Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-01-16
MINING sHARps.
western Story Tellers Assayers Have
to Deal with-Two Big Liars.

TO Dtdl "a WI ISS Aa"Ao
'some big liars come to ar ~assayer's
office once in a WHILE" a downtown
assayer said incidentally in a talk about
mining property, ''but l think the two
biggest liars l have ever seen came into
nv office last summer, not together,
thank goodness, for if they had l would
have kicked them out for supposing
that l might be an eternal fool. In
stead, | listened to each, and then gave
him a piece of my mind. The first was
about forty-iive years OF age, sharp
featured. long-haired, and with the APP
s%carance OF Il Western miner. He care
lessly %unwrapped a newspaper from a
lump of silver ore, and asked in a bust
ness-like way to have it assayed. l
picked up the lump and said otf-hand:
There's no need of having that as
saycd. It's scventy-iive per cent. silver
at first glance And it was. 1t was
about as rich a specimen rs l had seen
in some time. 1t was worth at least
$4,000 a ton.
".But | want it assayed.' he said.
1--WE got a drift of ore like that six feet
wide, and | want to sell it. | don't
want to lie about it. and l want to
know Just what it is worth
That's my business, and. OF course;
knocked off a piece of the lump. /
charged him more than | would any
body else, because | knew he intended
to swindle somebody. | ground the
piece of ore into dust. and put i'll a bot
tie. Then | took a little and assaycd
it. 1t turned out Just what | thought
it would. AS usual l made record Of
the assay, and waited for the man to
return.
"About four days after the assay four
or five respectable old gentlemen came
into the Office together, and n OF them
unwrapped u piece of ore and said:
will YOU please assay this for us: We
are thinking of buying a silver mine,
and this is some of the ore. What do
you think it is worth?'
81 looked at it closely and discovered
that it was from the lump my Western
MAJ had brought in.
"'ENcusc me, but have assaNcd this
ore within five days. | said.
".Y-e-e-s,' the spokesman of the
party said. hesitatingly. We under
stand that it has been assaved. but we
thought it would be safer t o have it
assaved forus particularly. How much
did you make it out to be worth?,
"'Twelve or fifteen thousand dollars
u ton l said, not wishing TO be too
particular at first. I'll see
"Whilc Twas looking ver my record
book | noticed the gentlemen looking
knowingly at n another.
"sIt was l 5000 | remarked. turn
inc toward them. 1t didn't startlc them
a bit.
"'That's pretty rich. isn't it?'
"'Dccidedly so. Where the minc?:'
| asked.
".In Colorado. We have Il drift
there six feet VIDE
"'Colorado!' ! exclaimed. That orc
never has seen Colorado. That's from
some Mexican mine
Il knew what | was talking abou;
when | said that, because | can pick out
Colorado ore from two Thousand speci-
mems. | can pick out ore from the
Comstock lode anywhere YOU put it.
After getting Il few more particulars
about the man who wanted I'd sell the
mine. l said 'Gentlemen, l don't
want to have YOU taken in by anybody,
and especially by n OF those West
ern mining sharps. Instead Of taking
my word for this assay. got to somebody
else. and Eve no doubt You'll find many
who will be as honest with You rs l in
tend to be, and have your ore lassaycd.
Take some Of this dust with you and see
if it be like your ore.
"'But We can buy this mine for only
$50, 600, the first speaker said.
- If you a find IL mine where tho
ore is all like that, | said, I'll fine
men who will give you $50, 900. 600 fol
it,. That isn't Il true specimen. and
besides, it isn't from, Colorado. It's /;
rich find from some old mine in Mex.
ico.'
They looked rather glum and Wen
out. l really pitied them. The mex
day the Western man came in to sc,
me gave it to him hot. Look here,
l said, we have just about enough o
such fellows as you around here. Whel
you come on hereto sell Il mine, don
try to palm Off Mexican ore for Colo
tNo olS. uN 4hN tNtNlSC. LV Noi
show that lump to any miner, bccaus,
he'll know it in Il minute. Now skip.
"'l have never seen the old gen
tlemen since. L guess they foun,
somebody who told them the truth as
did,
''The other chap was Il short, dump,
fellow. He wanted to have everythin.
very secret. He had a piece of ore tina
knew was Mexican, and it was a lon!
time before l could get anything out o
him. At length he said: pm u com
mcrcial traveller, and while [ was il
: Mexico this summer | struck an oil,
, trail over the mountains that, thought
would take me by a short cut to wher
, | wanted to 90. | took it, but it wa
the toughest ground / ever struck
: About noon ] was almost overcome, an,
l dropped off my mule near a shad
| place to catch a nap and rest. My mule
that was wandering about, awoke m
after awhile by nearly stepping on me
in pulling ny blanket Off that serve,
as a pillow, l noticed that the roc
%sparkleu. it struck me all at once lha
I it was silver, and looked around t.
: see if there were any other rocks Xix
G that. ldrn't know whether You'll be