The record-union., 1896-04-29

conducted r. L. Dunn was sent by the
State Mineralogist to make certain in
vestigations of lands in Siskiyou
County, relating to their mineral or
Eon-minera1 character. He either be-
lieved he had discovered or pretended
to discover a large ''auriferous con-
glomerate Deposit AS an officer draw
ing salary from the State, it was his
duty to have made public this dis
covery, with accompanying maps; but,
as we are credibly informed, he used
the information he obtained as an
assistant to the State Mineralogist in
the field to make locations upon the
channel Of the ''auriferous conglomerate
deposit through dummies whose
names were recently published to body
up about 10000 acres of land supposed
theory of Dunn in this case was that he
had discovered an old river channel,
commencing in the northerly part of
township AZ north, range west, rum
ming thence entirely through township
46 north, range 6 west, thence in
southwesterly course under a dividing
ridge between Montague and Yreka and
appearing again about a mile southeast
of Yreka. This supposed ancient river
channel which r. L. Dunn claimed to
have discovered was located in part by
him, as heretofore narrated. After
location he made report to the State
Mineralogist, and we have before us
map entitled, "a Map of AuriferouS
Conglomerate Deposit, Siskiyou County,
Issued by California State Mining
Bureau, J. J. Crawford, State Mineralo-
gist. Accompanying report of r. l..
Dunn, E. M. Assistant in Field" Thus,
after having located what was sup
posed to be the most valuable portions
of this newly discovered ancient river
bed, the report eventually appears, with
an accompanying map. 1t is put out
over the authority Of the State Miner
alogist, and thereby acquires a high
official Endorsement
Upon the appearance of this report,
some mining men in San Francisco,
whose names can be given, if necessity
shall require, secured at the hands Of
that eminent geologist, James E. Mills,
an examination. Mr. Mills is very emf
nent in his profession. He was for
twenty years the assistant Of Louis
AgassiZ. The profundity of his scien-
tific attainment will not be questioned
by anyone. Taking up the indications
but brief examination to convince
Mr.. Mills that what Mr.. Dunn supposed
to be an old river channel was an an
cient sea beach containing nothing.
We have space for but a bare outline
of these matters, but they possess the
highest public significance and no bet
ter planned scheme has ever been pre-
sented for inducing and exciting imagi-
native people to invest time, money and
labor in a vain attempt to find "aurif-
erous conglomerate deposits" rich in
gold in an ancient sea beach. This is
the manner in which the honest miner
is defrauded, and clearly discloses the
vice of permitting schemers to occupy
official positions which they are certain
to abuse. In this instance, about TO-,
900 acres of land supposed to cover an
ancient river bed rich in gold fell into
the hands Of a citizen Of Michigan by
a species of title which schemers of
this class expect the people of the State
Of California to respect and defend.
Whether the Michigan man was vic
tim of the wiles of r. L. Dunn, or
whether he was cognizant Of what was
being done and the fraudulent nature
of the transaction, is not made clear.
Until otherwise established, it is to be
presumed that the Michigan man de-
pended upon the official character of
the report relating to this matter and
invested his money in good faith. The
presumption to that effect will lie until
it is otherwise established. Other ex-
perts in the persons of skillful mining
engineers and biologists have re-exam-
ined the same ground and there is a
concensus of opinion among them that
no ancient river bed exists.
The official character Of this transac-
ton will not escape attention, and the
California State Mining Bureau is
called upon to explain. Certain it is
that this whole story which constituted
the basis of mining operations was
projected by a deputy acting under the
authority of the California State Min
ing Bureau. 1t is equally certain that
he used the information he obtained
while in the employment of the people
of California for his own private pur-
poses and the propriety of this the State
Mlneralogist can possibly fully ex-
plain.
If the news is verify that John Hays
Hammond has been condemned to
death, the question for Americans to
consider, in the exercise of their sympa-
thies, is this: What would we do under
like circumstances? Suppose an adven-
turing alien came into our country and