The Livingston enterprise. [volume] (Livingston, Mont.) 1883-1914, 1886-11-13
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Mining Viewed as a Gambling Scheme.

it mining is simply gambling. Many
man tells me, Il have put into the
ground every dollar could save, but l
never made dollar from it yet. My
turn will come some day 1t seems no
worse to them to risk everything on the
throw of card than on the thrust of
a spade. BY night they repeat in the
saloons their occupation by day in the
mines Gamblers in cards claim that
these spectators might as well lose
their money to them as to other gam
blers in stock 1t is hazard everywhere,
the air is impregnated with speculation
as with ozone 70 only the few who have
the capital to purchase the knowledge,
to compass all risks, to furnish all ma
chinery, and endure all delays, can it
become a legitimate business. Such
ones may, possibly, be as safe in this
business as in any other.
Yet the keenest may be imposed on.
An old California miner told me of an
expert assayer, who had avoided every
snare. He had the habit of taking into
the mine he was to test, bags, in which
he carefully deposited the specimens he
found, tying, labelling and sealing them,
and carrying them on the cars to his
home His reports gained implicit be-
lief, hence the greater desire to deceive
him. A man once followed him to the
train with $50, and bribed the porter OF
the sleeping car, into whose charge the
bags had been committed, to leave them
with him for half an hour. He then,
by means of fine metallic syringes in
jected into the bags certain solutions,
chlorides, l think, Of gold and silver,
and returned them unopened to the
porter's custody. The assayer, unsuspi-
cious, tested every sample in bulk to
find the amount of silver and gold, and
made very sanguine report. On the
strength of this the mine was bought
of those whose agent the injector was,
and placed under charge of the as
sayer AS soon as work was begun the
latter found with horror that he had
been imposed on For weeks, as my in
formant told me, he drove on, with his
hair standing on end, determined to
strike some new lead which should jus.
tify his report. At length, much lower
down, he "made find" which exceeded
his first claim, and then he was satisfied.
The gamblers, like the miners, are not
unfrequently of college education from
fine eastern families. They are not
wholly bad. Their plans have miscar-
ried, their capital is gone, and they are
cast on their wits for living. Other
men have preyed on them, they turn
and prey on other men. But my friend,
who is pastor of the little church around
the corner, tells me that for the last two
years he has had from two to twenty
gamblers at his Sunday evening lectures.
"Why don't you come to us some time
to help pay your salary?" said one Of
them to him. Il never ask anyone to
help pay my salary; that is a purely vol
untary matter"
A few days later it was found that
the little church needed repairs. "We
want new paper and fixtures" he said
to the gambler "What can you do for
us?' "Draw up paper and leave it
with me- In short time the paper
was returned with 1925 pledged by the
gamblers and $25 added by a Jew. When
all had been paid in and the improve
ments were made the contributors all
turned out to see their work. They may
have builded better than they knew.
A Curious Instance of a Broken Heart.
Salt Lake Tribune: A Mormon
woman tells story Of baby brother
of Elder Sloan's that she is willing to
swear to- When his father took con-
cubine, the first wife was about to be-
come mother, and Sloan seniors action
SO Frustrated her that when her child
was born it began to pine away, and
after a few weeks OF wailing and suf-
fering it died. 1t is stated for fact
that examination showed this child to
have died of broken heart, the result
of course of the mothers condition
month before birth.
Very Doubtful.
A correspondent of an eastern paper is
for the following yarn:
was informed by the proprietor of
the hotel that the "Splendid,'' one of the
finest geysers In the basin, and which had
record almost as good as Old Faithful.
had completely failed, and had lain
dormant for nearly six months. strolled :.
over to the Splendid and saw man busily
at work dropping bars of soap into the
crater.
':What in the world are you doing
that for!' inquired, totally unable to
restrain my curiosity.
''Just wait and see, replied the stranger.
He kept steadily at work, dropping
bar after bar down the yellow coated
throat, until the monster began to rumble
and sputter, and finally heaved in a very
boisterous manner Eleven, twelve, thir-
teen, and as the fourteenth bar was swal-
lowed up, away went the Splendid $50
feet into the air, as magnificent and grand
as | had ever seen it,