The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-10-16

mense fortune IN year or less OUT OF Lo'
small capital that he had been years il
accumulating, when he is to return hom
to friends and family, and spend the res
of his days in making acquaintance
happy by his marvellous deeds of generos
ity. This stranger in a strange land
who in his own conceit that in a few
weeks he has found out all there is to know
about mining, is taken to hemine by th'
prospector, allowed with his own hant
to pick out of the vein q piece of ore
carry it to be assayed, and in every way
to satisfy himself that it is gloriou!
chance-in fact, one not equaled by any
other in the mountains. half of his for
tune-say five thousand dollars-he put.
into the mine, the other half into ma
chinery and stock for Development
when, to his sorrow, be finds it take:
fifteen hundred dollars to blast, hoist
and ship ore that will return him but one
thousand. 1t was my fortune in one day
in one of the oldest and most substantial
towns of the State, to 60 to shoemaker
who had sunk five thousand; to hote
whose landlord had previously been {
capitalist to the amount of ten thousand
and to talk with one of the boarders who
had parted with seventy-fve thousand
the product of q fine business in Phila.
delphia. 1t had all gone into splendid
mining property-or, rather, property
where the indications were good. Now
none of these have cent to show; but
all own splendid mines, worth millions
which they would part with for small
consideration.
These are not the exception, but the
rule; the exceptions are those who have
made a good thing out of legitimate
mining. The proprietors and sharpers
who sold these properties made good
thing; these wonderful strikes and sales
arc reported through the press of the
State, but the miserable failures that
follow are never heard Of Where did
the SOC, 900 come from that was made in
these three transactions? Out of the
mines of Colorado? No, not one cent Of
it; it came from selling shoes, etc., in
the Eastern States. The case is often the
same with large capitalists, and when
they do get good mine the. chances are
often against their getting anything after
all the leaks that may occur between the
superintendent, engineer, assayers, smell
ter, etc., are taken into account.
Another way to make money at min.
ing is to get up stock company of ten
or twenty millions. Don't fool around
with any small sums; but put it right up
to twenty millions people will have con-
fdence then that there are millions in it.
Get out few thousands of dollars worth
of ore on the dump, let the experts come
and see it, pay them we'll for a glowing
account which they can give without
telling any literal lies but will deceive
then throw the stock upon the Earket.
Get anything you can for fifty cents
or q dollar a share, sell hundred thou
sand shares and walk of with the pro-
ceeds.
The Bassick mine, at Silver Cliff, is
one of the most promising of the twenty
million dollar mines, although the vein
contracted to nothing a short time ago
when they were getting their pile of ore
out, in order to have the necessary hun
dred thousand or so "in sight," and
although the formation of that section
is so broken up that it is very uncertain
what is to be found, and again,
although not a ton of ore has been milled,
still Mr. Bassick is sporting around with
over million and quarter cash in his
pocket, the proceeds of part of his inter-
est in this mine. This may turn out a
good thing for the company that brought
Mr.. Bassick out; it probably will. 1t
may also turn out we'll for the stockhold-
ers, but to say the least, the chances are
even that the mine will fail either in
working or in ore and the stock at last go
a-begging.
Countenance is given to this kind of
business by very few successful compa-
nies, such as the Little Pittsburg, at
Leadyille, which has paid in a few
months in dividends nine hundred thou
sand dollars, and which, it is expected,
will pay dividend of one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars for the month of
September. If this holds out, as it prob
ably will for some time at least, from the
fact thatone million dollars worth of orc
has been blocked out so it is in sight, the
stock ought to give q good return. But
there is Just one Little Pittsburg in Colo
rado, and out of the scores of mines that
have stock upon the markets, less than
half dozen, according to the mining
Journal" are dividend paying. By the
way, say there is but one Little Pitts
burg in Colorado; the fact is there are
several Richmonds in the field, and l
would advise people to look out if they
buy in Little Pittsburg to see to it that the
one they buy in is not in Boulder coun-
ty or some other locality outside of
Leadville. A mine sells better in the
East Just now if it is called Little Pitts
burg.
Taking all things into consideration,
have the mines of Colorado been q
source of wealth to the country? The
press of the State has been telling US all
along that sos, 600, ,000' in bullion was to
come out of the mines this year. Official
returns for the first six months give, how
ever, only S5,00O,0OO, which will give,
S1O,O00,OO0 or say Sl2,OOO,OOO, for the
year. .
Suppose the 100000 prospectors had
worked as hard in raising wheat in the
Red River country as they have on top
Of the barren mountains, add what they
have made to the capital that has been
expended without the slightest hope OF
any return, and l believe it would be
found that every dollar in bullion that has
been taken out is Offset by two put into
the mines. Is the country, as q whole,
as yet any better off for having this vast
mineral belt2 Would the nation be
enriched by Minnesota's wheat field if it
took 100000 in labor and capital to
raise crop worth 2O,OOO,O0O? Why can
not mining be carried on in just as legit-
innate way and give just as sure returns
as farming? Simply because it is uncer-
tain; it is a game of chance; hence it
gives rise to speculation and vast ven
lures.
Five men in q hundred may by hook
and by crook make something out of
mining: it would be q poor farming