Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1895-02-21
DISCOVERED Dy A WOMAN.
4 Cole Mine That 10 One OF the Richest
In the Black isills.


~ day during the latter part Of
lGtk June William Franklin and his
daughter, Mrs. Frank Stone, happened
TO stroll up a gulch In Pennington coun.
ty, and stopping to rest, Mrs Stone
Idly broke ipAyko small piece Of rock,
which y ek, upon examination,
showet BAG scles Of gold. A lit
tie diggi' chamberlain Is. d.
cosreapond b the St Paul Pioneer
Press, expdStd more Of the rock, which,
upon being panned, proved very rich.
Everybody In the vicinity, having
nothing to do, visited the spot, and for
pastime were allowed to dig out some
Of the rock and pan out the gold. As
every man in that vicinity was in bad
condition financially and without other
means Of raising the money for the
proper celebration Of the approaching
Fourth Of July, quite an opening was
made and the proceeds wero devoted TO
that purpose.
From this little incident dates the
discovery Of gold in the Holy Terror
ininc, which from day to day causes
greater excitement in mining circles.
With 1--WE stamps the owner recently
pounded out $500 In gold In ten
hours. Much Of the ore runs $500 to
the ton. Persistent prospecting re-
vealcd no other place where the vein
came to the surface save this one spot,
which has been walked over every day
for years Mr.. Franklin took In 7. c.
Blair as partner a shaft was begun,
the ore taken out being treated in the
Keystone mill and returned value much
above the expense Of sinking the shaft.
When the shaft reached the depth Of
forty feet, developing wcll-aeAned
vein, which steadily Improved with
width and value as depth was
gained, the owners madc IN arrange
ment with J. j. Fayeland Albert Ans
bury by which they agreed to erect a
stamp mill on the property in consid
Grafton Of a half interest IN the mine.
A fve-stamp mill withun engine capac-
ity Of ten stamps or moro was quickly
built at q cost Of about 5000 and put
In operation three weeks ago. While
the mill was being built men were en-
ploycd TO run drifts north and south
from the shaft at depth OF forty feet,
while sinking was puahed il the shaft.
Most Of the orc milled has been taken
from these drifts. The vein consists Of
marvclously rich ore, averaging sixteen
inches on one wall. williabout two feet
oflow grade ore llling the remainder
Of the vein. The richness Of this ore
streak must be seen to be believed.
Nuggets Of solid gold from one to two
pennywcights to five ounces in weight
aro found snugly tucked away waiting
to be brought to light, while large
pieces Of quartz'arc 50 bound with gold
that the parts hang together when
broken witt. q hammer.
The first cleanup was made In the
new mill after run Of 20 hours. Tie
result was aretort welgllingnlittle over
100 ounces, from 20 tons Of ore as taken
from the mine The second run Of "a
hours gavcar retort weighing l7oounces,
and the third mn Of 20 hours gave 203
ounces. These three rctorts arc worth
$4,000, and were oil produced by lvo-
stamp mill aud taken to the Ilarney
Peak bank at Hill City for shipment in
side Of one week from the start The
shaft hns now reached u depth Of sixty
feet and shows largerand richer body
of orc than ever Parties who have
recently visited the mine report that 1t
Is probably the richest ever discovered
In the Black Hills