Daily Los Angeles herald., 1883-05-12
Borax Mines.

There is considerable excitement in
Calico district over recent discoveries of
borax deposits within a couple of miles
of the town OF Calico. The principal
deposits are in the eastern part of the
district and comprises an area of four or
five miles square. Several sales were
made last week of borax claims, amount
ing to "a, 250, and since then, lands hith-
erto supposed to be worthless have been
located in twenty acre claims as borax
deposits. Several claims located for
silver, but considered poor, have been
prospected for borax, and in some places
with favorable results. 1t is claimed by
some that there are large deposits of bo-
rax in the district, some Of it of fine
quality. In one place there is small
mountain of it; and il all the deposits
located are in reality borax of market
able quality, the immense quantity of it
canuot fail to be source of great wealth
to this district.
In connection with this subject we
will refer to scheme unfolded to us
by one of the owners in the above de-
posits. Itappears that a mining expert
came from San Francisco. recently and
spent several weeks examining the
mines in Calico district. He took some
specimens to the city for analysis which
proved to be fine quality of borate of
lime. A Jew. an enterprising and willy
lawer in the city. happened to learn of
the result of the analysis, and where
the specimens came from. Immediately
he began to concoct in his fertile mind a
scheme by which he hoped to gain pos
session of the borax fields. At first he
thought that the owners of the claims
were ignorant of the nature and value
of the deposits. He came to Calico as
fast as steam would bring him, and pro-
ceeded to offer small amounts for the
claims, but he soon found out that if
the owners did not know the true value
of the deposits, they at least knew
enough to ask prices for them far above
the figures he proposed to pay in his
scheming Imagination.
Finding that he could not get possess
sion Of the coveted material SO useful
for cleaning tho scalp and Welding the
wheel tire, he plucked his beard and tore
his hair after the manner of his fore
fathers, and swore vengeance. He then
hired eight men at So. so day, and in
structed them to locate the best portion
of the deposits in claims of twenty acres
each, the area allowed by law for borax
claims. These men proceeded to work
and located monuments as instructed,
regardless of the monuments already pat
up by other parties. Those who had
prior locations protested against this
wholesale monument building, but the
eight men hired by the legal gentleman
said they were hired to put them up,
and considered they had as much right
to earn good days wages that way as
any other, although they had no faith
in the legality of the wholesale jumpers
titles to the land in question. The law
yer's titles to the claims are, Of course,
worthless, but no doubt he expects to
make something by being bought off, SC
as to prevent him from interfering in
some of the sales that the rightful
owners may try to make.
Mr.. Robinson, one of the firm of VIM.
I. Coleman & Co., has purchased the
borax deposits mentioned above. and
will soon set men to work on the prop
erty.--Caiico Print