The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-12-19

The st. Louis Globe-Democrat of last
sunday contains most interesting
communication on the wonderful re-
sources of Camp Floyd mining district
and a most deserved tribute to the
perseverance, ability and intelligence
of the Nebraskans through whose untir-
ing efforts Utah can now boast of one
of the- greatest mining camps in the
world. The article referred to reads
as follows:
Along back in 1890. scarcely five
years ago. half a dozen Nebraska men
cdyne out to Utah and concluded to
go mining. There were among them a
druggist from Hooper. a brewer from
Fremont. a horseman and couple of
farmers. They commenced to spend
their money on what the oldest mining
men in these parts had long regarded
as an impossible proposition. They
possessed pluck, intelligence and the
moral courage to face local ridicule
and prejudice.
These -tenderfoot' grangers from the
pr6'rie have just made a cleanup of
tSSr five years operations. After di-
viding $35o,000 net profits from the OPP
GRAFTON of their mine, they have sold
the property fer just 81, 500, 900. More
over. they have shattered the prestige
of the oracle and taken all the conceit
out OF Utah's local investors, who did
not recognize a good. thing when they
saw it. Also, and what is of more i'm
portance. they have demonstrated that
here in Mormondom, within nifty miles
of Zion, lies a. gold field as wonderful
as the World-famed WitwaterSrand, a
field that contains enough gold to pay
the national debt many times over.
Just as the South African mines have
Iurned the heads OF French and Eng
lish Specula tors, so are the Camp
Floyd bonanzas giving birth TO local
craze that bids fair to spread to other
centers of speculation.
The Nebraska gentlemen who are re-
sponsible for all this are ellis Peyton,
a druggist, from Hooper; John Heinz
rich from the same town; John Dern,
H. ,SN. Brown and Z. II. Airs. from
Fremont They came out to Utah in
1890. and after looking around Tor an
opening found one in the Camp Floyd
district. and commenced TO spend thelr
Nebraska money. They found album
dant opportunity for the spending at
ter they had purchased the Mercur
claim. then an undeVeloped prospect,
showing a large body OF loW-grade re.
fractory ore, for the treatment Oh
which no profitable process was known.
An amalgamation mill was first tried
and proved to be an unqualified fail
IRE. as also other experiments in the
search for a process adapted to the
peculiar character of the ore When
one process failed, the Nebraskans,
with undiminished nerve, began cast
ing about for another. All these cost
of
had finally been dropped into the hole,
with nc prospect of a dollar in return.
one of the gentlemen confessed to me
the Aother day that he and his assocl-
ates at that time felt very blue and al
most discouraged, but still they kept
at ii. ,...sos
exner-ts and wise men of the local min
ing fraternity were filled with con-
d..ssfending pity for the victims of mis-
a8Sted effort They deplored the
ayrefsnness that led these tenderfeet
miners to throw away their good
money on what the experienced Utonl-
ans had years before dismissed as
worthless proposition. Moreover, there
was a certain feeling of resentment ex-
cited bv the presumption OF a crowd
of n, br,aska hog-raisers IN refusing
to accept the verdict of men whose
knowledge had been Cleaned from une
rocks and hills. There were even some
iaars and sneers, but Nebraska Kept
pegging away 10000
the wonderful cyanide process. which
was producing such great fortunes IN
the African gold fields, reached the ears
of these men, and Mr. Peyton was sent
eVvav TO investigate AS a result,
small tyrenty-tOn plant was erected al
the mine. Then there was jubilation in
iJehraska's camp for it was found to
he q mighty success. 1t has now grown
into a 20Olton plant. and has yielded
"a +I,a owners $3.50, 900 worth OF goRd
aho1-e the cost of the mine and its
oneration and an experiments. This
mini has also accomplished the other
important things set lorth IN ohe pe-
ginning of this article
PLIGHT here some description Of this
American Transvaal will interest the
,anIIic The Camp Floyd district (also
iy,,ssTn as the Mercur districD lies
about fifty miles southwest OF Salt
lake CITY. lust over the Oqulrrn noun
tain range and a few mles soulh oi
the Great Salt Lake. NOW, let pne
reader take "a blanket ana slrulCh II
o,1f over an uneven surface, with
general incline toward the southeast or
twenty degrees from the horizontal;
imagine the blanket to be, say tWeIVe
miles long by eight miles Wide, wluh
an average thickness OF 10 rect dila
there you have a pretty fair idea OF
the great Camp Floyd vein Inc
mathematician can now take pencH
and. using as a basis an average valua-
tion of So per ton, and IL cubic feet OF
ore to the ton, he viii be able to
demonstrate that the Camp Floyd dis
trict contains just about $26.000,O O0. 900
worth of gold. Experts estimate the
total possible output of one set of
claims only at $4,000. 000-
These figures knock all the breath
o,Jt.of ones body and viii very likely
bs.1siewed with incredulaty by those