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About The Sumpter miner. (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 1904)
THE SUMPTER MINER Wednesday, November 2 1904 BONANZA SHUT-DOWN A PART OF SMOOTH PLAN . Scheme to Bear the Market and Snap Up All Available Adjoining Properties. Somebody in Fortlaud, atari somo liody from Humpter who Is visiting In Portland, have focused tholr mental telescopes Mud annuonoo tho discovery of blood ou the moon hikI h nlgggor In tho wood pi lo. ThoHO HtnrtliuK llndH mixta to thu Bonanza mine at Clelmtr. The Portland .lotiuriuil priutH tho follewing: "A firomlneiii oiti.uu of Sumptur, now visiting Portland, imt who doe not oaro to have his iihiuu discussed, reveals h puunllHr condition pre vailing Mt tho Bonanza mliio In Baker oounty. The Bonanza Ih tho doopost ntino In Oregon. It Ijhh h vortical nbaftdown to tun 1200-foot level, and exhaustive drlftH have boon run from the shaft down as fur hh tho nln tli level. The hoist Ih thu Hooond tiest in the state, being hii ouormoiiH plHUt, capable of sinking to the J, 000 level, eud thore U h complete forty-stamp mill on the property, connected with tho initio working by en excellent aerial trMin. Yut whou Manager W. A. Thatcher got UiIh shaft down to, the 1200 lovol, ho auspeuded work, pulled tho puuipH first to tho 000 level, ana later pulled tboin to tho surface, lotting the big property till. At present thoro is no one workltiK there, the mine being In charge of h wHtohmiiu "This Htnry Ih one of kIooiii, no morn. For Oregon's deepest mine to oIdhh ootilil Iimvo but h depressing Ofeot on the entire diHtriut end killed tho little ttoiiiiiiuuity around Bonanza. Mine operators of tho flint iiiountHiiiM have beon wont to look upon the groat property, which Ih known to have produced m largo nmount of gold, with h sense of fore, finding. Vet thore Im euother foHture of tho case not known to tho publio, Hiid wbioh iiuty brlghtun tho situation materially. Since closing down the management of thu Bonanza mine Iihh iiuciuirod two ooiiHldurHblo sized milling proportion adjao.iut, end Ih hhIiI to tin seeking other holdings. Tho UoAolutu Kroiip. on tho wont, owned tiy Messrs. Hull, soulor Hiid junior, on which dovulopinunt vih prosecuted nlovvly for thu past throe years, wits flrttt liuiiKht. Later thu Black lllril group, opuuud by m 000 foot oroHMCiit Hiid some drifting, end lying further to thu went, whh tHkuu in. A prouiluuiit mliio owner Ih Hiithority for tho HtHtumout that other negotiations have beeu con (looted. "If the Bouatua ml no Iihh beeu HbHiidotied, it Ih not clear what motives tho owiiurn would have in acquiring MdJHOout property. Thu natural coiicIuhIou among most peo pie around Douatiza Ih that there is h Hhut down for m purpose, end HiHt when Hutllciuut iHuri uuHr Iihh bwn taken, there will be another Htory. The company in composed of L'ittsburg oapitalistH, and baa always beeu ouo ot the closest of the dose corporations No Information Ih given out at any time relative to mine affairs. Nothing may be ex pected now until afTairH take their course and it Milts the owners to dismantle tho plaut or roHumo again, aftei acquiring all the land near that can be had. Manager Thatcher has gone uway, and thoro is no ropresou tativo of tho company about tho property, save the watchman." All of which is hore ropriutod and accorded the bouoUt of Tho Miners' circulation becaiiHo it huiiucIh a wholo lot like the truth. (Mineral Manager Thatcher, of the Bonanza mine, is and always bai beeu the very close-mouthed local representative of a closed-mouthed company, oomposed of close-mouthed stockholders in the alose-mouuthed Standard Oil corporation, Blnoe bla asHiiiiiptlou of control of tho Bnoanza and the retirement thorufrom of J. I. Hayes, no newspaper reporter hai ever beou accorded the privilege of an lutervew. Whatover was learned about tho mine under the Tlmtohor management came from lips other than olllcial. It is a fact, however that at thu Bonanza, an immense ore shoot was opened. Thatcher never said so, neither did ho deny. Tho writer acquired tho Information from au employe of the miue, who kuow what he was talking about. When, this hu minor, tho Uouauxa was oloaori, the putupB pulllod and the shaft permitted to HII, tho writer asked Mauager Thatcher, who was then couvalesceut from the effects of au operation at a linker City hospital, for a statement regard lug the plans of tho compauy. It was refused absolutely, In tho spring of 1000, with forty stamjiH dropping, the Bouauza yield ed a monthly average of 10,00 J iu gold. During one mnbth of the same year the cleanup roue hod the record-breaking figures of $102, 000. The propurty is superbly equipped, has always paid hand Homely, and yet is closed down. Mayhap that suspected uigger in the woodpile is the name chocolate colored gent who, Iu the spring of 1000, plunged thu old Bouauza com pany into an internal war and forced thu retirement of 1'resldeut Hayes. Reported Changes at North Pole. It is reported that a number of Important ohauges in the official roster of tho North Pole Miuiug com pauy, at Bourne, are to take placo about November 1, or as hoou as Mauager Melzer returns from his Kuropeau trip, which is expected shortly. It is understood that Superintendent Fox ban already made his arrangements to step down and out and is awaiting the coming of his successor to turn over his responsibilities. Mr. Fox