News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-03-28
THE ROCKS PURE GOLD.
A Western Machinist Who Refused
a Great Mine as Gift.

In one of the side streets near the
Oakland Ferry, San Francisco, there is
general junk shop carried ON by one +.
L. Steen, whose daily struggle for the
mighty dollar is hard one.
Mr.. Steen makes a speciality of second
hand machinery, in the purchase of
which he travels considerably over the
Californian mining counties. Abandoned
or broken down quartz mills and hoist
ing works are his delight.
He is by no means a rich man, al
though he constantly tells the story of
how he was offered large fortune once
as Il present, but refused it. 1t happened
this way:
In part of Ell Dorado County, called
Grizzly Flats, mine had been worked
with more OF less profitable results by
party of Boston capitalists These men
had spent considerable money in i'm
proving the property, and in the course
of development had gotten out some
twelve or fifteen hundred tons of ore.
This lay on the dumps.
For one reason or another the machln-
cry at the mine did not work satisfactor-
lily, and the ore was not crushed. 1t also
happened that a cave occurred In the
mine shaft, which so discouraged the
Boston folks that they finally concluded
| to abandon the property.
The only thing to be done was to sell
the machinery for the most money OBJ
tainable. Mr.. Steen was invited to
make bid, and he visited the mine
! the Mount Pleasant it was called-looked
over the machinery, and offered stated
sum for it, which was at once accepted.
| The mine owners offered to throw the
mine into the bargain for few hundred
dollars more, but Mr.. Steen wouldn't
have it, remarking: "What on earth do
/ want of the mine? I wouldn't take it
as a gift" This was some seven or eight
years ago.
Mr.. Steen then hauled the machinery
away from the property, which after
ward lay idle for some six months or
more, when an expert in the employ of
the same Boston firm happened to visit
the place. He was there to examine and
report upon another mining property in
the vicinity.
The expert, more from curiosity than
anything else, concluded to go over the
Mount Pleasant property to see whether
the ore might not be worked to advan-
tage by some new process. He assayed
a sample from the dump and was aston
ished to find the result over $50. That
is, the ore, if this was fair sample,
would yield $50 per ton. He then made
further assays, with even better results,
and wrote to Boston, stating that it
would pay to put up new mill on the
| property.
After some hesitation this was done
and the ore on the dumps was run
| through the mill in less than a month,
yielding about $27, 200. Upon examin-
ing the mine further it was found that
the cave in the main shaft had exposed a
chimney" of very rich ore, upon
which the mill was soon set to work.
From this on the mine was systemati-
cally worked, and, singularly enough,
the deeper they got the wider and richer
the Vein became, and to-day Mount
Pleasant is probably the richest gold
mine in California.
For seven years the Mount Pleasant
Mine has yielded a net return of from
S25, 900 to $40, 900 month, and there is
said to be ore enough in sight now to
keep the mill running ten or twelve
years more A million dollars in cash
would not, to use the Western idiom,
"touch one side of the property"
I have often seen the man at the
Mount Pleasant mill after days run
take up great iron buckets full of rich
amalgam from the plates and have seen
quartz specimens from the ledge worth
many hundreds of dollars.
About year after Steen had refused
to accept the property 1 met him one
day in San Francisco. "What is that
rich mine up in Ell Dorodo county 1
hear SO much aboutl" he asked me.
.'The Mount Pleasant, told him.
"Good Lordl" he exclaimed, "you
don't say so?" And then he told me
about his purchase and the attendant
facts as above described.-New York
| heraEd.