, 1886-05-26
HE FATE OF MINE DISCOVERIES.
A >nP-r-titious Belief on the subject
with Some Foundation.

with Some Foundation.
Thu siiper-titious belief IL an old ore.
that unless the d~iscoverer of a camp meets
an untifneiy or bloody end. his find Will
never amount to anything and this seems
borne ont by facts, since nearly all of the
discoveries Of the great gold mines in he
United states, with but few exceptions.
nave, as the saying goes. died with their
boots on" OF thirty eight booming own
In the carly days. the ~locators of twelve
were killed by bullet, three were buried in
their creations by c~ave-ins and the rest
drifted away with the tide ofimmigration,
have become lost in oblivion or died and
were buried In paupers' graves.
George ii. Fryer, from whom the cele-
bratcd Fryer Hill" of Leadville derives
Its name, died at Denver not long ago
from an overdose of morphine admins
tered by his own hand. Two years pre-
ylOus to his death he was worth a million
or 50; but he died "A pauper and almost
without n friend. Old Nirginny, after
whom the CONSOLIDATED Virginia was
named. aud who sold his claim for So. a
pony and a bottle of whisky, came to his
death by an overdose from n bucking
mule near Dayton, Nevada. Bill Bodie,
the discoverer Of the great Standard mine
in Mono county. California, slept his life
'f'' 49, FAAVF iA mn AhhAh6 u
way to the mines. Col. Story, who gave
his name to the county In Nevada. where
the Comstock Is situated, was killed in
battle by the Pyramid Lake Indians.
Thomas Page Comstock died a beggar in
II strange land. "Old Pancake" AS he was
known in the mining camps, committed
suicide at Bozeman, NJ. T., on Sept. ~,
1870, by shooting himself. lie was the
leader Of the famous Big Horn expedition
that was sent out by Nevada capitalists
In search of the Lost Cabin mines, sup
posed to be somewhere among the Big
Horn mountains. The expedition was a
failure, and Comstocll, whether from dis
appointment or from some other cause,
while camped near Bozeman, drove a PTS
toll ball through his head and died in
stantly. He was buried there II his
grave is unmarked and unknown.
Near the wild spot where twelve years
before the hidden treasure of Alder Gulch
was first revealed to him, William Fair
weather was laid down to rest. Like poor
"Old Panca.e e." thise rratic soul stranded
on the shoals of dissipation, although zach
in his day had turned II key-the one sill
yer, the other golden-which unlocked
millions for others but nothing for them
selves.
William Farrell, who "struck" Meadow
Lake, died a victim to remorse in one of
the leading hospitals Of San Francisco.
haunted by the spirits of 1000 deluded
pioneers and prospectors passing and re
passing his dying bed" The locator of
the famous Homestake, in the Black hills,
IS sal! to nave afterward turned road
agent. Times going hard with him, he
attempted to stop a stage loaded and pre-
pared for just such emergencies, aud he
was planted alongside the road by the
tender-hearted express agents whom he
attempted to rob and kill.
Homer, of the Homer district, followed
in the suicidal tracks of Comstock. After
squandering n small fortune he shot his
brains out on the streets of San Francisco.
Duughnut Bill, "Old Eureker Kelse Aus
tin, Lloyd Magruder. Nine-Mile Clark,
George Hankinson, Henry Plummer, and
scores of others died violent deaths in one
way or another, and reaped nothing from
the rich finds each had made in his day.
Doughnut Bill was planted in the Lone
Mountain cemetery in Utah in 1868; n
lone grave under a white pine tree In a
frontier mining town OF California tells
where poor "Old Eureka sleeps lis last
sleep; kelse Austin was killed and buried
in Elcho county, Nevada, fifteen years
ago.-St. Louis Globe-Dcmocrat.