Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-08-14
ARIZONA.
Letter from the Mining Districts Of Arizona by One Who Knows What Mining is-The Chances for Success and the Probabilities Of Fanur3 in the Uncertain Business


 Failurs in the Uncertain Business.
 The following are extracts from a pri- vate letter written by Mr. David Arm strong to his nephew in Saginaw, Miehi- gan, which was published in the Saginaw Evening news. It is worthy of perusal:
 DOMINION MINING CAMP,
 PIMA Co, ARIZONA, June ?, 1881.
 My prospects since writing you last are somewhat brighter. I am hard at work trying to develop some of our mines in this camp or district, and have thirty-ive men at work night and day; will have as many more by tbe first of next month. l have incorporated all our Arivaca property, including the Union, Amigo and Virginia mines, and have the appointment of general superintendent at a good. salary. But mining Is slip pery and very uncertain. l think 1t the worst kind of gambling chances tO lose than to win. This, l think, is what makes 1t SO fascinating. But care nothing about this if can only make one more good strike" have plenty Of prospects, and l think We have five good mines.
 friend by the name of Gage, who is in Tombstone, mining camp about % miles from here, through my sugges- tion, bought property and gave Sl2O0 for it. After laying out about S2jOO on 1t in work he was of- fered Slj0,0OO for the mine. He came to me very much elated over the affair, and wanted to know what it was best to do. l advised him to hold on tO 1t and keep to work, and after considerable persuasion he concluded to do so, and last week was offered SIGOO,O0O for # and refused to take 1t. The mine Is called the Grand Central and is at pres ent turning out SlG3,WO monthly in bull lion, and could turn out three times that if they had more stamp machines running. Their mill is not half big enough. But this is only one of the lucky men who have made a fortune right under my nose, SO to speak. There have been several more that I could mention, but the Grand Central is one of the best finds in Arizona, and think Is turn ing out the most silver. They have mil
  worth at least S2OO0,OOO as 1t stands. But you see, 1t takes money, and plenty of 1t, to develop mine successfully. am spending from three to five thousand dollars a month. and no return coming Tn yet. The first thing necessary Is to get the mine open and find out what We have. IT We find We have a mine, the next move is to build reduction works, and then comes the returns and profits providing the ore will pay. Sometimes we have plenty of ore, but We can not work 1t to a profit. Then We try to sell and get our money back. There Is noth- ing certain about mining until the mine k in a paying condition, then every thing is lovely and everyone connected with the property feels safe. But l often think there are too many chances for a poor man take. think there are only two classes of men who ought to venture into mining speculations- They are the men who have millions and can afford to lose q million and not come out broke and the class who have not dollar and have nothing to lose. The last are generally the prospectOrs as We find them in the mountains Their whole outfit would probably not be worth more than hundred dollars. They find a property and sell 1t for few dollars, and try again. Probably one in a thousand !. will make a " big find and save money, ! but ten to one a few months will find him broke agaIn. How foolish men are to stake their all on a mere prospect l that no man can tell will ever amount to {. anything; yet have done it m ny and !. many time myself and have come to !. grief by SO doing or one thing you |. may rest aSsured-we are rarely masters l of the situation. Mining men are al- | most always in financial difficulties, and 1 the first finder of a mine stands but a l small show of ever making a fortune out of it. The capitalist generally reaps the l. reward of the prospector's perseverance ! and hard labor, because they have the l means tO go on and develop the prop l erty and make It pay, and l think they 1 deserve their good fortunes for talk l ing so many chances to lose where there | are so few chances to win. II wish this part Of the country vas blessed 1 with a little more water. We have tO l bring all the water we use in this camp 1 abOut five miles on mules: We have three | PapagO Indians at this business, and 1 they answer the purpose very well. At l the Lone Valley Camp there Is plenty of | water in the mine, and a much 1 pleasanter location. Here we are [ doing nicely, taking out good ore every day. The mines are called Do . minion and Ophir, and are situated on | the very summit of high mountain, | where we get a splendid breeze all the l tme, which makes fl very pleasant, for | you must remember this Is very hot | climate and that tbiS Is ~hp Wnrmagt ! part of the whole year.
 Our rainy season will commence about | July lst and continue off and on until | September. Then no more rain until ! the winter months, which are more like | yOur spring weather. l must say I ! dread the hot season of Arizona; but of | course, as long as I am in the noun tains at a high altitude, # IS very pleas ant; but the valleys are fearful, and es- pecially Tucson. Regarding wages here, which are the same throughout the min ing districts of California and Nevada, We pay good miners g per day and board, inexperienced men S2.jO and board, but We SCOT make miners of | them. Our foreman and time-keepers S4, bOOk-keepers S5 a day and board, and windlass men $50 and Chinaman cook S40 per month. We can get h. aiaus at Sl per day and plenty of Mexi- cans at Sl.JO per day, but they are of little accOunt-tOO slow for anything. They do very well tO job around on the surface, but they are of little use for anything else. Miners get the best pay Tor the least hours of any men in the