hh la a
knowledge of tho exact dilforouoo and
dlHtiuntiou between a decayed liulfalo
chip Mint m piooo of hull quart.
"In tho JhhI forty yearH 1 havo
hoard enough hard look mining
storlen to llll a hook. AIho, 1 havo
hoard tho otlior kind. lar ho it from
me to oil mh a judge and nay how
greatly tho momhitrH of tho ouo
overbalance tho others; hut ttiiu 1
t-hall ay:- that no douht ho long
an 1 Hhall livo 1 shall follow tho
mining game, Ih'cmuho it's a square
game, mid tho only game on earth
wherein h man may begin with a
button and chhIi in a cool million."
"1 wmh ovor in tho Hlaok Hills
during tho early day of that camp,"
o iiitluuod tho colonel in a remind
cwut tone, "and 1 wmh m star Motor
in m hard I uck story. Von know,
thoro Ih a sort of volcanic overflow
covering thojjoountry around Load.
Thi) lowor strata of this overflow
, oontaitiH gold iu paying (iiantitiof.
oisiiiu snug rnriunoH woro mado iu
thiH Hort of mining. 1 had about
? 12, 000 in ready cash, and with
characteristic impotuouity took a
bond on n Hiring of claims which woro
J a continuation of tho oiioh whoro
big money wiih lining mado. Tho Into
Senator Spencer, of Alabama, who
wiih then in limtnwu and HismnroK
on that celebrated LoiilHiana lottery
deal, wiih my Hide partner on the
bond. 1 Hpeut my $1 '2,000 mid
Spanner's 8112,000, but couldn't
llnd the pay. Wo ran in debt for
82,00(1, but Htill were unlucky. In
disgust wo throw up our bond
and took up Homothing olso. In loss
than a year'H time, other partioH took
up tho work whoro wo had loft olf
and within llfteen feet Htruok It rloh.
They Hold out at a clear profit of a
Mllll I'! lit of li llllif.tl .l.illnru
. !. m.i. .. a. ..ii.ii.iii iiirifiiin
"MlHHing it by 15 foot hqoiiih to bo
tho exact distance mentioned in nil
hard luck HtorloH, " Hpoko up CJeorge
Day, veteran proBpootor, minor and
gentleman gambler. "Frank
Huckniim, of Sumpter, grubstaked a
couple of prospector a few years ago.
and they located Home clalmn iu the
Greenhorns. Tho end line of tho
liiHt claim ran within llfteen foot of
tho Hpot whoro the Morning mine wiih
afterward opened up.
"The colonol'B hard luck story
from the Hlaok HUIh remindH me of
a similar yarn In whloh oih of tho
name actorH wiih h character. 1 refer
to Senator Spencer, who wmh working
on the Louisiana lottery deal iu
Dakota. Had that deal gone through
h certain newspaper man would havo
boon pensioned for life. And the
real hard luck part of it h, that the
MHtuo uowipapor mau in uow in
Sumpter. Vou all know him, bo 1
don't need to moutiou hid name.
Had the lottery deal been nuccetJHful,
he would today be clipping ooupoiiH
mh a o rt of recreation from steam
yachting Hud Mutomoblllng, ii)8teud
of drMwing occMHional Inapiratlou
from the ozone of these lllue
mountaliiB. "
Kd HaiiHor butted In: "Windy
Hob Kvmiih, who wont from Sumpter
to Touopah, telU m haitl luck utory
in about hh terne h WHy hh anybody.
Kviiuh wrote back to Sumpter friendH
hh lollewi: "tlumbo Iohhoh are
holHtlng 12,000 worth of ore m
day. 1 am dealing faro at 7.50
per ahlft. Thin Ih h bard world."
A mluiug man ou the outekirtn
of the crowd elbowed m way into
the center aud uaid:
"Hard luck I Why, I am the only
lxgotteu hod of Father Trouble. Not
long i.go 1 ran acrona an old mine
down on Snake river, whloh iu
yearH gone by Iiiih yielded milliotH,
but which Ih now uhut'dowu. Tho
watchman in charge permitted mo to
entor tho worrkings, and nftor roam
ing around in badly ventilatotl
tunueh, crawling through slippery
upraisoH and louiug my beariuufl in
half-caved croHscutH, i bumped into
a bretiHt of ore that wan uimply lousy
with gold. The caudle light wiib
refloated on big chunks of tho yellow
stuff, it glittored. It was glorious.
I Htood gasping. Coming out I
asked tho watchman if the mine was
for sale. It whk. How much?' 1
asked. He named u figure, aud
directed me to tho owuor in Port
land. To Portland I wout, post
haste, figuring on a trip to Europe
in tho spring. Tho owner was an
affable old goutloman. We com
menced negotiations. Tho prico
placed on tho mine mount spot cash,
hu said. That stumped mo, of
course, i had a cotinle of thousand.
