Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-01-06
IN A MINING CAMP.
HOW THE rENoERFooT IS sWlNoLE0
OUT OF HIS MONEY.
Rscsiving . Full Equivalent In Expe RE
snos-''Saiting'' . Mine with shot
Con Making the Tssts-An
q IavestOrs Loss-


- I0vootofo . Las
II. L. ronanf in r oston Transrriptl
OF course the first gold taken out in q
camp such as Deadwood was in its early
dxvs is simply washed out from the sand
and gravel of the stream aud from the
dirt on its hanks livery miner stakes
out his claim and goes to washing IL he
finds pay dirt all right He makes
money fast and very likely spends it
faster. II he finds himself On claim
which yields nothing. ne curses his luck
and-goes to work to sell his claim A
few dollars worth of dust are sprinsled
over the surface and ienderfoot brought
on to inspect the claim. A few panfuls
are washed out with good results. and the
bargain struck on the spot
Tenderfoot paris with his money and
receives full equivalent in experience
But as the camp grows older these
-salted" claims become harder TO sell
The pr ospective purchaser insists upon
working for day or two before he is
willing TO purchase Then the old head
must find some way 10 outwit him A
large nugget chances to be found which
would turn the head Of almost any pros
rector Hs proposes to buy at once. No.
The claim Is not for sale now. Price in.
creased. contemptuousiv rejected In
creased again. Again refused. Finally
purchased vt such figure that the lucky
seller deems it prudent to retire from the
camp without waiting for coming develop
ments But little the shrewdest sale
ever knew Of was made 10y claim owner
who inves ed about $500 in coarse dust
loaded il iito . shot gun in small charges
and fred Il at short range ioto bank of
soft earth on his calm Prospectors were
invited 10 dig into that bank as far As
thew chose to go. and within three days
that claim was sold for over 50. 600 1t is
but fair to say. however that compare.
tivelv few claims were disposed Of in this
fashion.
UNLUCKY INVESTORS.
In many cases rock which showed q
good percentage Of gold was found.
Then q mill of five, ten. twenty or per.
haps sixty stamps costing at least 81 ,00f
Q stamp. would be erected. A few good
runs might follow and then the end OF
the deposit be reached More frequently
the gold would refuse TO be captured bv
the ordinary process Of treatment and
the en- erprise would be thrown up 10
disgust by the unlucky investors A
score of lust such properties lie within a
radius of few miles of neadwood.
Time will reveal somes process by which
the gold can be extracted cheaply enough
to make the working of the mines pay.
Now they are as value less as though
there was no gold therein.
A favorite method for bleeding the
man who has money to lose has been to
throw worthless rock. or worthless prop
erty in some shape or other upon the
market in the east Sometimes a tender
foot so tender would be found that he
could be persuaded to invest part or all
of his property in mines which had no
more real existence than illiput or Brob
dingnag. Some. more careful, would in
sii,u,e inquiries II they found out III,
truth they were fortunate. theirs would
send out an agent TO look the field over.
Now comes one of the most interesting
Of all the processes employed in defraud
ing the eager investor
Ask man who has not been to school
10 explain how he would determine the
value of a mine and he will very likely
say: Take samples of the rock from
di erent places aud have them as,
saved Make the tests extend
over the entire property and you will gel
the average value of the rock. All-very
well q, far rs it goes. Ask practical
miner the same uesiion. and his answer
will be this take q few tons of the
rock to good mill and have It run
through See what the run returns. and
you can gain some idea of the charsctel
Of your ore. Now most of the agents
sent out by eastern investors ma have
had much knowledge upon many sub
jects. but mines were to them book,
written in an unknown language II they
could not be cheated. they were bought
and il thev could not he bought. they
were cheated. A few thousand dollars il
their own pockets often produ ed rose
colofed report to the eastern party. and
when that would not work. the samples
Of ore were in some way freely -salted
THE PROCESS OF Sailing
Sailing is simple process. being
merely the scattering of sufficient gold
into the samples of ore TO make show.
ing of gold bearing rock rich enough as to
abundantly satisfy. but not so rich to
cause suspicion Then time would take
care Of the rest Our eastern investor
would see in his mind S eye gold mine OF
untold value AID himself the millionaire
owner Works would go up on property
as innocent of any paying ore as the
granite hills of ,Aew England. and our
friend would find the vast wealth he had
SO confidently fo-seen coming to him only
in the form of unwelcome experience
A man now prominent in this section Of
the territory told me of the following in
cident as illustrating the actual eagerness
displayed by some of the early explorers
% be gulled and cheated
In early days. he said. Il was in the
livery business, and one day q
fat old German came TO my
stable and wanted me to drive
him out few miles to see the country.
You remember that high hill on the right
before you reach the chicken ranch down
on Gilmans toll road! Well, we got 10
talking about mining claims and how
much money some of the fellows had
made here in Deadwood gulch, and |
found he swallowed everything l told
him. and seemed to think gold was in the
ro Ks oil around US. Finally thought
! d chat him little Why said l. do
you see that high hill over there. Well.
sir. haven't a doubt that property is
Just IS full of gold as the Home
stake mine He looked kind Of queer,
and didn't say ANYTHING. but the old chap
actually went aud located mineral claim
there within three days and before he left
for his home-he lived in Minnesota some.
where-he put 3 man in charge of that
claim and left him $4,000 to sink shaft
with The funniest part of il, too. was
that the man went right to work and
srent the whole of that money honestly
prospecting for gold of course he never
found grain The old Dutchman didn't
put up any more money. and guess his
+ 900 investment cooled him off little
and taught him lesson about gold hunt
ing.
Lon = lived Amin la
IL ndon Jour isI