Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-03-16
FAIRS HEAP OF GOLD.
raE Ror aH4o sEcAME a 6oAAkZs
klNC-
CAzEks ~ Gliste@ias 0asEtz Tor Mas.
sss41or ss1T D~is~d A2.ss tie
EoeElss-Hs ki-s - f4n4s-

\. J.. Aorui1x JouFn4ll
/ ThsFe k4vs be~l nss great ooosnEa kings
81 Ebs Wsstssa Slope. Ihsy we're soaa w
As-8ey. Js1ass &. Food, William ,
O'brl.1, WaLAm Sharon 4ud james o.
Fair IhsLT asIaes are as familiar As
household words IA California aud II East
era states sad ~ EuToPs theiF wonderful
experiences fr0m poor and coscare mInsrs
u great ana powerful nsilllOnaires have
6eea sGs sablset of many volume and
thS discus siOn OF many al hour among the
uptown hotels of this city.
Ansng hem al James G. Fair. AZ pres
eBt United States Senator from his dis
srct, has been she subject Of good snsre
Of the COW sFsatiSn, and this Is particular
~ noticed al The Gilsey House, the New
YoFk headquarters Of the senator. When
ia town or ia transit 10 Wasblngtos, he
can Dc seen lounging about the corridors
OF tie hotel, as unassumIng and quiet IN
his 2e ueanOf as the humblest Of tie IRE
ghsnsers sf that famous caravansary. In
that quiet and almost retiring character
few would recognize the strength OF pur-
pose and determined spirit that chiseled
It's way from = penniless miner Who fire.
life 10 occupy the position and 10 have the
power TO command at twenty-four hours'
notice the vast sum Of $4,000 900 in clear.
cold cash; aud yet such is the fact
senator Fair is best known 10 the gener-
al public as a member Of the bonanza ring
But among miners and mining mon he Is
accorded rank as one Of the most accom-
plished mining engineers America has
ever developed; and there are experts,
travelled and experienced, who don't besi-
tate 20 say that in the mechanical manage
ment OF colossal mining enterprises, Sen
ator Fair has nc peer. He was born De-
cember 3, 1881, in Clougher, Tyrone Coun-
ty, Ireland, and came 20 this country poor
and impoverished in ls43. lie was a mere
lad, and his people settled in Geneva, Ill.
1t was hard scratching for them 70 give
young Fair an education, but they finally
succeeded in sending him 10 Chicago,
where he received a good business train
nag.
In common with other adventurous spir-
its. Senator Fair was infected with the
gold fever in lS49, and in August OF that
year he proceeded TO Longs Bar, Feather
River, California. He toiled night and
day amid the greatest hardships, but the
bar turned out an Improbable venture and
he soon abandoned il. He was pronounced
in his advocacy for placer mining, but he
soon turned his attention TO quartz min
ing. Placer mining was conducted in a
primitive style in those days, and did not
afford Senator Fair fitting opportunities
for the exercise of his peculiar mechanical
genius. So that from the placer bar to the
quartz mine was an easy transition foi
him. he drifsed toward Angeles, Calav
eras County, and at laesr period he fig
ured as the Superintendent of quartz
mines in several California counties. Ever
in those early days he ranked high as q
I professional miner.
/ In 1855 Senator Fair assumed the Super
intendency of the Ophir Mine, and in 1856
the famous Hall * Norcross came under
his direction, and while connected with thi.
mine he secured the first alf-million of hi.
/ princely fortune.
The idea then occurred 10 Messrs. FLOOD
and Fair the then moderately successful
and comparatively unknown firm, to ob
tain control of what was then known a
the California and Sides Mine, the Whit,
and Murphy, the Central and the trac
known as the Kinney ground. The claims
were eventually secured, and they in par
formed the famous consolidated Virgini,
aud California Mines. The action of tn,
firm in regard to their efforts to obtain
control OF these particular claims wa
predicated almost entirely upon the opin
ion and theories of Mr.. Fair, whose un
erring judgment and remarkable knowl
edge of everything connected with minin,
matters his confreres relied on implicitly
Then millions upon mil lions poured into th
lap Of Senator Fair. but his serenity was b,
no means rufiied. He maintained the sam
genial and unass suming air that marked hi
earlier days. He next turned his attention
I to real estate speculations in San Francis
CO, and his wealth soon became the subjec
of universal comment in cOmmuni &
7 where millions were considered as thou
sands in the Eastern States. He theI
drifted into politics and now is recognizes
as one of the solid and conservative mem
bers Of the United States Senate. He ha
sttls to say in that body. or rather b
rarely speaks, but when be does he i
listened to with rapt attention, for from
his lips come words OF common sense a
applied to the welfare, financial and 9th
ervsise, Of the country.
Senator Fair has an elegant residence a
Msnlo Park, California, and also palstis
home at Virginia City. He is known 70
his quiet charities and his beautiful remeu
brance 70 those who knew him when
was toiling, hungry and alone, on the bill
Of California
She Gave Her@clf Away.