VOl,. VI.
fcv-
SUMPTER, OREGON, JANUARY 18, p(
NO. 2D
LUCK IN THE
MINES
Who shall presume to say that the
mine of Baker county do not pay?
Frank Baillie. of the Columbia,
oomus down from the Craoker oreek
hillu about ouco a mouth, laden with
Hold bricks worth variously from
850,000 to 880,00 J. Euiil Melzer,
the mugioiau of the North Pole,
transmutes mucky-looking ore into
bulliou bars which, at too end of
each thirty days, stack up to the tune
of about sixty or one nuudred thou
Hand plunks. A L. MoGwen, who
manages the deatiuoa of tbo Imperial,
ships from the Govo seven or eight
tons per. dinm of ore that easily
grades in the bundred-dollar-per-ton
class. Edwin Field, the geutleinan
who revivified the Baisley-Elkboru,
who hooked mill eugine, hoist, tram
and machine drills to the Rook creek
owper plant, sends to the Sumpter
smelter a monthly tonnage of ore
and concentrates sufficient to permit
Fred P. fJayes, of Pittsburg, ownr of
the Elkhoin, to clip coupons with a
merry smile. Fred T. Kelly, of the
I. X. L., stands by bis stamp battery
and beholds free gold miugle with
the quick on his amalgam plates, aud
chuckleB in high glee. Fred D.
Smith, the lucky Individual who
directs tiie Snow Oreek, periodically
hustles down from the Greenhorn
range, lugging a sjspioiously heavy
grip. Prof. tl. U. Nioholsou, the
metallurgical genius who has accom
plished a magniticeut reconstruction
ary stunt at the multi-metalled
Standard, standi close to tbo piuue
olo of uational fame by being con
nected with tne only cobalt mine in
America. Jobu SVyutt, the hudtling
youngster, who, as right-baud man
for millionaire Jouatban Bourne, of
Portland, caused a divldeud-payiua
reundissance at the oelebiated E. fc
E., retorts bulliou and ships couooii
tratos in plentiful enough quantities
to please. Scores of other figured
in the local miuiug world stand as
bumau oxhibits to prove that Baker
county miues are hot stuff. Aye,
even boarding house girls make rich
strikes! There is apparently luuk in
the business, from collar to sump,
from portal to breast, lrom fryiug
pan in the "feed aback," clear down
to the ultimate bit of a 1000-foot
underground machine drill.
Everybody hereabouts recalls the
luck of Dunuy Cuhill, a miner at the
Victor, who reoently fell heir to a
fortune left by a relative In the east.
Part of the pertinent history of this
camp is the incident of a lady in The
Dalles, who bought a Swill Hollow
mine oneday, and next day received
notification that a relative in New
York bad shuffled off thia mortal coll
and willed her a brlok blook on Wall
street. It la a matter of definite
knowledge that had she not bought
the Swill Hollow mine she would not
have been an heiress.
And now comes another evidence
the case of Miss Florence Smith,
an employee iu tho boarding house at
the Western Union mine on Rook
creek, who last week received word
from Ohio that by the will of a just
deceased uncle, she is heir to ouo
third of a 1150,000 estato.
So, therefore, if the gentle roador
who is privileged to peruso these
linos, pososses a desire to emerge
from a hard streak of luck lot him
butt into the mines of thiH camp.
If ho owns a rich relative, whoso heir
he is, lot him work underground for
a spool and theu watch the mail
for the arrival of a big long nllloiiil
looking envelope If she (iu the
other sex) knows of au aged uucle
with an estate worth tl50,000,let hor
shoot a few biscuits in a Baker
oounty mine boarding house, and
then await the announcement of her
heirship.
Verily, there is luck in those
mines.
OREGON ORES REQUIRE
DIFFERENT TREATMENT
The New York Commercial pub
llsbed on the 7tb install", au annual
mining review, in which appoarod
the following from General Manager
Fuller, of the Sumpter smelter:
The mining outlook iu Oregon is
excellent. The completion aud
operation of the new Sumpter
smelter has given the producing
properties of the district au oppor
tunity to ship their ores to us in tho
shape of concentrates and crude oro.
The smelter, which has been operat
ing on one shift a day, will soon
start to run on its full capacity of
100 tons per day. When Iu full blast
this means that the various miues
that are contributing ore to the
smelter will receive efcout I3,r00
per day.
A peculiar feature of the mine de
velopment in this state Is sbowu by
the fact that the point has been
reached where the character of the
oro has ahaug)d, so that a new pro
cessmust be substituted to properly
treat the ores. Heretofore, most of
the ores have baeu free-milling, and
the miuiug meu of the afute are slow
iu realizing the necessity of obauging
tbelr mills so ai to treat their ores
to the best advantage.
