Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1876-03-16
ROBERT M. FRYER



[Republished from the TrxEs Of March 2dl
The name OF this gentleman has
almost msgicslly sprung into public
notice among us; and without either
effort or desire on his part he has be-
come q celebrity on the Pacific coast.
II seems but few weeks only since
his name was first mentioned in one
of the San Francisco daily papers,
and now Fryer and '.the Fryer pro-
cess" are as frequently spoken Of on
California street as are our "bOnanza
kings" and the Consolidated Vir-
ginia. Yet with all this publicity
and prominence nothing has yet
been published that has afforded
reading people any understanding of
either Mr.. Fryer or the invention
with which his name is now 80
prominently associated; and ~ we
have had the pleasure Of making
his personal acquaintance and have
been privileged with the opportunity
of studying the process by which he
"propOses to reduce refractory ores, !"
we assume that we violate no conf.
dence In writing somewhat freely
about both the inventor and the in.
vention.
Mr.. Fryer Is still q young man,
not more than thirty-two years of
age, and in q crowd would not be
the first to attract the attention OF the
passer-by; but where there is per-
sonal acquaintance and he can be
studied, he carries In his features
that he is a thinker and no ordinary
man. He has magnificent fore.
head, clear, lustrous eyes and an ad-
vancing face that indicates a pene.
tration into everything before him
that invites his attention. If he
looks at anything he means to know
thoroughly what 1t is and he takes
it all in. He has been favored in
early life with excellent associations
and has not acquired the too easily
learned duplicity of business COM
petition. he is in every sense of
the word an inventor and in no sense
is he a trader. In brief, Robert M.
Fryer bears with him in all his in.
tercourse with rich or poor, with the
man of daily toll and the wealthy
capitalist alike, the impression that
he values men for what thew are
morally and intellectually, and not
what they may say of themselves or
seem to be. From those who meet
him he expects the same judgment,
and Is frank and open with every
body. No one can associate with
him, II for only few minutes, and
misunderstood him; his language
has no double meaning and he ex-
poets in return the same good faith
from others.
We probably would not have ta-
ken the liberty to write so freely of
Mr.. Fryer, personally, had we no:
heard some observations made about
the secrecy with which he Is said to
have conducted his business affairs
since IL was announced that he lad
invented this process, which our
mining population have so long de-
sired tosknow, and in ailudiug to
such Idle talk we shall as freely
slate the facts, which, we think, are
greatly to the credit of MIR. Fryer AS
u modest and unassuming inan.
About two years ago MIR. Fryer
was living in Nashville, Tennessee,
attending to his professional busi-
ness rs mining engineer and artor-
ney for mining patents. In the
same house there was living Mr..
James L. Wallace, by profession a
printer, with whom Mr.. Fryer be-
came acquainted. Mr.. Wallace had
been ten years in California, and had
some experience In mining camps.
He drew the attention oil Mr.. Fryer
to the difficulty of treating refrac-
tory ores, and asked him if he did
not think some process could be in
vented to overcome this great draw
back to the profession of mining.
MIR, Fryer said he "would think of
it," and this simple, accidental meet
ing of two gentlemen far away from
the mining regions WAS the begin
ming of what promises to be one OF
the greatest discoveries of the age
and if it should be as successful as
what Is now predicted, 1t will bring
about a grand revolution in every.
thing pertaining to mining.
Fryer up to the time We speak OF
had never seen q piece of mineral
ore "in place." and knew nothing
practically Of mining. He was an
engineer and a chemist, and with
that practical experience for founda-
ton he began his study for the re-
duction of ores. He knew nothing
of what others had done, and looked
at his new subject tree from the
cumbrances of the thoughts of 9TH
ers land in that, we think, he was
particularly fortunately. He ap-
preached his study without bias Or
prejudice, and grappled with the diff.
ficulty free from every obstacle. He
was to deal with nature, and 80 pro-
posed to attain his by natural means.
Alter some weeks of close study
Fryer concluded that he had mas
tered the situation. It had been no
child play, however, and he looked
as II he had passed through a pro-
longed montal struggle. He was
pale but he was confident, and he
told his friend, Wallace, that he had
succeeded and California was to be
their future field of usefulness.
With that boldness ever charac-
teristic of confidence, Fryer and
Wallace came West little over a
,,n. , ann aud soloofaI fIross Vullov