has been with the company for many years and why the change is madeat this time is not a matter of publicity. Democrat. Red Boy Mine Affairs. Acting Manager John Thomsen drove in from the Red Boy this morning. He says the May Queen sawmill is busy outtiug timbers for the Red Roy iu anticipation of the reopeuiug of that property, which is scheduled to occur shortly after November 18, en which date a meeting of stockholders in the old compauy will be held in Baker City, for the purpose of perfecting final and doduite reorganization. Tom Costello In Reno. T. H. Duupby 1b iu receipt of a letter ftom Tom Costello, late of Sumpter, who Is now at Reno, Nevada, .tie writes that he has been sick for the paBt month, but that he is now recovered. He has made ar rangements to go to Cioldflold and look at a mine with a view to taking a 100-foot lease. Should the prop osition not look good, ho will go to work by the day. CABLE COVE HUMS. SAYS DAD ADDOMS John Addoms, Senior, passed through Sumpter today ou his way to Baker City from Cable Cove, where he owns valuable mining properties lylug between the Baby McKee aud Last Chalice, upon which he has beeu prosecuting development work duriug the summer. "Cahlo Cove is all right," said Mr. Addoms, who, by tho way, is a brothor of Dick Addoms, of tho Alpine, and who Ih"ouo of tho oldest operators iu tho Cove, being con tomporaiioous in point of early arrival, with tho Cable brothers, the pioneers. "1 own a group of seven claims abutting on the Last Chance, and duriug the summer have shown up some good ore. Many properties are working iu my immediate neighbor hood. North of the Alpine, Menuo Unzioker, of Baker City, has a force ot men opeuiug up a group of flue claims. The advance compauy is working its North Fork claims with good results. Ton stamps are dropping night and day at the Alpine, aud the Imperial mill is pounding away steadily. Flue oie is being uncovered at the Mormon Boy, owned by Sage At (iraoe, uf Baker, and Judge Smith Is opening up au extension thereto. The Overland is busy all the time and is showing up better every day. The whole camp is busy." SPECIAL NOTICE If you want to read a free and inde pendent paper, devoted to the inter est of luiniug and current events, which is not controlled by any pro moting concern, such as most of the papers in the east are, send for a free sample copy of NEW YORK BANKER 28 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. TRUST SUING M0N1 E CRISTO An Everett, Washington, dispatch says that the American Smelting & Refining company hat commenced suit against the Monte Crlsto Mining & Concentraion company to recover 110,473.40 advanced at various times for the malntenauoo and opera tion of the mines at Monte Crlsto, and has petitioned the superior court for the appointment of a re ceiver. The complaint alleges that the mining company owes taxes for the years 1808 to 1003, Inclusive, amounting to 10,641.05, and that those for 1808 are In process of fore closure. It Is also alleged that operation of the mines proved un profitable and exhausted all the re sources of the defendant to meet Josses, and that as the capital stock is fully paid and nonassessable, it is impossible to realize anything from assessment of stockholders. The stockholders, it Is alleged, have refused to advance money to meet the indebtedness, aud the de fendant corporation has been uu ablo to borrow money to pay the taxes or iudebt jduees. The plaintiff alleges that the prop erty is of doubtful value, and although operated for a period of ten years past has never beeu able to pay , expenses. Another reason advanced for the receivership is the fact that Joseph Polish has sued the mluing aompauy for $100,100 damaged for personal iujurioi. The facts recited iu the complaint seem to verify the oft-repeated assertion that "those mines never did, never could aud uever would pay." But the expense accounts and the mine, concentrator, railroad and smelter repoits covering the career of the ore from the time it was blasted from the veiu until it was reduced to bullion would throw light in some dark places. It is a faut well kuown to mining meu, aud especially to those who have had ore seut to the obsolete concen trator through which all of the Monte Cristo company's ores were run, that from thirty to fifty per ceut of the values went down the creek in tailings, and that much of the crude ore before goiug into the mill was richer than the cooceutrates that came out; that the mines were really assessed to pay expeusea of oonoen tiatiou. Under the Rockefeller administration the freight charges from Meute Cristo wore $2.50 a ton, aud smelter charges were not less thau SO, as agaiust a combined rate of $5 since the smelter pasased into the hands of the American Smelting A: Rofluiug compauy. To make the poiut better understood to the inex perienced : Ores from these mines of a value as low as 10 a tou can uow bo chipped at a profit without concen tration, while the actual cost under the former administration was $12. Iu ruuuiug the gauutlet of the con centrator high grade ore was reduced to low grade oouoentrates. A bar of iron valued at five dollars, wbeu manufactured iuto various articles is euobanoed enormously in value. Thus, needles to the value of $450 can be made from it", If pen kuife blades be made of it they will be valmd at $3,000 and if balance springs for watches, $200,000 is not too high a value.