The Benton weekly record. [volume] (Benton, Mont.) 1880-1885, 1883-04-21
MINING. IL. sM.i'es rs.
Hnw Some of thu Biggest ~ine
Cost Absurdly small Invest
aDrntS.

There is always something romantic aho
int.rasrinp connected with the discover.
of The principal mines of the world, anu
the reader never tires Ut the recital OF ifi'
little ia ;idents and adventure. leatiihg 10
the tiatlinE OF Il big bpnA'izl. The iam"n'
nines Of Potosi we're discovered t,y an L.
dian hertlcr. In chasing mountain goat
he pulled bush out Of the gronh;', 10 tii''
fibres Of which qu nifty OF silver gloh"-
les were attached He concealed his dis
royrry for Il season, but his sudden dis
rI.v of wealth excited the attention OF his
Snanish masters, and under torture h+
v.aa forced to reveal the locality OF the
precious deposit. These mines hav-
Welded to date the enormous sum or S2,~
900 900 900. TO appreciate the nagnifu !"
of this sum we may say that it exceeds tiis
amount extracted from the bonanza mines
of the Com<tock lode twenty times tina
is. that tor every dollar the bonanza yield
ed the mines of Potosi yielded twenty; Oh
in Western parlance, ''PotoSi has seen tht
dollar Of the bonanza and gone nlneFeeh
dollars better" No wonders Spain became
such wealthy country in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. There werr
lots of Floods, MackaYs, and other bonan-
"a kings in those days.
In 1858. Comstock of the Comstock lode
visited San Francisco and endeavored to
enlist capital to develop his mines. He
went up pn1 down Front street begging
our merchant princes of that day to AID
him, saving that he had q mountain Of
sjlvpr-ore on the eastern slope Of the Si"r-
ras. They laughed AT him. and he re-
crivpd the name Of "craZv Cnmstock,
Hc returned 10 his mountaiu homo without
q dollar. and it was reserved for Grass
Valley mnn-.Tndye Walsh. George Hearst
Joel Clark. and others--tn he the chief in
strumonts in mixing The wealth of the ia
nous lode known To thp world.
Tn 1858. = Shoshone Indian. in c"nsi'"r-
alton Of II square meal and bottle nf wh's-
KEY. gnitfrl Turner, A"rlegrh'h. an"
others 80 the summit of Treasure Hill, in
the White Pine District. and there nm
folded 70 their gnze the riches nf III" Eher-
hart m'na. s rna Of this nrn was so rich
that a nail could b" driven into II as into ;"
bar of lead. From chamber in this min"
big enourh to turn Il st"re coach anil hor-
sps around in. oyer s. O00 OA0 was extract
ed. The Indian has been an imp"rtA"f
fartnr in mine discoveries. hofl' in $ WITH
AmPrica ard on oI1r own t.nnfinenf. TIL"
great wealth # T4ber. the millionaire mi
ncr o. q loraan arose from $l75 worth If
grub furnished hy him to snsa'e T"udvi}I"
miners. These men discovered the ccle
brat4d Little Pitt-hurg. Chrvsnlite, an'
other mines. and hrnurht int, p'oHi"enc"
q camp which has ad ed nearly 500 09O,-
600 10 rhe worlA's wealth since 1879. In
1879, George d. Robinson was a store.
keeper il T.nadviII" with stf'k IF goods
valued at $4,000. One dav he ''gr'b-
staked" miner with $50 ws,rth Of pro-
visions The prospertor sailed forth and
COON afterwards discovered the celebrated
Robins IN Mine Of Ten Mile District, near
Lradvill~. and Robinson realized 81 .O00.-
600 hy his tritling investment Of the sum
of $50.
Iu 1870, Southeastern Arizona was Civ
en- over to the red and ruthless Apache,
and was supposed TO he deficient in min
eral wealth. But Il daring miner, Edward
Schirtf.!in, penetrated the region and
brought ont the news Of good ore and
plenty of it. His sol. capital was $3.50, but
to-day he il Millionaire. His spirit is,
however, unsuhdued, and signing like
Alexander fer ether worlds to conqner, he
has sailed to the Arctic, and has there dis
covered rich >diggins on the headwaters Of
thorough exploration this summer. As
soon as the country Is released from the
icy embrace Of winter the adventurous
miners and prospectors Wi strike bee
line for the new country. Rock of almost
fabulous wealth is exhibited in this city,
coming from Alaska, and stories are told
Of ledges 100 feet wide full Of free gold
Who knows but Humholdt's prophecy,
that in the north the great matrix of gold
is to be found, may be verified this year?
Certain it il that the mi es of Siberia have
yielded an average of So 000.00O year
for the last seventy years: and their pro-
duct is greater now than ever Son Fran
cisco Exchange.
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