The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1885-04-17
..rell me how thew do itp,'

commonly. the feliers who are staked
by their friends have a mighty good
time foolin' around. and II they find any.
thing it's by downright niger luck
I've heard 'em say. lots of times. thai
they wouldn't climb that mountain fol
all the wealth init But, fone Is spunky,
or tough enough to do it, he couldn'i
tell pay from county rock. COS he ain't
had the experience. I showed Teller
some of the richest horn ever saw,
and he looked disguised like"
Eyes. but these men do sometimes
get hold of good claims"
They occasionally do, but theirs
the exceptions. and they catch on BY
trailing the old prospectors, getting
float like theirs. and takin' their advice
about locating"
''Were you ever 'staked' by tender.
feet?''
Eyes, in 80 two cute chaps put up
for me to 60 to the Rico excitement.
and it would have been good thing all
around if they hadn't had SO much
money and went along.
Had too much money! What dc
you mean?"
swell, YOU see. one was carpenter
and the other a grocery clerk, and they
wanted to do things in what they called
systematic business style The car
penter said town would be built il
mines were good, and SO he took full
kit of tools and kegs of nails, bolts,
bars of steel, wise, and a full black
smith outfit. and loading 'em in a
wagon. while the grocery fellow took
six months grub for all the workmen
he thought we'd need for building a
good part of the town. and for the
miners on our mines. They said it was
better to buy these necessary things
where they were cheap, and so they
bought about 81 500 worth of this kind
of truck besides min ng tools and a
hundred feet of rope. most died
laughing in my sleeve. and thought
had joined freightin' outfit.
"Well, how did it pan out?"
1--WE hauled that cargo over to Gum
nison, COS they said we must 60 that
way, and it tickled me most to death
to see 'em pay toll on that wagon
and hire transfers to double 'em up the
hills. 1t cost them more money for
toll on that baggage-wagon than l
would have wanted for my seasons
outfit"
What did you do when you got to
Rico?"
I'VE never got to Rico"
ssWhy not?'
THE main reason was that there
wasn't no wagon road at that time, and
l told 'em SO before we left Denver, but
they said one would be built by the
time we got to Gunnison, or if not. we
could cut our way through or else GO
to Gothic. / kinder got stuck after
those fellers, they was so liberal; spent
their money freely and let me cook the
grub, and so just picknicked with
them all summer, and lost the whole
season."
But what did they do when they
found they could not get through to
Rico by that route?"
.sThey acted like sensible fellers then,
IS the romance was pretty well Knocked
out of 'em by the trip over Marshall
pass, and the Gunn;son freighters and
merchants bought their stuff at less
than Denver prices. freight oil. and
they concluded their experience was
worth what it cost. and didn't kick
about it. They didn't prospect any
further
..You would discourage tenderfeet
from entering upon mining prospect
work, infer?"
.Now there you're of again, for /
gould encourage them. because / be-
eeve mimi and prospectin' properly
attended to is the best business a man
can follow, but he has got to have right
notions about it. :"
ssWill you please give me some Of
these .notions?'"
That's just what l come here for,
and II you'll just tell this kid and other
greenies like him what / say, it'll do
EN- good. or leastwise ought to. To
prospect right man has got to regard
it Is Z business he's got to learn, and
if he amt got the scads to spend learn
ing as boss, he wants to hire out as q
hand and learn it that way"
But can tenderfoot get q job as a
miner?"
well, mimi men amt sighin' to
hire such . chap. but II he's got the
stuff in him to make good prospector
he will not be discouraged, but will
rustic till some Teller hires him. II he
can't git . job in . mining camp. he'd
better give up ali thoughts OF being .
prospector. for that takes grit and
means hard work and lots of It The
prospector. more than any other man,
rubs up against the biggest kind of
disappointments and sees money and
labor wasted without any whining, be-
cause he regards his experience worth
it. and 80 he goes from one failure to
another till be does strike it rich. It is
> study to understand ores and the
formations Of different parts Of the
country so IS to know where to look
for mineral and tell its indications, and
then trace 'em to where nature do
posted 'em in bulk. The prospector
ought also to be able to test in ! gen
eral way the rock he finds, to guess
pretty close whether it win pay or not,
and this he can't learn in Z day or in
ma saaeon Thia tha Eastoru f>llc-