New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-11-29
,r,nyILIE AND IT'S MINES.
,, p,r,rsR1-RG BIBLE.

I,.ytoS-NArURAL CAUeEs OF IFS COLLAPSE
iA' -, ESTIMATE THE TRUE VALUE OF MINING
PROPERTY ..- -. r,,,. ,t,,-vv,
,,,vurr Col, Sept. 14.-Ihe Fryer hiii nie9
LIS widely known TO Eastern investors
hi'' +be time that the stock OF the Little rltts-
aoo"' ro,nany was offered for sale in New-lork
burS ,;rsctors of that company visited Leao
W., :; Nav. 1879 Professor K. ". Raymond re-
w +o ,hem that there was actually IN sight IN
limos sufficient ore TO net them two millions
''' ,no,s and that they likely to realize one
"Y,r dollars more from ore that was then ouIV
.,auv in sight AZ that time too, many Oh Vne
,-tts seemed 20 he running through new oooles oi
90 that II Is no. at all surprising that many Oh
-. ,,bo invested IN the stock at 500 share sup
- that they were huy,ng certain fortune ana
p ,nxions to secure much larger quantities OF
= than were allotted 10 item.
7, the next nine months the Little flttsours
oarn,d more than II $50, 600 besides expenses
and money spent in improvements. out since -""''H
- tbe nresent wear It has not only not paid any
,inr 70 its stockholders. but, Will" cleaning our
r.tie bodies OF ore left year ago and doing very
,;.le N the wav OF prospecting the mine has Win
ddiculty kept out of debt.
rut FAILURE OF LITTLE PIrrSBUFG.
visit 70 the Little Pittsburg property now Is
Ike q ramble through n tomb. few men are
working here and there and taking out ahouI
,vcuty tons of day but much OF THIS is Oh quite
Low, Grade so that after the cost of production Is PAID
very little is felt the proceeds OF the ore out OIL
which TO pay for exploration In one OF TWO
lacas little strraks Of seem TO run out from the
,d workings which may grow WIDER ana develop
,n+o ,aluable bodies. nut the most promising tea-
,nre Of The mine is the apparent tendency OF GER
49,, rarts of the deposits 10 turn beneath the OLD
an
ora bodies 10 be split Ly a dixie OF iroL ore or p"r-
nbrrr and for one branch Of 1t To be removed
hill tina other branch remains hidden and ITS
-,sa,c, entirely unsupported. In the Little Chiel
,, tbe old management followed shute OF or"
m over little hill. and when they had removed j,
rr,n,sed that they had exhausted the portion OF
M, mime III which 1t found. subsequently,
,-tv feet below those Old workings. MIR. DAILY DIS
,overrd another block OF OF that yielded
.qoo 600 Possibly Mr. Canda. the present super
,tandent nav have some such experience IN the
Little Ptt,burg mine. some or his pest ore mus
.,aoy certainly below the old WORKINGS Of the
"a rather thankless task to inquire INTO the
,use Of the failure of such great enterprises a. the
I,ttle pittsbu-g mine but the investigation mas
oot he useless one If it warns people who conteH
,l,t, tbe purchase OF mines or mining stocks to
,-oid +br mistakes which have brought disaster 10
sot.,ny gr AZ enterprises within the past year.
!, tl. INST place then, the amount OF ore IN the
mines owned by the Little Pittsburg Company IN
Nav 1~-9. was much smaller than il appeared 70
Io 0f that actually in sight. Professor Raymond
made q very accurate estimate; but although only
abrt oDetenth of the ground of the company had at
thai time been explored aud no one, not IN expert,
who Visited the property could see ally reason 20
suppo,c tuat the other niue-tenths OF one claims
contained ONLY barren ground, yet TINS was sun
sta1tllv the fact. The Eastern capitalists VINO
visited the Little PitJsburg mine IN May. 1879. ac-
tualr saw almost al the ore which was ever found
IN To- and IL amounted 10 very lltue more IMAM
S4.0oo.OOO
General Wilson was the general manager OF the
pro,crrv when he stock offered To the pu'H'
and dnrrng the time that the great dividends were
paid Meeting HIM few days ago l asked nm
how IL wa. possible to have exposed 30 sight almost
al. the ore in 'he Little Pirtsburg and Ne" us
covrry mines without showing also the tact th'J 10
We. 81, rroun,ied by barren ground He repl ed that
i,.. tho mine was exhausted he had often thought
of tbot and knew Of bur one explanation hei
Senator Ch4iae and Mr. Mottatt purchased the
rronertv he said they did not have tie ready
money to pay Tor it, As they intended to organize
n coupanv and sell the stock. they were ANXIOUS Oh
course % clpo,c To large mass OF ron orc
n possible but ut the same time 10 remove none %
II from the mine. They were also deslrons Oh max
inc the mine pay the indebtedness when they had
Incurred on It's account.
Thus YOU see" continued General Wilson. that
We were required to make the mines produce
lar-eIv " ithout removing any Of our reserves III
other words we had to take dividends out Of on
drifts and cross cuts. To do that 1t was necessary
taat we should work in none but rich ground. ana
it was the most natural thing IN the world al
though did not thiLk of II until since that Whel
admit began TO run into lean ground We should
stop it and start a new Ons IN another direction
There was nothing dishonest about II II waN hc'
done 10 make the mine appear better than 1t really
was: but the result Of it that we were All de-
esived" | give this explanation for whr IL Is
worth but the fact that WI not now ne dl9Du'eu
by anyone is that the NINE appeared IN NAV 10 ~
to be much more valuable than II actually turheu
out 70 uc. Ia,
The second cause OF the loss TO the stockholders
Of tine Little Plttsburg Company who did not
aunload in time the excessive price al WHICH
the mine WAS purchased. Ffty thousand share'
Were sold To original subscribers at 30 d SNARE 81
sIOJOODO tor one-fourth OF the mine and th'
subscription price tor the next one-fourth was hAel
as25 q share. At the very time that these sales
were made Professor Raymond reported lhat NJ
could actually in the mine ore enough 10 he
tho con,oonv only -. 900 600. and including wha
b. guessed at. he gave them reason U" oAP0N' v" -
S}00O.O0O. The gentlemen VINO bought the sIo'h
al $50 therefore, simply specialized on the cnanc'
Of the ground which they did not see and could no
sce because 1t had not been explored containing IA
much ore a. that which had actually been opened
and developed. They gam led for @2,OO", OO'
which they hoped the mine contained. but whicl
the Creator had never put INTO the ground
THE REAL WORTH OF MINING PROPERTY
In writing on the value of mining property
year ago land II down rs a rule that 10 lIne wa
worth more 70 the buyer at the time OF Ms pur
chase than the actual alue oi the ore " IN sght
in it, For instance if a mine has exposed to view