The herald., 1896-01-19

richness of few of its mines; the al
most romantic flavor Of their discov-
cry; the ease with which they have
been developed; the fact that several
owners of the richest mines have spent
their lives hitherto in the hard and
rigorous vocation of prospsctor; the
extraordinary value of some of tho
ores, and the fact that the whole camp
Eve years ago was drear and barren
cattle range, and now teens with pop
ulation and excitement-With all these
elements, say,it is slight wonder that
the man who comes to Cripple Creek
should forget his caution, should lose
that cooler Judgment which once was
hie
AS yet, perhaps this curious infec-
tion which lays siege to mans brain
when he comes here has not been pro-
ductive Of very striking results. AS
yet there are not many tales of men
who have paid several hundred thou
sand dollars for worthless hole in the
ground which had been "salted." Per-
haps the tenderfoot is more wary than
in the days of the Leadville rush"
And then, too, it takes time for these
stories to come out. You know a man
does not like to own that he has been
taken in, particularly man who has
been successful and who has come to
regard himself as an exceptionally
shrewd and clever business man. 1t is
usually not till the days of the boom
are over that you hear much of such
matters, anyway. The sort of talk you
hear mostly is of the men who have
'struck it rich'-and not of the men
who have lost.
But it is clear TO careful observer
that many a casual visitor tC Cripple
Greek is slipping away into quiet lit
tie cavity in the ground, wherY h. will
never see it again, many strsY dollar.
AS you sit about the big hcaplgce of
the Palace hotei-a rambling iI'le two
story structure of brick, by TIE way,
and not such a bad place to stop as
you might think-yOu see each evening
a crowd of men gather outside of the
railing which cuts off the lobby, and
there they engage in conversation with
one another of the visitors, whom they
may or may not have met before. There
are whispered details of such and such
q prospect that lies just over the hill,
probably not thousand feet from the
Portland or the Anchoria-Le or the
Victor, or some other good mine. There
is, you may be sure, positiva evidence
that the dip OF the vein in one of these
great properties is directly toward this
bit of earth which is now offered for a
startlingly small sum, compared, of
course, with its possible value.
The next day, perhaps, you will see
the eastern visitor slip away from the
hotel in surrey, or on foot, perhaps,
SO as not to attract attention, and at
night he comes back tired, but with a
strange, suppressed excitement in his
eyee, and you know that he has become
possessor of bit of paper giving him
proprietorship in bit of land which
may one day make him a Cresus, or,
better still, a Barney Barnato And
then agar, it may not.
1t your eastern visitor happens to be
a wealthy man, who is just out here for
q vacation or in search of new sensa-
ton which will relieve him of the bore
dom of existence, I do not know that
any correspondent would be likely to
waste much time warning him of the
probable outcome of his investment.
He has put money into circulation, will
probably give work to some men who
need it, and thus do little practical
charity in way that does not debase
the recipient. But if he happens to be
q man who has come here with the