The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1881-11-25
Tha nHounat,' Miner.

| HuSns uneS OF COiOraQo, the SUCCESSFUL
are one to every 500 honest miners. He
has not brought in returns from the
Territories, and there is, in conse-
/ quence. broader sweep for imagination
in the undeveloped region, where min
/ ing is yet partly an experiment. The
| fortunes Of two or three mfllionaires
balance the losses of thousands, like
the many deaths which 90 to make up
victory. Are You the 500th or 80oth
| happy child of destiny. the victorious
| Captain for whom the unnamed heroes
| fellf Youp OF the bonanza king we
daily hear by telegraph. photograph,
autograph. OF the vast army of the
defeated nothing Singly they tramp
back home, steal in darby at dead of
| night, rayage the pantry, and, having
| slept off fatigue, are ready to deny hav-
ing thought of Leadville or Golden.
| One OF the cheapest and easiest ways
| Of reaching mine is by q 'tgrubstake."
| This euphonious word means a certain
sum (say $780, advanced to man by
another, with more money and less
| time, and the prospector has an inter-
est in whatever he may find. You
meet him in every road, every high
way, every byway, and where there is
no way in the Territories. The pros
pective millionaire generally wears an
outrageous hickory shirt, sleeves usu-
ally rolled to the elbow, exposing arms
not the fairest, buckskin or brown
duck pants, or q readymade suit, ready
to be unnade at the seams, and q hat
of superlative SLOUGH. His head shay
gy as buffalo's, with sun-scorched
hair, and his face, lined with fierce,
sunbeat and wrinkling wind, is CLOS
sy red, as though it had been veneered,
sand-papered, and vanished. He car
ries striking hammer weighing from
five to eight pounds. Does it look like
an enchanter's rodP In his hand it may
prove a fairy wand. potent as the
double-headed hammer of Thor. His
burro, or donkey, is not much larger
than q sheep, yet able to bear 800
pounds weight. On the patient, long
suffering brute is strapped blanket.
Above it are piled rations of bacon,
sugar, crackers, pick and shovel, and
tin pot for boiling a coarse brown
powder. called in bitter Every bitter)
sarcasm, coffee. In seeking claims, he
is oftenest attended by a partner, fam
iliarly and affectionaly called ''my
pard.n In this land of sudden death,
where every man carries pistols and
loves to use them, one lone prospector
may be picked off almost anywhere,
and his bones left in deep canyon or
lonesome gulch. and no questions
asked. It is best to hunt in couples.
Like the Intelligent and reliable contra
band of other days, the honest miner is
forever bringing in good news Lee
is just where We want hint The latest
find is prodigious, the best thing yet
and lacks nothing but capital for deve-
opment to equal anything in the Com
stock lode or Santa Eulaliar' This last
d a mine worth having, where the early
diggers set no value on common ore,
but sought pockets" rich with silver;
soft yellow clay, scooped out rapidly
and easily with horn spoons. Some
times they were of immense extent re-
requiring years to exhaust.
l have not been able to learn why the
miner is always named the ''honest'
miner, but such is the fact. To this
well-worn adjective are sometimes adj
ded reticent and successful, when the
speaker wishes to be unusually impress
sive. 1t has been written that mining
speculations, like transactions in horse
flesh, have o tendency to blunt moral
perceptions, and soured politicians in
sinuate it was first phrased by ambi-
tious patriots who were anxious to Sc
cure his suffrage. Be that as it may,
the honest miner is our man now.
Though he does not pretend to be a
poet, his is the vision and faculty di-
vine. He is, attended by presences to
other eyes unseen, like the inspired
sculptor, who is in heavenly fervor of
inspiration hewed the rough marble by
the roadside and let the imprisoned
angel out. BY break of day, while the
warm valley still holds the night in its
bosom, he Is up AMI on the march.
The shadow of great rock or 81 I'll
ing pine has been his shelter. the over
arching blue canopy his tent, the world
is his field For lis unfailing appetite
there are crackers and bacon and coffee.
Like Macaulay's felIow-traveler, he
breakfasts as if he had tasted the day
before, and dimes as though he had
never breakfasted. His burro is happy
as the melancholy beast can be on q
little grama-grass (Etheroma Oligi-
starchon) or twigs and leaves of scrub
oak. He wanders from the borderland
northward, among cold, sharp, icy
crags, where desolation dwells in
matchless state; where among treeless.
bald peaks, she holds and guards her
paradise, perfect even to the grim,
painted savage, who, with scalping
knife, instead of flaming sword, does
the duty of the sentinel angel at the
gate. Lava-beds do not stop him. nor
chaparrel, mezquit, or cactus jungle, or
| the picking Spanish bayonet." In
whitening wind, in binding snow and
drifting sand. the undaunted fellow
pushes his search for rich leads. Such
persistent energy directed to any other
business would command success; but
will 1t in prospecting? That depends.
If he fails in finding good thing (say
q lode worth million or so)in given
district, he makes new deal and be-
gins again, for he is ''bound to spot the
treasure.
The claim-stake is usually pine
board. marked with certain Inscriptions
in pencil, which oozes from within and
glazes over and makes indclible.
Pleasant and consoling to him is it to
know that no wise man from the East
no scientist. no geologist-has ever
found a valuable mine. Them literary
fellows have to take back seat when
it comes to locating claim. Luck,
chance, accident and the prospector
are the powers to be depended upon
then. But when he does strike big
lead. and the crumbly ore, with its gilt
terng white and yellow streakings. is
reported inexhaustible, then these
wholesome adages floor the honest
miner: A man cannot see very far un-
foreground. 1t takes u mine to work a
mine. Luck may find the lead, but
science molds the silver brick; and to