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About The Sumpter miner. (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 1905)
Wednesday, January 3. 190$ THE SUMPTER MINER SQUIRREL PROVEN Not long ago n story was printed in these columns, reciting "Why the Frenchmen closed the FtagstanV1 aud dealing with Superintendent "Billy11 Reynolds equirrul theory as applied to mining. Too story was based up on a news item to the effect that "Billy11 Reynolds had been placed in charge of special development wcrk at the Flagstaff by General Manager Imbaus, the Orugun repre sentative of the Paris company own ing the Flagstaff, which company labors under the name of Compaguie Miuiere ilea Flngstatf. In brief, the story related the reasons for "Hilly' Royuolds1 firm belief (hat a parallel volu lay to the north of tho unprofi table Flagstaff flsHiire, and told how ho uud ImhniH on co upon a time spent their own money iu driving a crosscut to the suspected orn body, onttiug tho White Frost, aa it is known on tho Flugstiifi' maps, but whioh is always spoken of by Rey nolds and linhatiH an "The Squir rol." Where tho voiu was cut (and tho work was do no without tho knowledge of the Pails owners of tho initio, who tlueo months prior had ordorod the mine shut for keeps) good pay cuteicri, aud Imbaus, a very exaitablo I'rouoh mau, rushed to the nearest tele graph ofllce and cabled the glad new i to ParlH, Ho reoeived an answer whioh almost melted the wiies, ordering him to cut out 'the hot air for all time and not atlompt to pull the company s leg for more funds on the atruugth of a roportod iloh striko in a mine which, to their cortaiu knowledge, had bneu shut down for throo months. There was uothlng for Reynolds and Im baus to do but quit work, which they did after lmhaus had rent tho air of Flagstaff hill with a largo uumber of lurid "stiure bleus. " Reynolds contented liimeolf with a bunch of plain American damns. The sequel to (hisatirriug talo may now be written. After a great deal of argument, the Parisiaus were pre vailed upon to set aside a special de velopment fund for use iu exploiting the White FroHt vein. About two months ago, "Hilly11 Reynolds re sumed work on "The Squirrel,1 and iu due lime opened up a flue body of pay ore -so good us to value and so plentiful that Ueueral Manager lm haus has goue to Paris to persnuiilly plead with his principals to reopau the mine, which oau now be placed on a payiug basis. The White Frost vein is full five feet wide. The pay occurs aloug the banging wall in a streak varying iu thickness from 8 to 20 inches. The remaining veiu structure contains gold in quantities sufficient to wai raut milling aud concentration. Tho pay streak is of free cold. The old Flagstaff has certainly en joyed a checkered history. After the Frenohmen shut dowu, a Hostou syn dicate bonded the miue for 8120,000, made a paymeut and, argauized the American Flagstaff Mining company. Quite a lot of stook was sold and the money honestly spent in the ground. A cultured Boston gentleman by the name of Thornton waa general man THEORY CORRECT ager of tbe Amerlcau Flagstaff uom pans', Everett Sutoliffe was secre tary, Alva li. Gunnel was consulting engineer, Frank Davis was superin tendent aud Harvey L. McClano was foreman. The capacity of tho Flag etatf teu-etauip mill was doubled by the addition of two additional batteries, .aud an 80-ton cyanide plant was installed. The tanks wore 16 feet iu diameter, and on the oc casion of the opening of the new mill, the management gavo a "tank dauoe," which was atteuded by the elite aud upper ten of Raker City. A magnificent banquet wax served Hud the function was iu every way tre mendously elaborate. Tho oyauido tauks proved successful from aterpsi choreau poiut. of view, but from a metallurgical stand point they wero very bum. It seems that in making laboratory teita with cyanide on Flagstaff ore it was found that the greateot recovery was when the pulp was the (luoat. Tho ore was thuro fore crushed to 00 mesh, but whou tho solution was turned into those bg 20-foot tanks there was just about as much porculatinn as there would be if tho tauks wore tilled with flour aud water turned iuto it. The ex periment of coarser crushing was tried, with the result that whilo tho percolation was fair, the solution was unable to successfully attack the coarse particles. All duilug these experiments, Mo Claue aud Davis wero employing a whole lot of minors, tho 20-stuuip mill, hoistiug plant, compressor and pumps wero kept going, aud a big lot of dead work iu the way of upraises and ore connections, was being done Tho pay roll caused tho Hostouiiiu backers of the proposition to gasp. And 'ill tho while, the oyauido re fused emphatically to do Uh work. Finally a mechanical