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VOL. VI.
SUMPTER, OREGON, NOVEMBER Jo, 190.1
NO. 1
RETOLD TALE OF A RICH
POCKET IN VIRTUE MINE
Reciting How a Lessee Opened a Blow-Out
of Bull Quartz From Which
$117,000 Was Taken.
Mrs. Norwood, owuer of the Key
stone quartz mine, ntt extension of
the famous old Virtue, arrived iti
Sumpter this morning from Baker
City on business connected with the
Sumpter smelter, to which plant sbe
will arrange a shipment of Keystone
ore.
Since the marriage of Miss Kate
iMcCubbun, of Alamo, and the resig
nation of Mrs. O. M. Kooster as
superintendent of thu Buckeye
Copper inino at North Powder, Mrs.
Norwood in the only woman mint)
operator in linker county. Sbo is an
enthusiastic tninor. aud is possessed
of far more than the usual know
ledge of vulus, lodes, ore deposition
and occurrence, dips, spurs aud
angles aud all such stulf. She has
controlled the Keystone mine for a
number of years, resisting many
attempts to purchase made by
geueial Manager Arthur Huokbee,
late of thu Virtue, aud General Man
ager W. L. Vinsou,., uow of the
Kmma, on an adjoining property.
These gentlemen greatly desired to
possets the Keytsone, upou which
sutlioieut work has been done under
Mrs. Norwood's mauagemeut to show
that it carries the main Virtue aud
Consolidate Virginia lode. When
it is remembered that a trifle more
tbau two and a half million dollars
worth of gold has beeu takeu from a
1, .'100-foot puyshoot in the old
Virtue, ore being stoped above the
700-foot iveel, it will readily be
seen that the owuer of an e.xteusicu
of that vein posted i something
valuable.
Rather an interesting story is re
luted of one of Arthur Buokbee's
repeated attempts to buy the Key
stoue. It happened iu the spring of
'01, when tiuokhao's Canadian stock
holders shut dowu their Cnmber
bind mine, at Silver City, Idaho,
moved its pumpiag plant to the
Virtue, aud ordered Bcukbee to get a
move on and deliver some goods in
the ubape of bars of gold bullion.
Huckbee was given a free but empty
hand; that is, the Canadians refused
to dig up ready cash to pay for re
opening the flooded 800-foot shaft,
and revamp the rickety old twenty
stamp mill. Huckbee was empower
ed to do everything except to ask
for money. He swore around awhile
and then settled down to dull despair.
Etiter Fred Braze, a Dutchman,
owuer of the Little Plttthurg
claim, adjoiuiug the Chicago claim
of the Virtue group. Brazo wived
both Duokheu'ri reputation and
his own life by discovering a quart,
blow-out on the Chicago claim.
Huckbee gave Braze a verbal lease on
the ground, with tho uudurtHtauding
that all ore takeu out, grading be
low 8)0 per ton, was to be milled by
thu Virtue mill at 811. fit) per ton,
but that it if better ore was found,
sixty per cent of tho roHiiltant
bullion was to bo Huckbee's. Brazo
and a partner sunk a twenty-foot
hole ou that Chicago blow-out aud
worked like beavers night aud day.
However, they sent no ore to the
Virtuo mill, a fact which caused
Huckbee some suspicious. Ho
eutered Hrazo's shaft one day, nosed
arouud the face, surreptitiously
nocketed a handful of pulverized
quartz fouud beneath a drill hole,
aud went away, with Braze dinning
into his ears rhn statement that the
claim "vas boom." "I van vork
for nodding," moaued the Dutch
man. Huckbee went dowu to the mill,
panned out his pocketful of pulveriz
ed quartz, swore luridly, grabbed a
gun aud fairly called back to the
Chicago shaft. "Bring that ore
dowu to the mill right now," he
commauded. "Vat ore?" iuuo
ceutlyjasked Hrii.e. "1 vas have no
ore here. 1 have pleuty bnol quartz
barren as mud. I take it down,
right avay yoost now." "Well,
you hurry up," growled Huckbee.
Braze hurried uit. He aud his
partner put in a night aud day
sorting ore. All the barreu-looking
bull qeurtz was sacked and dragged
down to the mill. The other kind
of ore well, what Uraze did with it
hnan't been given publicity yet.
Five stamps pounded on that bull
quartz. Huckbee stood by the
battery aud watched every ounce of
pulp ripple over thu plates. When
the oleauup was made thu amalgam
retorted an oven ouu thoiiHaud
dollars.
Brazo spluttored and gasped.
"Douuorvetter, " said ho to hi?
partuor iu tho privacy of their cabin,
"Vy in hull did you put In that kind
of ore. Vu aru roouod !"