The product of the mines during
tho year was smaller than the 1903
output, but 1005 will show a sub
stantial increase over 1003. The
Sumpter district suffered through the
year through the revelations tbatj
have ooourred in connection with the
affaire of the Red Boy end Goloonda
oompaniee, but with the reorganiza
tions which are under way, the
properties should again enter the
producing list. I would estimate
that about alxty compaulea are up -r
ating properties In this vicinity.
News of Bonta Road.
Dr. Faul, of Baker City, spent
several days looking over tho uppor
valley this weok, and expressed him
self as giontly Impressed with tbo
opportunities and possibilitlo-i tlitit
oxlBt in this country. Ho was hero
lookiug over several enterprises flint
have attrnctod Baker City capital aud
expects to return to this piano in
about two weeks, when ho amy oloee
some matters of cousiderbalo Import
iiuce. Ho statos that ho has been iu
oommuulcatlon with Major Bonta
aud behoves that the railroad that
the major has Iu contemplation will
be built. He has been siok for some
time but has recovered sufficiently to
again be at work on tbo road he has
tried so hard to build. He has been
handicappod bv the many obstacles
throwu iu his way by the O. R. & N.
company, but declares that he will
build the road aud liquidate all tho
obligations that have been luourred
Prairie City Miner.
Shake-Up in Ladd Company.
A shakeup iu the Ladd Metals
company, of Poitlaud, resulted in
the resignation of General Mauager
G. W. McDowell. HIh probable
successor will be Dr. S Peacock, of
Chicago, a metallurgist of large ex
perleuoe and rathei more thau local
fame. The uffalrs of tbo Ladd
M6tah company have not gone
smoothly under the McDowell man
agement. The smeltera at Mineral
and Laudore have uever b"tn
operated successfully, for some
reason. Under the uew uianagomou',
both these plants are expeoted (o
resume smelting operations, ami the
proposed plane at Homestead will
probably he built.
Ore Going $10 a Pound in Gold.
Iu hH forthcoming annual report,
State Mine inspector Bell will tell f
remarkable story illustrating the
possibilities that yet oxlat in the
mountaiua of Idaho for the pros
pector. Thin story in, iu brief, that
a prospector appeared iu Hal loy
during the pant seasoo, accompanied
by his sou. They had some horHUs
aud on these was packed 470 pounds
of oie. Oue of the Hiiiley iiuuks
gave the proipector a check for
$l,f00 iu settlement for that ship
ment. The fortunate man refused to
state where bo found the rich ore,
but it was somewhere in the Saw
tooth mouutaius about the head
waters of the Boise river. DoUe
Statesmau.
RACE WITH
SNOWSUDE
Albert Loy staggered Into Sump
ter last night from tho sky-lino hllla
abovn Bouruo, weak from physical
exhaustion, his uervos and muscles
worn to a frazzle by a. thrilling race
down a mountain with au avalanohu
of snow. Loy won; on skis ho boat
the suowslldo to the bottom of tho
hill; but he wauts to run no more
Buch rauos.
Loy, whom first uume Ih A I, which
makoH him closo kin to tho stuff used
to hardeu silver ami gold colus, haa
been dolug special development work
on a group of claims on Silver creek
flat, uear the Golcopda wood camp,
owned by James .A. Howard, presi
dent of the First National bank of
Sumpter. After completing thia
work, Loy and his son moved over
tu the Powder river hills abovo
Bourne, whore ho owns mining ulalma
of considerable promise. J)ep
snow prevented the commencement of
development work on these olalms,
so he aud Loy, ,lr. struck for town,
on skis.
Coming down a steep slope, tho
travelers started, au iivajauhoo, which
gathered mass ami momentum boblud
them, until it resolved itself into h
question of which should resell lhe
bottom of tho hill first, tho suow
shoers or the suowslido. The snow
was soft aud sticky, Making traveling
slow, but tho travelers, with grim
death roaring at their heels, s'ruok a.
gait that broke all records for speed.
They reached the bottom of the gulch
aud begau to climb (ho opposite
slope From u position less than 40
feet from tho bottom, they turned to
hoo the avalanche crash into tho
gulah with a revorherutliig roar. Loy
et Ills camo on to Humpter, reaching,
town about dusk, dog-tired and with
uervos still tingling.
"1 would'ut undergo the experi
ence again for half tne globe," said
Loy pere.
Imperial ore Contract.
General Mauagor A. L. MoEweu,
of the Imperiul mine, came down
from the snowy Cable Cove hilla
last evening to remain over Sunday.
He says that shipments from tho
Imperial will bo heavy duriug
January. Tho value of the ore aud
concentrates ssut to the Humpter
smolter ooutiuuott of exceptionally
high grade. The shipping oro is
being taken fiom the main Imperial
vein. Manager MoKvteu will today
award a contract lor hauling ore tu
the local plant and freight tu the
mine.