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If
THE SUMPTER MINER
Wednesday, March i, 190$
f
H
OH, THE JOYFUL
ITALIAN CLIMATE
tho
of
Abas, tho early spring I shoutB
miner of this camp.
More snow I wiiIIh tho ranchors
the lower valleys.
Jj I tiger, linger, oh winter, in tho
tap of spring! inoHtitiitoH tho mer
chants and buBlnea-i moii of Sumpter,
who kuow on which side tholr com
erojal hroHfl is buttered.
"Rotten roads!" grumble tho
teamsters hotwoon gnashing of tooth.
"Thero won't ho ouotigh snow
water thin your to iiuiko a whlskoy
chaser," walls th') placer minora from
Sparta to Canyon, "and our giants
will lay idle and our alulco hoxoa ho
(imply."
"Unloaa more hiiow falla in tho
hllla, our alfalfa crops will ho
fizzles, " ia tho melancholy plaint
of tho valley farmera, "and our
Hpuda will ho linked in the ground
and our green peaa ho aa yellow
jih the New Voik World."
"Now ia the time to awlui tiie pup,
'cause tho pond ain't frozen up,"
chortles tho timely "poto. "
Never aluco Mount llaldy waa a
hole in the ground, hIuco tho im
mortal Hoc waa a canine infant,
tdnoo the morning stara sang their
Hymphonln lullaby to a uat'tl world
- -haa thero been such a winter ai
thla one of l!l(M-5. "Winter" la
a uiiHiioiiier. It Iiiih heeii a per
piitiial May-day a continuoua
vaudeville with April lions and
liitnliH, and Juno hugs, and aummer
huiibMiio aplrlta and fairiea, and
humid moonlight trolea and giiomoH
mid dworga, aa chief perforuierri
In the atmoapherlc and meteoro
logical comedy. Of couihu, there Iiiih
lieeu hiiow, and freezes, mid Hidden
NUti-zero Htunta of the thermometer,
Jtud Arctic inoriiiiiga, when to hop
out of hud and kindle a lire, clothed
in the dlamphoiiioua drapery of a
tduglo-plcoo robe do unit, with the
mercury IlirtiiiK outrageously with
the bulb at tho end of the tube, haa
been provocative of Language spell
oil with capital "L. " Likowiao,
there have bwiiu huratod water pipea,
and empty coal bina and vacant
woodsheds, Kuoh things are inovlt
able in a town which nintles between
tho ahouldor-i of the lilue range of
iiiouutiiiiiH, towering t',000 teet
above the clam boachea ol the I'acitlc,
and located at tin. ultlmute extremity
of a funnel-like valley which
fc'uthoiH all tho wintry winds within
reuch and aliuuta them in one chilly
Jdunt through tlio little end of the
funnel. Long will live the memory
of that cold Hiiap in tho early part of
thin mouth, which aim toil from the
other aide of the Aictio circle,
whistled for a clear truck, opened the
throttle to the limit, overlooked all
way htiitioiia, and lauded in the
lilue MountaliiH with a whoop aud
riiur that fairly froze the the sap in
-all the pine tieea. llaldy lake froze
isolid, it ia wild, and split a wide
urack in the (iraut county divide,
J 1 Ito m water pitcher cracks on a cold
night.
On the other hand, future his
toriaua will record the story written
011 the obverse Hide of the coin.
Memory will ever retain a record of
skloB aa beautifully blue as orer
bout an azure arch over a sunny
Noopolitau bay; of a sanguine sun,
blazing itH roBO-dawu way over tho
eaatorn poaks, Hailing majestically
athwart a cloudless aky, and burning
au orange aud pink and roao and
blood-red path dowu tho western eud
of tbo world, leaving a calm night
aud a memory of a glowing, warm,
peaceful, wonderful day.
Nut Hoon will it bo forgotten that
ou tho U.'ird day of February, iu the
voar 1005 of our aweot contempt for
leaa favored cllmoa, achool boya
played marblea iu tho glad aunahiuo,
rohiua aaug their matin lays, mead
ow larka, full-throated, bathed the air
iu wondoroualy aweot melody in
welcome to aprlug, while over all
au Italian aky, aud a Mower-land aim
hung like gentle spirits, lout iu a
voyage frirn aonio faraway Pacific
ialo, where soft-lapping wavoH are
liquid aunahiuo, aud whero apicy-
Hconted aca-wiuda waft fragrance from
the dream-like world beneath tho
Southern Cross.
