, 1889-08-15
JosEPH E. tLAYTOM
Not a Biographical sketch, But the
Tribute of n Friend.

Not a Biographical sketch, But tho
Tribute of Friend.
From the Enginee ring and Mining Journal
My return from vacation journey,
otherwise of unequaled and unbroken
rest and delight, is saddened by the It'd.
ings of the death, July 3, of my dear old
friend and colleague, Clayton. Only n
few weeks ago had met him in the
mountains of Montana, after separa.
ton of years, and we had spent couple
of days together recalling earlier expert.
ences and comparing. notes of practice
and theory, ] noted then that age had
made some inroads upon his strength,
He was still tough, yet no longer elastic,
But his spirit was as youthful as ever,
and the enthusiasm with which he di'
lated on his fayorite themes was only
equaled by the eagerness with
which he pursued any inquiry that
seemed likely 10 give him further light
We made more than olA might of IL, "
without getting through all that we had
20 tell and hear; and parted from him
with the mutual promise not only OF
correspondence, but also of professional
collaboration. He engaged to place at
my disposal the results of his patient
field work for many years, and to join
me i'll such discussion of them for the
transactions of the Institute OF Minin &
Engineers as would make them yalua.
bic contribution to the still inchoate
science of ore deposits.
We were then at the famous Drum
lummon mine, and enjoying the hospi'
tality of Mr.. Bayliss, general manager
OF the Montana company, limited,
which owns that property. In the jour
nal of July lea summary of Mr.. Bay.
"a
friendly visit from Mr., Clayton, and
quotes his opinion concerning the devel'
opments and prospects underground.
1t was probably the last opinion the old
veteran ever gave. Before it appeared
in these columns he had passed from
earth.
This is not biographical notice, but
the tribute of Il friend. Hence, | am not
embarrassed by my ignorance of the
facts and dates which biographel
would deem essential. Probably could
get them by waiting a little; perhaps
they have already appeared in the Jour
nal during my absence. But | do moi
care, and cannot wait, No matter ex.
actly when or where he was born when
| first knew him, more than thirty years
ago, he seemed almost as old as he did
the other day when | bade him farewell
a life of toll gave bin the appearance OF
age, even in his prime, and repaid him
by preserving his vigor until he had well
nigh reached four score years. Even
then disease did not conquer him. He
succumbed to injuries received from the
OF a stage coach, which would
probably have proved mortal to any
man,
Clay yton's death is serious loss to
the profession of which he was a mem.
Der. My judgment on this point Is
more emphatic to-day than it would
have been some years ago, and | can
pay no better tribute to him than to
state my reasons for III
In the first place, he was mcorruptibly
honest. Like all other mining experts
he made mistakes. Particularly in the
early days of mining enterprise in Ne.
vada, Utah, and other Western regions
he expressed favorable opinions con.
cerning the commercial value of mining
properties, which experience contra.
dicted with disastrous emphasis.
have such reports of his, not a few
in manuscript and III print. They are
filed away with scores of similar docu.
ments, bearing my own signature. The
simple secret, which we did not then
understand, was that no mine could be
profitable in a continuous business way
at time and place where mining was
the only industry and had to carry the
whole weight of enormous wages, dear
and scarce supplies, the expenses of gov.
ernment and the recklessness of frontier
dissipation. Nothing could do that but
a bonanza; and even n bonanza might
leak away before the cup of dividend
reached the lips of a stakeholder. And
many mine which we deemed in those
days promising, and which is now under
its second development, profitably pro.
ductive, could not pay long wagon
freights, and 81 or So a day for ordinary
labor, and a big salary to an incompe.
tent manager, and eXhorbtant
rates for wasteful reduction
of ore, and office expenses IN
New York or London, and lawyers fees
and dividends besides-and so came to
grief. Indeed the failure of good mine
not seldom involved greater loss than
did the collapse of wildcat enterprise
because it took longer and cost more to
make the failure plain. The results OF
these early enterprises, therefore, are
not just measure of the ability OF
honesty of the experts who recommended
them. To that class OF wise fellows who
guard their own populations by damn.
ing verything' Clayton did not belong
He examined laboriodsly, formed hi,
opinion conscientiously, and then ex.
pressed it frankly. In the beginning, as
i have observed, he was frequently
never heard u suspicion breathed as tc
his absolute honesty. No swindlina
scheme ever Impoverished its victims tc
enrich him. No man ever changed his
verdict by doubling his fee.
As geologist and mining engineer he
was self-taught. / fancy he had had in
youth very little education of any kind
If am not mistaken, his first bushes,
was that OF carpenter and builder, and
his acquaintance with mining began
with the erection of stamp mills some
where in the South. But he was born
observer and student. The arlor with
which he investigated for his own salts.
faction the minutest details of the dis
tricts he visited was proverbial. Not
long ago | happened to ask III one of the
Western mining camps whether fossil,
had ever been found there from which
the age of the rocks could be inferred.
mot till Clayton cameh was the reply
"but he found em You give Clayton
ten square miles. with one trilobite
somewhere in 1T, and he's bound to have
itn
Like all self.taught and self-impelled
observers. he lacked at first the sense oil
proportion and perspective in the ar
rangement and Interpretation of his OBJ
servations. He was apt TO eSaggeratC
their importance and totheorize crudely
and extravagantly upon them. But
wider experience and constant reading
largely modified this tendency; and In
my last talk with him was deeply i'm
pressed with the wide range and wealth
of detail presented by his knowledge o.
nearly every mining district in the
country, and with the gain in modera
tion, and therefore in force, of hit
reasoning to general conclusions. an
convinced that sympathetic and criti
cal translator, so TO speak, could have
made the treasure of his accumulated
knowledge iRestinably useful 10 others
For he knew more than he coulC