. r
but that was all. 1 suggested that ho
give mo a lease aud bond. Ho was
willing, with the proviso that all
work under the lease should bo
HiipcrviHcd by himself. This looked
peculiar, but 1 took n long chance,
aigued the Joiiho, accepted tho old
man's bond lor a deed, paid a cash
deposit, aud together wo hurried
back to tho mine. 1 immediately
ordered a crew of men to attack
that gold-speckled breast of ore,
and began to overhaul tho mill for a
wook'H run. 'Stop,' said tho aged
owuor. '1 am tho superintendent
horo. ' Ho took the crew into a
caved crosscut and began wheeling
out muck worth forty cents per
mlllilon pouuds. I begged, I
implored, i prayed the old man to
lot mo take out that rich ore. Ho
pointed to tho terms of tho lease,
giving him solo and undisputed
management of all ndergrond work.
'That breast of ore is our show
piece, ' ho explained, it's there yot.
Now If that old mau had only
dropped dead, i would bo clipping
coupons at this very uiomeut. Talk
about hard luck!"
FAKE JOURNALS
FOR PROMOTION
Advising the purchase of shares
iu mining companies, which iu
general represents the busiuees of
the mining broker, naturally In
volves certHin moral and business
responsibilities which uo broker can
hardly fail to appreciate. As an
indication ot what tho responsibility
involves, it is noteworthy that
many investors cannot be per
suaded to buy stocks unless they
can Hud someone else who Ih willing
to assume the gift of prophecy and
toll them what to do. The man
who has money to iuvest uaturally
desires to place it where it will
bring the best profit, while con
serving itself as the principal.
Those who are difilldeut will
therefore frequeutly be found seek
ing the extremes of advice concern
ing their investments, either for or
agaiust them, without stopping to
realize that advice must either be
-t
foundod ou good judgment, bad
judgmout or malico aud that a
personal equation enters into tho
problem only to make it more com
plex. Tho investor will be wiser if
he cultivates bis owu judgment,
even while appealing to othors,
whose sorvico, however, should best
be required wheu it comes to the
gathering of unoolored facts.
The broker who offers a piece of
advice usually gives facts as bis
justification aud his clients may
defer to his judgment, not only lu
the selection of the foots but iu the
weighing of thorn, this being the
case, particularly where the broker
has a busiuess of long standlug aud
has givon frequent proof to bis cus
tomers both of his wisdom aud of his
professional lutognty. uou u
broker as this i.pprooiatoi his re
sponsibility aud is not apt to wilfully
sacrifice his own interests by making
a wrong suggestion to his elio.itH.
From tho circular lottots of a
broker to thosoaalled "house organ"
or promotion journal it is only a
fow stops, but tho dovolopmeut
of such a publication can also bo
approached from tho direction of a
liotia lido magir.iuo or newspapers
Whore the "house organ" bear,
tho imprint of tho broker or pro
motor and makes uo pretense of beiug
anything other than what it Is, it
stands as a highly devolopod form of
tho circular method of iidvrtlalng and
tho render judges it accordingly.
Hut where the publication mentioned
carefully conceals its couneottious
and by some "hocus-pocus" secures
tho second class mail matter privilego
from tho postoftloo, so that it may
masquerade as a legitimate magazine
or nowspapor, it stands merely as
the most degonerato typo of journal
ism and should bo avoidod. It is
worse than a subsidised political
newspaper, because tho latter oauuot
coucal its bias, wherea3 tho promo
tion journal may be made to reach
the purse of small investors by the
most imidious nieaus, without re
vealing the nature of iti dieguise.
The promotion journal of this
descriptiou cau servo all the pur
pose of retailing morceuary advice
to the uuwary without britigiug up
on 'itself auy responsibility that it
has cause to fear. It is of mushroom
growth aud it does not expect to
sourvive loug, whereas the reputable
publication of long standing, repre
senting nothing but honest jourualis
tio ideas, kuows that ita future de
pends upon its record. Advice
without responsibility bebiud it is
uo advice at all, and fulsome advice
cau usually he viewed with sus
picion. If hu iuvestor is too
anxious to secure it he cau Uud all
the promotion journals he wants to
furnish it.Daily Mining Record.
Bowers Invests $500.
Accordug to a deed tiled with the
county recorder of Grant county,
Arthur Wightmau has sold to W. S.
Howers, of linker City, a five
sixteenths iutereBt iu the Chloride,
Governor, Golden Gate, aud Peek-a-Hoo
quartz claims, iu the Susauville
country, for $500.