, 1890-08-14

Imagine a swamp high up on the steep
side ut mountain. AT frequent inter
walls the traveller has hut to dip into
spring or noisy little stream To get q
drink Ut for the rods II is so cold and
pure. At later stage these two factors
timber and water III plenty-wil be OF
vast importanCes and aid. Camping out
on these mountains Is "A delight. he
nights are very cold, but plentyof blank
cts, a TIA OK bed of moss and green boughs
and roaring lire cause discomfort to
vanish and with IL most OF human care.
one night of our trip Is recalled when,
belntcd, our party "snugglcd down on
Givcout creek. 5000 feet above Nelson,
with no roof Uut the lofty tops OF
the giant pines, and were lullod
to sleep by the roaring water.
The presence near us of the surveying
party locating tile wagon road added to
the pleasure, for, with true British hos
pitnlity, they rendered all the Courtesies,
and In the morning added to our de-
pletcd provisions pan Of beans and pot
OF coffee tit for king. The unostcnta'
tious heartiness of the miners, without
exception, too, adds to the pleasant
memories OF n trip of this kind. There
Is no being on earth, so far as ! know,
who can make visitor feel more vel
come with no fuss and feathers than the
average miner. 1t must be that these
vast solitudes and the general grandeur
of nature tend to broaden q man and
make him truly monarch in his own
right.
Mention Is made above of the two
mines In active Developments 1heseRre
the Silver King and the Poorman. Both
were visited with view to the further
information of the REVIEWS readers. OF
the former, although examined IL care
fully, can give you no details, owing to
one OF those unfortunate emisunderstand-
n 40 hiph IA np n ~ lar n m
to blame. II is private property, and as
such should be safe from Unauthorized
newspaper comment. But public opln-
ion Is public property, and public opin-
| ion in Nelson regards the silver King AZ
q wonder-perhaps destined to be a
world beater. AT the Poorman, on
tue contrary, everything is open and
free to public inspection, and u
pleasanter visit Is not TO be enjoyed at
any mine In the country. But IL Is too
important to be treated OF in n single
paragraph, and u full account is reserved
Tor "A future letter.
1t would seem that the outside world
could not much longer ignore kootenafs $
existence as a country of great mineral
resources. The government ofthe prov
ince is taking some steps toward its
recognition, partly by appropriation OF
moneys for public buildings, and lat
terly by sending here u commissioner to
gather complete samples for outside dis
play. Tho commissioner is MIR. ID.
WOolsey. and he is doing his work in
most painstaking manner. He person.
ally visits each claim and selects dupll-
cate samples. One set of specimens Will
be arranged in railway car and sent to
the Toronto exhibition the coming
autumn. Later the car will be taken to
the leading cities of the United states,
and finally to the worlds fair at Chicago.
The duplicate specimens go to London,
England, where they will be put OH
permanent exhibition under the aus
pices of the Imperial institute.
attracting capital is apparent Mr..
Woolsey Is also to make full report TO
his government, which will be published.
Is there not an example herein for the
Spoknnt mining exchange?
A well-known British Columbia news
paper correspondent Mr.. IL. X. A.
Pocock, has also done West Kootenai in
a very effective and unique manner. lie
is engaged, asia representative of Victoria
issued, which is intended to be quite
exhaustive. Mr.. Pocock is a good anna
tour photographer, as we'll as clever
journalist. He took his camera with
him whenever he went, and shot at
everything worthy of note. He showed
me IA portion of his collection, and |
doubt II there is more interesting one
in existence. lie ate with the prospect
ors, slept in their camps, and made him-
self very popular with them, thereby.
much enhancing his opportunity of
gathering information. Mr.. Pocock
shortly leaves for Spokane, If he has not
already left, as he very much desires TO
see Tor himself the magic city OF VIII -
SO much is heard in kootenai.