All of which iu very nice, of
course; but it don't buy anything
that it, it'a too much Jiku a temper
ance Hurmou at a browora' picnic,
or au Orangeman iu a St. Patrick 'a
Day parade. What tho matoriallHtio
mining man and teamaterH aud valley
farmera and morohauta with goods
to Hell and deliver to mountain
camps waul --ami want, prouy nan
ia hiiow, aud plenty of it. They
don't want roirh hub-deep with
mud juat yet awhile; nor do they
llnd auyhtiug at all pleasing iu
tho proupect of a suow-wator short
age this aummer for placer milling
and irrlgatliu. Or course, some of
the valley farmera are natural-burn
poetH, aud can go out in tho cowyard
these davH aud bathe iu the mellow
suuahiue, and listen to molodloua
carolling of tho dioky bird on tho
worm fence, Hinging. In a spasm of
sprlug-fever ecstacy and scratching
ItH neck for very joy. Hut tho
pi aHiirablo emotions felt at first by
such a poet -farmer will soon give
place to scowls, as ho pictures dry
irrigation dltohoH, sick-lookiug cab
bage patches, ot cetera, et cot., et.
Hut the out-and-out poet, who
poHHeHH"H no placer mine, nor potato
patch, nor ore-hauliug contract, sings
yo-ho for the glad aprlugtime, aud
the line Italian climate, aud tho
cerulean sky, and inch.
What a pity that such sickeuiugly
material things as Irrigating ditches
and hydraulic giauts aud mucky roads
should intervene iu a full apprecia
tion of a short winter aud a beauti
fully early spring.
of the local miners' uuions the mine
owners were compelled to abandon
their intention in the matter. Since
the conditions have considerably
changed, tnere being far fewer white
miner? iu the district than formerly,
while it haa been clearly showu that
it ia not possible to profitably operate
many of the Allin hydraulic prop
erties without largely reducing the
coat of labor. Under these circum
stances, reports Cousul Smith at
Victoria, B. 0., 11 is probable that
there will be loss opposition to the
aoutemplated employment of Chinese
labor, particularly as it 1b proposed
to Increase the wagoB of white miners
now in the district, who will be
employed as foremen or overseers.
STAND4RD OIL A
STANDING MENACE
Opp Mine a Big Producer.
Reports come from the Opp mine
that the new 10-stamp mill lately
erected aud put iu oneratiou at thut
mine ib turning out the gold at a rate
that is extremely satisfactory to the
owners. With a force of twenty men
an avorage of thirty-five tons of ore
ia milled per day aud tho gold pro
duced ia close up to 81200 a day. On
a recent cleanup after a 15 day's
run, $1000 was taken from thojilates
and concentrates wore saved that
would yield 81500 and no oioati-up
of tho mortars was made, which
always hold considerable gold.
This mine, which is located .'10
miles from (irant'a Push and a mile
aud a half from Jacksonville, is
owned by J. W. Opp, Dr. J. R
Noddy aud R T. Perry, who have a
close corporation known as tho Opp
Mining compauy. No stock of this
company ia for sale aud none was
sold to install tho mill, tho capital
buing supplied by those goutleuion.
Tho building was erected for 20
stamps and the othor 10 stamps arc
to bo put in at lo dhtaut day, but
tho owners prefer to wait until auch
time as they can meet the expense
without involving themselves too
heavily, foi they plan to have tho
mill pay its way aud not have a big
lot of stock out with tho owners
clamoring for dlvidonda before the
mine ia in perfect working order.
Rogue River Courier.
New Mineral Worth $1.50 a Pound.
Chinese Miners in British Columbia.
