The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-10-05
BONANZA MEN or NEVADA.
Adventures Who Turned Loose $500, o00,.
600 OF the Earth's Hidden Wealth.

oOttAN<A mEN Ut N6WA9As
Adventures Who Turned Loose 100000.
GOO OF the Earth's Hidden Wealth.
A traveller commenting on the H.
737, 600 acres occupying a portion of the
northwestern section of the great basin
which is inclosed in the Nevada t.oun-
dairy lines compared it favorehay with
the internal regions, adding that with
certain local improvements, such as
good water and good society, the con-
ditions conducive to healthful habita-
ton would be equally enhanced in
either case. The expressed verdict os
those who see and know of Nevada
only from views within range OF the
eve taken from Central Pacific car win
dows while rushing along at thirty
or forty mile pace IS usually arid ter
ritory.a barren waste. ''decoInposed
granite" ''alkai desert" 'sagebrush."
etc. This is true IN part, and. there
fore, pardona bic, though erroneous IN
its greater sense II is obvious that
the arid acres void of water aud vege-
tation are not habitabie, just as it is
true of the marshes and swamps of the
more populous states, and what private
capital with government and state aid
has accomplished in draining and re-
claiming the latter viii, as our nation
al population increases, be consummat-
ed in the former by artesian wells
and irrigation. Opinions formulated
through Z wider acquaintance made by
traversing Nevadas interior by stage
and ''cayuse" are obviously more in ac-
cordance with fact than those derived
through observations obtainable by a
single route traversing the state from
east to west. and which was chosen
not by the artist. the farmer. the miner
or the settler. but by the civil engineer.
who sought less for the interest of the
state than he did to build the link con-
Meeting the Atlantic with the Pacific
at minimum cost per mile
1t is, however, due entirely to her
mineral resources and the undying de-
votion of the prospector to his vocation
that Nevada is known TO fame. De-
cades prior to the completion of her
railroad the state was famous owing to
her fabulous deposits of the precious
metals 1t was then such men as the
prospector that left comfortable homes
and gambled their time in tirelcss
search against the chances of strike"
Long years spent in ''roughiug il, and
isolation from cen:ers of civilization,
made their eXteriors ungraceful, per-
haps, and their language uncouth,
though unique, but their high appre-
citation of the unwritten laws of the
,$x,x -
and their ever readiness to assist and
care for an unfortunate brother stamp
them as men of sterling worth and
character Prcspectors are first and
last Americans. If their patriotism is
expressed with lack of refinement it is
nevertheless OF a superior quality for
occasions when national complications
are beyond aInicable adjustment by
the polished diplomats and wise men
of the east. If they use the product of
their lead mines to execute their whole
some unwritten laws and to express
their disapproval of horse stealing,
they simultaneously Herewith decrease
the danger to posterity of inherited
criminality.
1t was due to discoveries by just such
men that the Comstock lode bonanZas
are famous the world over just such
men became millionaires. as, prior TO
their fortunate ind" wore just such
apparel. drank from u tin can, and
when overtakeu by night on the mount
aims coiled themselves in a buffalo skin
or blanket and lay with their guns CON
venient to interrupt the barking of a
too familiar wolf, with not even a tent
to prevent their counting the stars
from horizon to horizon when the ex-
element of the days find" OF ledge
matter" rendered the darkness vexa-
tious and sleep impossible. Since the
prospectors' location of the Comstock
mines 5000. oG0, eco has been extracted
from them and poured into the nations
horn OF plenty. The Mackey- Bennett
ca bic, the postal telegraph. hundreds
of regal monuments In the large cities
of the country, the Mills building, New
York; such hotels as the Palace, the
Baldwin. the Grand opera house and
the new California theater in San Fran
cisco; palatial residences By the score,
whose immeasity grandeur and archi-
tectural grace are of universal admira-
ton; steamships. railroads, neGspa pers
and development of innumerable engi-
neering and commercial enterprises in
sister states, all of which owe their
possibility to this fraction Of Nevada's
hidden resources, attest to the zeal OF
her prospector citizens--Cassell's Mag
azine.