Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-09-15

WM 4 NuA Nv hlHSsp Dut uOne Oh
W them look back on 80
varied and sensation
al a career as that OF Senator Jones. Mr.
shipped before the mast. Mr. Brice, the
multi-millionaire, was a school teacher.
Mr. German was a page in the Senate Mr..
Hansbrough Of North Dakota was a tramp
printer. Mr.. Pettigrew OF South Dakota
was taborer in the employ OF a deputy
surveyor when he first made Dakota his
home Mr.. Martin of Kansas was clerk I'm
a country store. Mr.. Walsh of Georgia was
a printer. But none of these men had such
stirring adventures in early life as Mr..
Jones, with the possible exception Of Mr..
Perkins, and no one Of them las made and
lest so many fortunes as the Nevada SEN
ator. Finally, Mr.. Jones has made a great
er name for himself as a close student and
an original thinker than perhaps all of
these men put together. In this he offers
from the other bonanza" Senators. Colo
RADIO has sent to the Senate some queer
fragrant memory.
1t was said that when the report reached
Washington few years ago that Mr.. Tabor
was to succeed Mr.. Bowen in the Senate,
Mr.. Teller said that If Tabor was elected he
would resign. Then Nevada sent Sharon
and afterward Fair, two of the heroes of the
famous Comstock mine. Fair was the sec
ond member Of the famous bonanza" firm,
of which John Mackay was the head. He
was a fgurehead in the Senate-inoffenslv
but useless. He was seldom seen on the
floor, and he contributed nothing to debate
and introduced no original measures. He
was one of the men who gave to the Senate
the name of being "Millionaires' Cuba
reputation which II is losing gradually as
the new states are admitted to the Union.
Early Days I'm California.
Mr.. Jones went to California in 1S49 by
the water route from Cleveland. Probably
he and his brother were the only Forty
miners who chose that particular route.
1t took nine months to make the journey.
They Travelled on a 300-son schooner, which
made frequent stops on the trip. So, per-
haps, Mr.. Jones should not be called a
Forty-niner. for II was 1850 when he reach
ed his destination. He did not go to mining
Immediately, but worked for time as a
laborer in the custom house at San Fran
CISCO. Then he and his brother began pros
pecting along the Feather, Yuba and STAN
isfaus rivers. AT that time placer mining,
which yielded sure returns for small effort,
was most popular all over the state, but 1t
began to peter OUT presently, and then
the Jones boys turned to quartz mining, in
which chance is a greater element. This
was in 1861.
During the time of his placer experiences
Jones had been a resident of Maryville,
Cal, and his associates at a boarding house
there were Stephen ]. Field, afterward as
sociate justice Of the Supreme Court, and
Geo. {. Gorham, who was for a long time
secretary of the United States Senate. In
the house next the one In which Senator
Jones lived was family named Murphy
one OF whose members was a rosy-cheeked
girl. Old Murphy used to correct this girl
with undue harshness until the matter he
came a subject of comment among the
ooarders next door, and one day Gorham
demonstrated with the father and the old
man moderated his style a little This Muir
ply girl afterward married William sharon
one OF the Comstock owners, and Ter
daughter became Lady Hesketh
during mis- stay In California the Senator
was sheriff, and he can tell of some thrill-
ing experiences. In fact. ne does tell of
them when he gets in a storytelling crowd
and ne tells them well and has tben, 10
tel In such variety that those who have
listened often say that they have nnIar
heard the same story from him twice Hosa
Is MS story of the finding of a match AZ or
opportune moment: ~
The Solitary Match.
we set out one day to go I'M , orao.
canon" says the Senator, land We foprd
1t most fatigufng. for there was no road
SIX miles of travel In the canon was emma,
to twenty-five miles on the level One of
my deputies was with me. At noon we
mad gone about half our journey and we
stopped for rest 1 was very fond of
smoking and 1 pulled out my pipe. intend
ing TO take smoke. / loaded up and then
ieaehed Tor match. There was not one
in my pocket. My deputy was not a
smoker and he did not carry matches I
was almost dying for a smoke. AS was
looking around despairingly / saw a match
I!lns on the ground right beside a little
stream that ran through the canon / was
almost frightened at the sight of II at
that moment, in such an out-of-the-way
place. l picked 1t up. saying to myself:
or course 1t won't light 1t has been lying
in the wet sand a long time and / can't
expect 1t to light But it did light and /
had my smoke. 1 never knew a piece of
luck 10 beat that. 1t is not the most i'm
portant incident In my life in which good
fortune has stood by me, but it is one
of the strangest."
The Senator saw many hairs-breadth ad-
ventures in his career in the mining coun-
try of California He fought with the
Indians and whipped them, and he mar
rowly escaped death in a great many
forms. But he was too clever a man to
remain sheriff He soon had an oppor-
tendent OF the Crown Point and Kentucky
mines. AT that time" said the Senator
"Mackay and Fair had bought for a small
sum several little mines on the Comstock
which no one thought Of much value
When they struck their world-famous bo-
rama there I had already bonanza I'm
the Crown Point and l was very rich
man." The Crown Point was the south
n.
the richest part Of that famous lode. John
w. Mackay took out $45, 600 900 from the
Comstock consolidation; James G. Fairs
profits footed up $35OOO,O00, and ]. c. Flood
and w. S. O'Brfen, the San Francisco part
ners in the firm, received $300O0,OO0 and
SIG, 600, 600, respectively. for their shares.
Sharon made $16O00,000 in Comstock and
w. d. Ralston and ID. o. Mills made about
&C. 600, 600 each John P. Jones came in
between the highest and the lowest of
this group of Comstock millionaires. His
Crown Point profits were about $lO,OoO,OOo.
Made and Lost Fortunes.
The Senator has always been of a specu-
lative turn of mind, and he took his big
profits in Crown PORT and invested them
In other properties. chiefly in California.
The result was that he lost his first for
tune very quickly. But he had retained his
control Of the Crown Point mine and he
soon took enough out of that to put him
On his feet again. He had made and lost
two fortunes when he was elected to the
Senate In 1873, and he was then reputed to
be worth 100000. Five years later-in
July 1S7S-he went west, made virtually a
pauper by speculation. He owned any
quantity Of mining property in the Sierra
Nevada, but 1t was thought to be exhausted.
No gold had ever been found In these mines
below the !, S00-foot level and the general
belief was that mono was to be found