The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1882-01-06
Utah and Nevada...Two Miners Tell
Their Stories.

Utah and Nevada...Two Miners Tell
| Their Stories.
A few evenings since couple of min
ing men, both strangers to each other,
met in the reading room of the Walker
House at Salt Lake City, q. T.. The
conversation turned on the mineral de-
velopments of the West, and presently
one of the men remarked:
eft you want to see mining On . big
scale just go to Southern Utah. "
"How hg?' said the other quietly. :
..Why, the Big Hole Mine, that am
connected with, has the deepest shaft
and the biggest workings in the world"
Show deep?" said the little man.
"You can't m, assure 1t, because if we
stopped work long enough to see how
deep the shaft was, it would materially
interfere with the bullion product. We
dropped line once and reeled it out I'M
til it broke with its own weight When
boy falls down that shaft he strikes the
bottom grandfather.
''Dlust have big payroll"
1--WE used to send the money down to
the hands in cases until the workings
got so deep that we didn't get the win
ter account settled until way along in
the spring. So we started bank and
telegraphed the money orders. That
system saved us an awful wear and tear
on the cages. The miners live down
there and rear their families. They got
an underground city bigger'n Salt Lake,
with regular charter and municipal
elections twice year. They publish
two daily papers down there and liter
airy magazine"
II never heard of the magazine said
the stranger.
"Of coarse not, it would be year old
when it got to you. Beside they hold a
fair there every year and have horse
racing every Saturday. Finest four-mile
track in the world, Lit with electric light.
No mud, no dust. always in the same
condition. Perfect paradise for sports.
What do you think of that for mine?"
Here the stranger, who was Cali
fornian, threw his leg carelessly over
the arm of chair, and lighting fresh
cigar, replied in deep, earnest tone:
II don't think much of your mine.
| You work too much for small results.
When your mine plays out you have
lot of old machinery on your hands, and
where are you? You mine after print
tive methods, like all new countries. 1t
takes experience and head work to tackle
the industry in the proper shape. With
your mine you must be on the ground
in person, and have any amount of men
to look after this department or that.
Now have bigger mine than yours.
1t is located in Story County, somewhere
| in the northern part, believe, and | run
it quite up to the handle with one or two
assistants.
"How deep might the shaft be?'
asked the other.
IS 1t might be pretty deep if l allowed
the men to rush forward and overdo the
thing, but at present there is no shaft at
all
Hosting works up?"
"No, no hosting works-not if 1
know it. You can fool away a great
deal of good hard coin on hosting
works.
"How in thunder do you run your
mine?',
Ion the assessment plan, sir. That's
the latest and most improved method.
We have big map of the mine hung mp
in the company's office, made by one Of
the most competent artists on the coast.
Now when we have good map of the
lower workings we don't need any
works to speak of. We photograph the
Savage hosting works from the top of
the Hale & NOrcrosS trestlework-an en-
tirely new view-and call it by our name,
the Bullion Brick. keep a man in Vir-
ginia at 500 month to superintend the
location and write weekly letters, and l
stay in San Francisco in my office on
Pine Street and levy the assessments ev-
cry sixty days; that's often as the law
allows. I'm the President, Board of
Trustees, Secretary, Treasurer and ev-
erything- especially the Treasurer.
OF course, l draw salary for all the Off
ces, and when l get through drawing
salaries turn the rest over to the agent
in Virginia to pay off the hands. By not
employing any hands he saves enough
to pay himself. My regular income from
that mine is $200,OO0 a year and never a
pick struck in the ground. This is what
consider scientific mining, sir. You
get the silver out of the pockets of the
stockholders and leave the vast argen-
tiferous and auriferous deposits in your
claim for your children, who can go right
ahead and develop the mine just as soon
as the public quit putting up, which isn't
at all likely to happen. AS soon as a
man drops on the game he dies, and the
newcomers all have to learn for them
selves. AS long as people are being born
in Nevada and California my mine will
run on like chronometer clock"
But said the Utah man, "my'style
of mining keeps lot of men at work.
$50 does mine,'' quoth the Golden
Gate chap. Sc Thousands of men are
! working day and night topay the assess
ments. 1t keeps the country as busy as
a beehive, and the speaker sauntered
into the telegraph office to order assess
ment No. 36.-SaH Lake Irioune.
One sleigh,