The Irish standard., 1896-08-29

streets in enormous wagons, each Of
which is drawn by four horses There is
an almost continuous procession or these
wagons going through fromldayllghtu n-
It'll dark, and the precious dirt under loot
is ground to powder. 1t contains silver
and gold, it is said, but silver dust and
gold dust are no better Tor breathing to-
day than gold was for eating in the days
when everything that King Midas
touched turned straightway into the vel.
low metal.
Speaking of gold dust. placer mining
is still done near Leadville. This has
been one OF the greatest placer mining
camps Of the world. California Gulch
which lies just below Leadville. has pro-
duced the enormous amount of S35, 900 ,oO0
worth of gold. This was the great gold
mining camp of 1850 and 1850, when the
words "P:ke's Peak or bust" should have
been California Gulch or bust The
work was then done in old pans or rock
ing cradles and the stories OF the gold
nuggets and the gold dust found were
carried all over. the world. Two million
and half dollars worth OF gold We're
taken out OF this gulch III 1860. The
men who panned 1t noted that there was
a. heavy black sand mixed with the gold,
but they did not realize that this was
carbonate of lead until years afterwards.
when It was discovered that the lead was
rich with silver and the mining began
which made Leadville one of the greatest
silver camps Of the world. One OF the
first big silver mines opened was discoF-
cred by the Gallagher brothers, two poor
woo fnQnf6 nv
Fryer, from whom Fryer Hill, one OF the
most famous mining districts here, was
named. Fryer lived in a squatty little
cabin on the side of this Hill, and he
was looked upon by his neighbors as ut
terly worthless and good for nothing.
One day he went into the pines back
of his cabin and dug hole. He struck
ore almost at the grass roots, and opened
I'D a. mine which yielded more than d mil
lion dollars. r.
Another famous mine was known as
the Dead Mans Claim and the man
who acted as grave digger on a GER
tain occasion became it's owner. We'll
known miner died, and his friends, who
wanted TO give him. good send off into
the other world, hired man to dig a
grave for $40 1t was in the midst OF
winter. There was ten feet of snow Oh
the ground, and the grave had to go six
feet below, that. In order to keep the
deceased in proper condition until the
grave was dug, he was laid away in the
snow for the time being. Nothing was
heard Of the grave digger for three days.
and then the boys. wishing to carry out
the remainder of the funeral, went out to
see him. They found him digging away
with all his might, but they found also
that he had put up the stakes and gone
through the ceremonies which gave him
miners claim to ali the land about the
grave. In going down into the earth he
had struck pay ore, and the rock which
he got out was worth about $50 a ton.
The mourners at once staked out claims
his, and the deceased was for
gotten. He remained in the snow bank
until the spring sun thawed him out,
when ne was awarded an ordinary burial
in another part Of the camp.
An idea seems to prevail that the silver
mines are doing nothing. This is not
true. There are many silver mines which
run so rich that they are still worked
with profit, and if silver should again
touch par with gold our silver product
would be enormous. Mining has never
been done so carefully as today, and
science has never done SO much to make
the production Of gold and silver cheap.
Take the Creole camp, which has made
SO many men rich. Creede was poor
when he discovered the Holy
Moses which in 1892, Melted more than
81 500. 900. =. Creole sold it for $4,000.
He made other strikes and he has now an
income of a thousand dollars day. Still
he tramped the mountains for 20 years
before he made his big strike, and he was
so before he became a millionaire. He
made the bulk of his fortune out OF
and other mines, and the great
receipts of the "Holy Moses went to
Dave Moffat and his partners. A man
named Renniger was riding through the
about Creede on one of these
little donkeys known as burrows. He
had another burro to- carry his pick aud
tools -.
He was a grub stalker, that is, some
man had furnished him with tools and
groceries for certain time with the un-
that the capitalist should
have half OF what he discovered. One
night when Renniger camped, his burros
strayed away, and he spent days in find
ing them. When he did find them he
looked at the rocks upon which they were
standing and saw that they contained
silver. He located on that spot what is
known as the "Last Chance" mine, which
paid $3.50. 900 in dividends from its sur
face production, and which has produced
fortunes. Near this mine Creole, now a
partner of Moffat. discovered the "Ame-
tilyst" mine, which in 1892, produced ST.
l00, 900 worth Of silver, and which is now
capitalized at $5,OO0,O00. The mine now
belongs to Senator Wolcott and others.
1t is very rich.
Not far from Leadville is the great
camp known as Aspen. 1t is in
Pitkin county, out of which has been dug
more than SAC, 900, 900 worth Of silver ore.
Aspen produced in 1891, $40 100000 worth
of silver. 1t is situated on an enormous
silver lode, which is said to be from
eight to twelve miles long, and which, be-
fore silver dropped, was producing the
white metal at the rate of $1,000,000 a
month. At Aspen is the famous Mollie
Gibson silver mine, the average ore Of
which is worth $500 a ton, and of which
silver carloads Of ore have Melted more
than SGO, 000 There is one mine at AS
pen which has taken out more than ST.
OOO. 600 from an AGRA of half an acre of
ground. the works Of the mine going
down nearly 1,700 feet below the surface.
STRUGGLES OF TAY PAY.