Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1888-05-17
MINE SALTING.
Processes for the Deception OF I'm
wary Capitalists.
An ola Trick. aud How II II Played
The Cunning Shoemaker who Dat
witted uim--lr-Thc Magic
bottles.

To catch a bird. says the proverb.
put some salt on its tail. To catch n
victim. says the mining shark, put
some salt on y minr. do not know
whether the verb ''salt." in this sense.
has been as yet incorporated in any
dictionary. but when it is IL will he de-
fined something ia this way: Salt: TO
stucco Il worthless mine with high
grade ore for the purpose Of inducing
some old gentleman from down East
10 invest his kopccks therein" To.
write the history Of mining without
the history Of sailing might not be
Hamlet with Hamlet left out, but it
would be ut least Hamlet with Ophelia
omittcd-without the melancholy
dame. II j. as old rs rascality. The
mines of Australia have been sailed
repeatedly. and on onc occasion n high
colonial official narrowly escaped
prison for completely; n gold mine in
Africa was sailed. n few years ago..
and sold for go. 900; the 'Ari-
IONA diamond fields" were moth
ing but n salt. with uncut stones
bought in Amsterd am. and here in
Colorado the thing was reduced to a
fine art years ago. However. it Is not
the purpose Of this brief chronicle to
trace sailing from Lots wife on. but
rather To give n few curious Instances
which have come under the writer's
observation. 1t may be taken for
granted in n general way. hat sailing
Is the first thing thought If when a
boom draws investors to n new min
ing camp aud the last thing resorted
to when the decline begins to send
them away.
In ISIS at the height Of the silver
mining craze in this State. n German
shoemaker lived on the eminence sub
ssquently known as Carbonate hill.
lie was lazy and 80 bond uf whisky
that the ncighbors sail he didn't get
drunk. but occasionally got sober.
For months the great silver fever
pulsed around him without disturbing
his eguanimity. He would sit in the
door of his shop a shoe under his lap
strap. and listlessly watch the endless
stream Of pack trains. the hurrying
procession 81 excited men. the VEL
low stage coach dashing skin
hand up the hill. and all
the iadescribable and tntermin-
able hustle of ths hour. Sh~aft-houses
sprans up all around him. but he paid
no attention to them At last one day
he surprised every body by laying
down his pipe. going out into his
back yard. and digging a hole. In 4
few days he was out Of sight. and
kept on digging. In n month he was
down thirty feet. and then he sudden
denly rushed 10 an assayer' office with
n handful of ore that made peoples
eyes stick out. IL was the richest kind
Of carbonate. heavy with virgin sill
yer.
The hole was examined and n biz
vein Of it was found in this bottom.
Then the great question was how to
get the property away from the shoe
maker ON the easiest possible terms.
He did not seem to understand the
value Of his discovery. AMI when a
syndicate was formed and offered him
$500 he accepted at once.
That night was murder out. The
cobb!er went on n big spree. aud
boasted all over the camp that he had
bought n wheelbarrow full of ore from
the Chrysolite mine and sailed his
prospect hole. which had nothing in II
moro valuable than mud. But before
this confession reached the purchasers
they had sunk the shaft four feet
deeper and cut right into a huge body
of real carbonates that threw the
Chrysolite stuff in the shade II il
hadn't been for the Dutchman's story
they would never have known the
mine was salted at all. When the
shoemaker heard of the discovery he
swore that he had been robbed Near
" a million dollars in ore was taken
out Of that mine.
n the same year. or tire succeeding
one. a very singular thing occurred
nea Deadwood. A new camp had
sprung up on the verge OF a precipi-
tous cliff. nearly 500 feet high. and
overlooking one of those rude basins
known in Western v~ernacular as
parks" One day some miners. eat
ing their dinner. saw a man down in
the park. diminished and fore-short-
ened so that he looked like a little
doll Presently he raised a gun 10 his
boulder. smoke drifted from the
muzzle, and a later the faint
echo of a report reached their ears
He must have missed that Bird" said
the miners. and went on eating their
dinner.
A few days afterward a ragged
stranger came TO the camp and went
to work One morning be said: Boys,
believe there is an ou~teropping Of gold
on the face of that cliff" A man was
let down and came up as pale as death.
with n chunk Of quartz in his hand all
speckled and faxed with the precious
metal The location Of it precluded
any thought Of sailing. and the camp
went wild. 1t went if any thing. a
little wilder when it was found that
tke stranger had already stakel of the