It has been found impossible to
successfully work hydraulic mines in
many portions of Hritish Columbia at
the prices paid for white labor, aud
iu consequence au effort is to bmade
axaiu next sonsou to introduce Chi
nese labor iu tho hydraulic mines at
Atlin, iu tho northern section of that
province. A few years ago a uumber
of Japanese were taken iuto the dis
trict for this purpose, but iu oouse-
balmy, sunshiny days; of clear blue jquouco of tbo determined opposition
A now miueral, valued at 8150 per
hundred weight, has been discovered
iu Ceylon. Tho fact is recorded iu
tho report on tho results of tho min
eral survey iu tho island, just issued,
which statoH that a samplo which
was (opposed to bo urauiuito, or
pitchblende, provos, ou complete
analysis, to bo a new mineral, which
it is proposed to nanio "thorlauito. "
Its principal constituent ia oxide of
thorium, of which it contains 70.22
per cent, an amount far highor than
that of any mineral known hitherto.
Thoria, which is used iu the mauu
f act ore of iucatidesceiit gas mantles,
is scarce, aud is at present chiefly
extracted fiom tho mouazito sands
ot Brazil. "Thorianite," adds tho
report, is also a radiative, aud a fent
uoto to the report states, on tho au
thority of Sir William Ramsay, that
radium is present in tho miueral, aud
that it furnished considerable quail
titles of helium.
Pumps for the I. X. L.
Manager Fred T. Kelly, of the 1.
X. L. mine, iu tho Greenhorns, an
ouucea tnat he will leave for Chicago
iu a few days to purcase a new pump
iug plaut, to haudle the heavy flow of
water at thla mine. Pond iug the in
stallation of the new pumps, work has
beeu suspeuded.
About tweuty years ago in a con
gressional investigation the methods
of the Standard Oil company, then in
its vigorous infancy, were laid bare.
The rapid rise to power and affluence
of au obscure corporation; the mys
terious failure of established refiner
ies, aud how men who had been
wealthy and who had giveu employ
ment to mauy operatives fouud their
trade leaving them without knowing
bow or why; the unaccountable
prosperity of this new company; its
offers to buy out its rivals, rejected
at first and then reduced offers ac
cepted all these things were dis
closed. Other refiners bad complained of
the railroads of discriminations,
but the answer to these complaints
was to show the books aud prove that
the freight rates were the same. Then
came tho final exposure of the
secret rebates, which the company
had obtained by various methods,
aud which had enabled tbo Standard
to ruin its rivals and tako possession
of tbo oil trade of tho United
Statos. All thoso things wero de
scribed in a series of articles
written for the Sun at the timo by
tho late William L. Wilson.
I Whou we cnusider the enormous
powor and wealth of this corpora
tion wo are forced to believe that
even the United Statea, tho moat
powerful couutry iu the world, is at
a disadvantage iu a contest with it.
The compauy controls tho produc
tion, tho manufacture aud distribu
tion of about two-thirds of the out
put of American petroleum aud its
products. It cau crush out any rival
in any business with the utmost
oaso. It fixes its owu priooB aud its
own terms whou it buys or sell). It
can omploy tho ublnst members of
tho American bar to attend to its law
huaiuopa; if thero aro venal legis
latures or venal cougrossmou it Iiiih
mouoy to buy thorn; it oan for coral 1
roada to do its biddiug.
After spending millions iu tho ex
touaiou of its business, building pipe
Hues and acquiring oil fields for tho
future, it dhtrlbutea from 140,000,
000 to 815,000,000 a year to it
shareholders. The shares aro hell
by a fow millionaires, who aio
directors in the company, aud thoir
divideuda onablo thorn to acquire
by purchase of stock for invest
ment the control of batiks, of trust
companies, of railroads, of every
ageucy of power which tho dreams
ot avarice may suggest. Aud theso
millions so iuvosted annually iu
various enterprises yield other
millions, and thus a vast amount
of the wealth of the country is
going into tho bauds of a few 'men,
aud with this wealth a proportiou
of power aud iu Jluuuce which it is
not wholesomo to the body politic
that a fow men should weild.
Haltimoio Sun.
Ore txhibit In Racket Store.
Tom Gray
closed a deal
aud Joe Reed today
for tho building ou
Mill street, formerly occupied by the
Racket store, iu which to iustall the
permanent oro exhibit. Mrs. ilickok
is the ageut for the property and
siguod a lease for two years, with the
privlege of exteuding it foi another
year. Carpeuters are now at work
iu the buildiug getting it ready for
tho ore.