Huukbeu told thu writer about it
latur. It seeuiH that Braze must have
allowed a chunk of gold-lousy ore
to find its way into those sacks of
bull quartz by mistake
"1 madu that Dutchman ait up,"
ooutiuuod Huckbuu. "I put a couple
of men to work on the Chicago,
milled out the pocket and cleaned
up about 8117,000. Ouu chunk,
weighing ninety-two pounds, yield
ed 814,000. Four sacks of Hurtud
ore lesulted in 840,000 worth of
gold bullion."
Huokbeu compromised with Braze
by paying him 82,000 cash for his
Little Pittsburg claim, after threat
ening him with the penitentiary.
With tho muoey thrived from thu
Chicago pocket, Huckbee reopened
tho old Virtue, bought .'100 acres of
placer ground adjoining, puichased
the Consolidated Virginia, aud made
an offer for the Keystone. Mrs. Nor
wood refused to sell. Shu did let
go of an abutting claim for 81,f00.
Buokboe paid her with a check. She
wauled cash, ho together they went
to the First National iu Baker aud
drew thu money. MrH. Norwood
swept thu entire sum, iu gold and
Hilvur, iuto her apron, tolled it up
aud went home.
Thu whole region over arouud thu
Virtue abounds iu such pockets as
Brazu found ou tho Chicago, it Ih a
mattor of history that Jim Haisloy
"Lucky Jim" the man who located
tho 82.000,000 Balsloy-Hlkhnrn mine
opened a pocket ou the Mabel
mine, in Pleasant valley, sunk 10f
feet aud took out 8110,000 iu gold.
Not another ounce has been fouud
iu that claim. Across thu gulch
from the Mabel, Jim Halt-ley, Porte
Coudu and W. L Vinson opened
a pocket on the Carrol B, taking out
812.000. Letsou Balliet bonded
tho Carroll B for 820,000 aud paid
817,000 before he threw up the bond.
The old White Swan was pockety.
Aud yet the Virtue's big pay
shoot 1,. '100 feet long and 700 feet
deep was one of the riuhoHt in
the Northwest.
News cotnoH from Baker City that
the Virtuo will resume operations
about J nauary, under thu manage
ment of J. K. Komig, of the Sauuur
mine, and under thu superlutundeucy
of a mining man from California.
Teams are still hauling lumber
from Sumpter to Crauo Flat for Burch
Jlc Burbridge's big gold dredge.
DISTILLATE BEATS
STE4M IN PRICE
Mountain View Mine Man
agement Highly Pleas
ed With New Mill
and Power.
Forty-nine big steel tanks, capable
ot holding ninety and 100 gallons'
each, have accumulated at the ware
house of tho Haiohe-Sugo Hardware
oompauy bore, and will shortly be
Hhlpped to Colorado to be 'refilled
with distillate, a low grade of gaso
line, (or tho Mountain View mine.
Five full tanks per day are moved
from Sumpter to the mine and back
again empty. Two tanks at tho
mine hold 10.000 gallona. Thu
distil latu is UHud as a motive power
at thu Mountain View, where n gaso
line ouuino is used to operate thu
new quartz mill, uow In commission.
The Mountain View, under thu
management, ami Hitporiutmidoncy' of
Dr. Techow, Ih owned by a Portland
company, aud is the latent addition
to thu list of tiumptur distiict pro
ducers. Dr. Techow Ih highlv hiiIIhIIuiI with
(If) new mill and itM power, -Ho
says that distillate cohIh just about.
as much per horse power generated iih
wood costs under similar circum
stances at '! per cord. '
Reduction Plant for the Indiana.
J. W. Mussuer, general mauagor
of tho Indiana Copper mine, at Medi
cal Springs, nruth east of Bakei, wiih
iu Sumpter yeHteniay ou business
conuueted with the smelter. He was
accompanied by J. II. Keller, Percy
Brown and J (J. Hurd, all of Mt.
Carvel, lllinoh, who aru stock
holders iu the Indiana, aud who
name to Sumpter to tie present at a
test of Indiana ore made by thu
smelter. A couple of shipments ot
high guide copper ore have been
made by the Indiana, and the re
turns have beeu highly gratifying.
Manager Messner Htutns that owing
to the high cost of transportation, no
further shipments will be made until
a reduction plant is installed at thu
propurty iu the spring. , .
L. It Bellman, manager of the
California aud Cracker Oregon, went
up to Bourne this morning ou busl
nous uuuuentod witli the latter prop
erty, upou which work is being
vigorously prosecuted by cou tract.