The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-07-09
LATEST from THE CAMPS

Without any more discussion of the
matter the party then struck out for
the bonanza gold mine, the prospector' S
TWO companions being buoyed up with
the thought that there, at least, their
expectations would be realized After
considerable tramping the prospector
rushed forward and eagerly pointed to
little hole in the ground. the face Of
which was barely under cover. SEEING
a PICK, he began digging industriously
and as if he knew what he was doing.
The two gentlemen detailed to examine
the mine stood by with expectancy
depicted on their faces. The prospector
dug and fumed and fumed and dug,
| until at length his countenance fell, a
wild look came over his face, and he
exclaimed: Someone has been here
while was away and has dug the gold
all out
Not another word was spoken, and
when the town hall clock struck the
hour of midnight, a sad and dispirited
party awoke the slumbering echoes of
the streets of Zion.
The proSpector was never seen again.
The mining industry has suffered
much because of theoretical mining
! and miners, and more than one section
/ OF the west that is richly mineraliZed
! has been neglected and overlooked be-
cause 1t did not conform to the theory
! OF mining men in its formation. These
men would look at nothing unless it
was a true fissure proposition. or it
must be a contact with porphy1y
quartzite or granite walls. and many
promising prospect has been sneered
at unless it cOnformed to these pet
theories. An instance of this kind is
Illustrated in the history of Silver
Reef, IN Washington county, which, a
| lew years ago was one of the most
famous silver mining camps in the
west. In the Dixie country, in DAYS
gone by, there were a number of noted
producers, of which Leeds was the
outhtting point. Just above Leeds is
Silver Reef, the formation of which is
sandstone, and from this point the
fdncnmen and artizanS of that region
were in the habit of getting material
Tor their grindstones One day a first
class assayer stopped at Leeds and
hung ont his single; but before he
corfd gain the confidence of the peo-
pie, he must be put to the test; and
IN accordance with this plan, he was
not long after approached by a mining
man. with a theory" who brought a
piece OF grindstone to have assayed.
Inc asayesr did his work well. but
aias, too well, for when he reported
that the sandstone carried 600 ounces
IN silver to the ton, he was hooted at.
JeeTed at. and finally compelled to
leave the town.
Several years after it was found
that this sandstone reef actually car
RED silver. and native silver at that
ana in large quantities. and since that
date the output of the Silver Reef
mines and mills has been truly marvel
Gus and another theory was, smashed
lot II was demonstrated that silver
could exist and live in sandstone AL
though scientists and college-bred ex-
aimed that such a thing
Mining brings to the surface q ne
culiar class of people. as well as anv
other branches of business: the most
prominent of these being the prospector .
or miner who has struck it rich. but
VINO, Tor some unexplainable reason
needs. or thinks he needs. some helm
IN the development of his new-found
oonanzas, which as general thing
are located long distance away. and
many miles from railroad facilities.
among instances OF this KIM tha writer
wei remembers. about three wears aoo .
When a prospector arrived in the CITY
VINO reelted in well-told tale how he
nao discovered placer diggings in a
!ar-oH sDot which were so rich tha+ (
ne could pan out from SIS to $40 in gold
on the point of his shovel. This man
wanted TO raise money to work this
property. Whether he succeeded or
ho-, the writer never learned.
soon after the arrival of the man
with the rich placer ground, another
prospector made his appearance This
gentleman had been down in the Henry
Mountains. and he, too. wanted ffnan-
eIaI assistance. According to his tale
OF woe he had discovered ten-foot
leGSe OF quartz that was nearly half
Tree gold; in confederation of which
statement he had brought with him
about 800 pounds of ore that was worth
over 81 to the pound. He had piece
OF the rock in his pocket 1t was
beautiful specimen. The 500 pounds of
ere was at his house. No one else
ever saw it-and never will. If this
man received assistance, we never
heard of it.
On Goose Creek. in Box Elder
county. two theoretical miners have
been working hard for two years on
a barren prospect. They have a. good
contact; but that is all, and they will
never get ore there if they work a
thousand years; and yet. during their
wo years of hard work they have never
had an assay made; for, they argued.
we have a contact. and we must
ma ore Down in the canyon below
they once found a rich piece of float.
which, they argued. must come from
The contact; and had 1t not been that
short time ago the locality was Wis
ted by mining man of experience
and with broad ideas. they might still
be lahoring under the delusion that
hey were going to strike it rich
The readers of The Herald will re-
member. If they were subscribers to
The Bingham Bulletin about three
years ago, how that paper published a
series of articles giving in full the do
of 10 A7aGias club CT that
historic camp. Some Of these stories
''-'- ~@rizv but no more 50
han the following from the columns
If the Chicago Record. which. as If
'elates to mining ventures in Utah. we
give in fun, viz:
Somehow we got to talking about ;
he st Louis storm. Boothby had
been a. locomotive engineer, and rsad ;
o run to St Louis over the Van {
ialia line. He remarked on the queer
conduct Of storms of that kind. and
aid a cyclone or tornado would do
lnNthing. from holding an auction to
establishing new religion. He said
he once had a friend who went west
o HE claim and get started to rlln
or Congress. This friend, one Cruzen,
topped in a valley of the Wasatch '
ange in Utah and went to prospecting.
4e did a cool deal of locating. and
ound what he took to be a good thing.
Indications were very promising. H Il,
tarted to do his work. which means