Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1881-02-09
4 NEW ELD0RAD0.
HANCOCK County RICH IN SILVER.
Rumors and Intimations of and an Inter
view Bearing Upon the Discovery
CT Deposits Of The Pre-
ciouS Metal.

The little county Of Hancock, the
uppermost oil the northern PanhaEdIe
OF West Virginia, is all torn up with eA'
element over the discovery OF men
silver bearing lode OF quartz and, from
what we can gather, with good cause.
A party OF gentlemen, including one
from Oregon, arrived from there, last
evening, their business in the city
having close connection with the i'm
portant discovery recently made.
Some time last fall, among the hills
lust south of Fairview, ore was found III
which 1t was supposed silver lurScd.
4 sample was sent to this city and sub
jected TO a blowpipe analysis, but only
traces OF silver could be seen. \ certain
gentleman, whose name is suppressed
for the present, heard Of the test and
determined to make investigations for
himself. He was satisfied that silver
must exist at or hear the spot from
which the samples came, and he accord
ingly made 4 prospecting trip 10 Han
cock. He found the excitement, in q
small degree, had preceded him and
land owners IN the Unity were elevat-
ing the price OF their land, with the
secret hope that deep in their hills lay
second Comstock or Ophir.
Without any intention OF buying, this
gentleman, Mr.. s, determined to sound
the feelings on the subject. Meeting
an owner OF eight acres, hc said to him:
"What do you Sish for that and?'
Eight thousand dollars" was the re-
ply.
VERY well, come into this store with
me" leading the way. But once there,
as he expected, the farmer refused to
sell, for the price named, a piece OF land
that one month before could have been
bought Tor S25 an acre But no ALSO
lutte silver Was found and. in another
month the excitement and interest had
slowly ebbed away.
But those having the matter in charge
were not Idle. Investigation was con
tlnued and in the recent cold weather,
men might have been seen prospecting
about among the snow covered hills
south Of Fairview. Finally the an
nouncement was made that silver had
been found and in quantities that could
not only pay well but would prove an
actual bonanza. The excitement al once
rose 10 fever heat and 50 Is to-day in
certain localities.
Last evening 4 REGISTER scribe met
party of gentlemen from Hancock and
by friend was given the intlmatIOn
that their business was connected with
silver mining IN Hancock county. With
some little difficulty the scribe proceed.
ed to ferret out the truth OF the matter.
He was s, on engaged in conversation
with the gentleman who appeared in
the lead and who, it should b. stated,
talked TO the reporter AZ man amt
brother and not in his official capacity.
This thing has not gotten general
wind Just yet" he said, "and We don't
want II TO. We don't want any Of these
sharp newspaper fellows poking about
alter it yet"
at is fact then, that silver has been
discovered in paying qualities ''
Undoubtedly it is. Hancock county
Is full Of it and would not be surprised
ii rich veins were found in other parts
Of the State. The difficulty now Is in
procuring the land without paying its
weight in silver for it. You can't do
here like in the West-just sink your
shaft and put up your notice, claiming
so many feet OF the vein, with its dips,
spurs, angles and variations. The land |
must be bought
"How long has this been running T.
on?"
"FOr over a year. About that long I
ago received barrel Of the ORE am F,
from Oregon-and at once had it assay.
,.l IL 4 -, L., /, ,l,.,,. Son
ton. A second lot, taken out deeper,
assayed so to the ton and athiri-weiI,
it went much higher
Glow much?'
"Considerable-I wouldn't like 10 say
how much-you would not believe it,
Anyhow, it would pay handsomely ior
the working. Out in Oregon il costs
about $l2 a ton TO extract silver from
the ore, and that with wood at - Il cord.
But here you can get wood n Sl.jJ ana
coal at cents bushel, and you can
imagine the difference
HAS company been formed t. Oper-
ate a nine
"Not yet. You see the land hasn't |
been secured yet, and that must bc done !
the first thing
"Where is the land?'
"More or less all over Hancock coun- /
", but principally about two milrs back /,
OF New Cumberland. But the hills az .
full OF it for that matter. 1t j. little pre-
mature, however, to talk 81 / yet, and |
besides, it might give it away.
From further conversation with tins |
gentleman it vas learned that some ui |
the ore is in this city, In! h" would not |
divulge whore, as persistent questioning |
had reused vague suspicious IN his mind |
as TO its object. 1t leaked ont, however
that the matter will lee brought before
the legislature and the visitors now |
have business with the House Commit
tee on Mines and Mining.
The scribe called upon Chairman Set
tie, OF that committee rs well as Dele
gates Wells and Scabr.ht, who are
members, but none oi them knew any /
thing yet in relation To- the matter. The
latter had heard limitations Of the mat.
ter, but could give no definite lnlorma
ton.
So then it seems that in addition to
the vast and iillmitablc wealth OF her |
forests, coal beds and iron mountains, |
our little State is well supplied with /
more valuable metal, no less than silver |
and perhaps gold. 1t does not require
after the above, very glowing magma
ton to picture new Eldorado in Han. |
cock county, with stamping mills and !
mining camps complete.
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Personal POINTS.
The Sayings and DoinGs Of People We