The daily gazette., 1880-03-26
The Color ado sIIver Eexer.l

TheNmovem+n of men eager 10 ania,
thesupbosed Ell Dorado in Colorado n
widespread. From the lakes 10 the
cur or Mxeico, from the Atlantic te
The Pacific. the silver fever ragss With
constantly increasing violence.
The previous state OF the stricken.
their age, the conditions of life up, ar
which they have lived, the degrees Uf
ed9eation they possess, seem to have no
lhnuence to enable them to resist this
disease. From the cities; towns, and
villages from farms, plantations, and
ranches from the coal and iron mines
oI fennsyivanIa, and from the pine
WOODS OF the North, come the same re-
poles OF men seized with tbe Carbonate
or Ruby Lead silver fever.
IL ls estimated by competent iudoas
tnat during the next sunmer 10 OO0
men VIII enter that portion Of he
hocky Mountains situated in southern
CoIorado. These men have Abandoned.
or are prepaiDg TO abandon, the work
.hey are 1T present engaged in, and will
JOIN the speculators or prospectors who
are now in the mountain towns vaifir0
Until the snow melts before inyadInF
the Ute Reservation and the Gunni.oS
country. That these men, ssronr in
hum Der, will respecI any treaty sti pula-
tions maze with Indians is improbabIe.
or the 10000 who are to enter the
mining districts, not one in ten will
bave any experience in mining. The
amount of suffering these men will en-
dure cannot be estimated. The number
of deaths in their ranks, caused by star
vation and exposure in those high alti-
tudes, will be large.
Prospecting for gold and silver is not
pastime. 1t is work OF the most se-
we're description; work done on scanty
food Of wretched quality, for which ex-
orbitant prices have been paid. The
actual daily life of prospector Is as
different from the imaginary one that
has been pictured 10 the men going into
Colorado as the reality of war was from
the knapsack picnic that the young men
of this country supposed was to be held
in Virginia in 1851.
1t is not probable that one man in a
thousand who prospects in Colorado
this summer will find a lead Of any
value. 1t lis safe to assume that the
valuable mines discovered there tho
coming season can be counted on the
fingers of the hands.
1t should be understood by all men
who are entering SO hopefully on the
search for hidden wealth, that the pub
lished reports of tIe value of the mineral
in different mines are almost without ex-
ception, false. A report that claims O
value Of sou, 700,900, 1900, 1900 ounces
of silver per ton OF ore is a fraudulent
report. The assay on which these reports
are based is undoubtedly correct. The
fraud consists in chipping of the richest
bits from selected ores, and claiming the
result obtained by an assy of these pieces
coubly selected as an average sample OF
the vlue OF the mineral in the mine. To
properly sample mine is very simple.
Ii the examiner gocs to the face OF the
heading and air courses and into the
working chambers land in many different
places sgouges out tiny channels in the
mineral from foot wall to hanging wall,
saving the chips, these chips wheI re-
duced TO powder and thoroughly mixed,
will represent the average ore IN the
mine. l
| 1t is owing to the extravagant reports
| of the value of the mineral in some Of
] these Colorado mines that the present
| mining excitement has broken out. The
railroads leading to the mining country
bave famed the excitement. They are
simple greedy for the money to be paid
for fares.
1t is a well-known fact that silver and
gold mining, In leads, has never paid.
The mines, as a whole, have, year afler
year, swallowed more money than they
have yielded. There is no other business
so risky as silver and gold mining. Oc-
casionally mine pays moderate pro-
hit. 1t iare instances one yields immense
returns. None of the so-called Bonanza
Kings made their money IN legitimate
mining. They acquiI ed their property by
manipulating the stock markets Of San
Francisco and in milling the ore.
The great majority of the 10000
hopeful men who are to enter the Col
orado Rockey Mountains in search of
the precious metals are doomed to bitter
disappointment and loss. Many are
leaving their homes to die from ex xposure,
camp diseases, or starvation. Colorado
is land of cash payments. There is no
credit given for food to prospecting
tramps. The men who go there had bet
ter take money with them. They will
probable need it before the snow flies
next fall.