agitator to tisdst percolation was decided upon. This equipment cost a pot of money, stock sales were slacking up, the llostoniaus wore getting cold foet, aud then to cap the climax tho miners demauded last mouth's pay. Fruthermore, to show that Fate con spired agalust the proposition, a second payment on the, bund fell due. the Parisians refused to grant an ex tension of tluje, Uaker City grocers declared against grantiug the board ing bouse keeper further credit, and oue day the American Flagstaff com puny of Uoston, a million dollar cor poration, went bump with a dull, sickeniug thud. The president of tho company ar rived ou the eoyne from Boston, ac companied by his fiscal ageut. The presideut was a financier of rather more than New Euglaud fame. He was a cultured gentleaiau, scion of a Plymouth Rook family, polished, affable, polysyllabic in conversation, aud a rauk tenderfoot as regards the west. He aud his fiscal ageut were welcomed at a hotel in Baker City by a half hundred unpaid Flagstaff inluera. The miners ware bellgeieut. Oue swash-buckling shift boss sbouk his fist under the president's nose aud grasped tha president's coat lapel, the while ba poured Into the president's ear a series of blood curdling ultimatums, touching finan cial matters. Rauk tenderfoot though ho was, that presideut was dead game. Ho sniffed tho swash-buckler's list, flick ed the mash-buckler's paw from his coat lapel, reached danitily for that posterior region where the westerner carries his hardware aud presented for tho swash-buckler inspection a silver-plated six-shooter, which had every appearauco of being a good Imitation, if not tho real thing. Aud then, with hia back to a convenient i wall, that game little bantam of a bakod beans geueology and a brown bread tutu lege lead tbe tiotact. to the minors iu words eacn of seven syllables. Also be compelled them to pull tbe pumps from tho Flagstaff shaft aud whistle for two months for thoir money. They finally gut It, but it was only because the game little presideut came from a Mayflower family that always toted fair. Of aourso, the Flagstaff revolted to tho French company, plus about 180, 300 worth of new equipment aud development work. All of whioh ia ancient and, may hap, uuinterestiug history, having no bearing on the present status of alfairs, which is: That if "Hilly" Reynolds says that the White Frost veiu carries pay ore in quantity aud ho has said it tho Flagstutr in I no ih a good one aud very probably a big ouo. Also, if lmhaus can pre vail upon tho Paris company to give him free hand for a resumption of opotatious, there bids fair to lie a whole lot of gold turned out of tho deep ahaft ou that wind-swept deso late hill where just now tho ooyotos congregate. IS 1HE SMELTER A60UT TO AUY NOTHER PLANT The following tolegram from Wolsor was published in the Spokesman-Review of tho twenty eighth Instant: "From a reliable source it Is learuod that negotiations aio under way between a strong Oregon corpora tion and tho owners of tho amoltor near Woiser for its purahsao. It it is acquired by the would-to pur chasers it will be UEod to smelt tho coppor ores of the Seven Devils aud tho gold ores uf tbe Baker district. Ageut Leman la in the east to close tho deal. The smelter has a capacity of 100 tons a day, which can bo in creased at any time. It is oue of the most thoroughly equipped plants in tbe west.11 It wouldu't require muoh of an Imsginatiou to identify the "Oregon corporation11 aa tbe Oregon Smelt ing aud Refining company, move the plant to Baker City, build that long talked of road to the Seven Devils and work up a rattllug good story for the county seat. Those Bakei City papers don't know a good thing when they see it. Sam Campbell, Nuqqtt Magnate. Sam Campbell, formerly a Jeweler of Sumpter, now a mining man of (he Paririe City district, is in Sumpter. He brought in a bundle of gold nug gets from the John Day region whioh he sold to W. C. Calder. Mr. Campbell modestly refused to say where he found tbe nuggets, wbiah remind a person of the time when Ike Guker, armed with a case kuife, mined $200 a day from the outcrop of a quartz ledge on tbe Great Northern group. nfiSfoyBIDSBANDE swMmmm Only transcontinental line dassing directly through J J Salt Lake City I Leadville Colorado Springs and Denver Three splendidly equipped tra ns daily TO ALT. POINTS EA8T. Through Sleeping and Dining Oars and free Reclining Chair Cars. The most Magnificent scenery in Amorica by daylight. Stop overs allowed on all classes J of tickets. For cheapest rates and descriptive literature, address W C. MoBRIDE GMinl fctiit RIO GRANDE LINES POUTLAND OaiQON OREGON SHOip LINE and union Pacific TO Salt Lake, Denver, Kansas City. 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