Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1882-08-23
A MINERS LUCK.
How He Escaped Making Several Fortunes
The Result of Loss of Confidence in Lime
stone and Lead.
From the Eureka Leader.

TOW ne escaped MAKING several FORTUNES
The Result of Loss of Confidence in Lime
stone and Lead.
From the Eureka LEADER
Talking with Hank Knight the other
day about his apparent good fortune in
owning quarter of the Little Mackay,
where the recent strike was made, he
said:
Well, fellow ought to have little
luck once in while l have staked lots
of prospects and owned interests in any
quantity of mines, but never made dol
lar except by hard work. Not but that
/ have had chances if I'd sense enough
to take them. The trouble with me has
been that I've had either too much or too
little confidence. Now, [ could have
made very respectable raise over In
White Pine had it not been for my over
weening confidence in the district. On
the other hand, [ could have had an in
terest in the Richmond and other prop
critics ia this district, which sold for big
money, if | could have mustered up my
faith in limestone and lead, after my
White Pine experience. Shortly after
the breaking out of the White Pine ex-
element [ went to driving stage between
Hamilton and Elcho, and [ staked some
prospectors to explore the new Eldorado.
They secured some locations, for one of
which we were offered $25, 900 in coin.
Lit was next to mine which did not
show half as we'll as ours, and for which
$50, 900 had just been paid. We thought
we could get $25, 900 for it at any time,
and laughed the offer to scorn. Well,
when the $50, 900 fellows went to work
to develop their property, the first blast
blew the bottom not only out of their
mine, but out of the whole district, and
a week after we refused $500 for the
GOuge Eye we couldn't have got 25 cents
for it. That sort of destroyed my conf
dence ia my mining stock.
About that time an English prize
fighter named Dan Dalton, who went by
the name of Duffy, was stranded,
moral and financial wreck, in Hamilton.
He capped up prize-fght between
young fellow named Fitzgerald and an
other lightweight, with a view of re-
alizing enough out of the gate money to
get out of the country. He was Fitz-
geralds trainer. For some reason the
fight fell through. [ was still driving
on the road, and through Dalton's in
tercession [ secured young Fitzgerald
job as cook at one of the stage stations.
After Fitzgerald left Hamilton his oppo-
nent published card III the paper there
that he had run away to avoid the fight.
Dalton asked me if 1 would take him
down on the stage to the station at
which Fitzgerald was employed, in order
that he might interview him on the sub
iect. [ took him down the next morn
ing, and at his lnstigation Fitzgerald re-
turned to Hamilton to fight his opponent.
Nothing came of it, however. Dalton,
instead Of returning to Hamilton, wan
dered off to Eureka, whose mines were
just beginning to attract attention. This
was some time in 1869, [ think. He
became interested In a number of loca-
tons, among them the Richmond. Cap
ital began coming in, and his properties
commenced assuming value. Shortly
after / met him and he offered me an in
terest in his mines, saying that had it
not been for me, he never would have
been their owner. / thanked him, but
said | had lost confidence in limestone
and did not believe in lead. Dalton
finally realized somewhere about $780,
600 or 100000 from the sales of his
Eureka mines. In the height of his
prosperity he offered me $4,000 to go
into business here, but my distrust of
limestone and lead prevented me from
accepting the offer. [ expected every
year to see Eureka tiatten out the same
as Hamilton and Treasure City. So you
see how over-confdence in one case and
lack Of it in another has stood in the
way of my making fortune" "What
became OF Dalton, did you say ?"
"Well, he got through his money some
way and finally died in the hospital here
as a county charge. This talking is dry
work. What will you take?"