Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1874-01-27
IMPORTANT TO OWNERS OF MIN
ERAL LANDS.

"There is a large and dangerous class of
swiudling spectators against whom the own
era of ore and coal lands in newly developed
| sections need to be warned, and We invite our
| exchanges in the Southern and Southwestern
States to aid in giving publicity to what we
shall have to say concerning them. The
spectators to whom we refer, having neither
capital nor credit, have devised means of
specializing in desirable mineral lands by Sc.
curing control of them under bogus leases
When new country is opened which prom
ises rapid Development, they rush in and
prospect for the best veins. Finding such as
are likely to Socrease in valGo within a reas.
enable time, they represent themselves either
as capitalists or as agents of capitalists, and
induce the owners of the lands they want to
control to give them long leases of the min
eral deposits thereon. They agree to assume
all the expense of.opening the mines and pro.
viding facilities for the transportation of the
products, and promise to pay a royalty of ten
cents per ton, or more, an all minerals mined.
The offer seems fair one, aud the swindler
is usually able to so impress his victim that
the latter readily falls into the trap. Should
he have any suspicious, however, his accom-
modsting capitalist will cheerfully obligate
himself to begin work within six months or
a year, and to take ont a certain amount an
nualiy, when the mines shall have been fairly
opened and given amount raised. The bar
gain concluded. the swindler puts the lease in
his pocket and goes of. If he is not under
obligations to open the mines in certain time.
he does nothing to them if he is days work
with one hand and shovel fulfIls the terms
of the lease. He has no intention of opening
the mines at any time.
The lease hiss cost him nothing, and he
holds it until the value of the land shall have
so increased that he can sell it for good price
to some one who wants to open the veins and
! work them. In the mean time. the minerals
| are locked up. The owner of the land can
not dispose of them. and he is often kept
waiting for years in poverty and disappoint>
ment, while his neighbors are growing rich
| upon ores and Goals not good perhaps, as
his own. He is powerless in the hands of the
rascal who has swiDdled him, and who has
obtained for nothing a valuable lease which
he holds until some one will buy him off and
release the mineral wealth he has locked up
Hundreds of thousands. perhaps millions, of
acres of valuable mining lands of the South
are thus leased to irresponsible adventurera.
| and capitalists who seek legitimate and profit
able investments 10 LANDS, mining operations
or iron manufacture, must take the second
choice OF pay these shrewd rascnls tribute.
We know of no remedy for the evil except to
put the owners of such lands on their guard
Designing knaves will always find fools to
swindle, doubtless. but if their rascaiity is ex
posed. some will be warned who might other
wise become easy victims through over>con>
idence in specious misrepresentation"
A New FooD FIsH.-Ts is not generally
known, perhaps, says the Winchester Times,
that the Government has an establishment at
Bloomsbury, New Jersey, for the propagation
of food fishes, whence they are distributed all
over the country. About two weeks since
Deputy u s Commissioner Slack inspected
lncheStef,
for the purpose Of testing their suitability for
the Introduction Of the California salmnn-the
finest game fish, perhaps, TO be found on the
continent. His observations were satisfactory,
and in accordance with instructions from
Washington Mr.. W. II. Downs, superinten>
dent of the clearinghouse, and HE assistant,
DR.. T. D. Britain, arrived in Winchester ON
Friday last, with 10000 young fishes of the
above description. of which 10000 we're
placed in Mr.. Jiffkins' spring, and 10. 900 in
Neill's dam; and 900 were given to Messrs.
Gilbert and Barnhart who will place them in
the large spring on the Saratoga farm, in
Clarke county, whence they will fnd their
way to the Shenandoah.
E- The Siamese twins are dead. They
lived at Mount Airy. North Carolina Chang
has been for some time partially paralyzcd,
but lately grew worse. He expired suddenly
about four o'clock on TIE morning of the 18th
instant. 1t was terrible shock to Eng, and
one can imagine few things more horrible
than his position. He raved mt first and then
sank into stupor and died in two hours after
the death OF Chang. The case, says the
Baltimore Gazette, is of strange and morbidly
fascinating physiological interest, and will
doubtless attract the attention Of the medical
journals. 1t has long been disputed point
as to whether or not the pair could have been
separated by cutting the ligature which bound
them together.
ES- Morrison Il. Waite. of Ohio, has been
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