The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-11-22
THE OUTLOOK FOR MINING.
ULTIMATE EFFECT or KLoNDIKE
FEVER IN WASHINGTON.
ton Away Fron the Cascades, II
Arouses Interest In Mining and
VIII Redound to Their Advantage.

4
many people who are interested In mining
property IN this state Is the effect which
the klondike excitement has had on the
condition OF affairs with them. 1t Is q self
| evident fact that the glitter OF Kiondiks
| gold has drawn attention away from the
mines nearer home. and that it is now next
/ 10 impossible 10 secure investments In u2jn-
/ though there have been few cheering ex-
ceptsons TO the rule. A careful review OF
| the situation, however, viii show that the
4 outlook is not as gloomy as it appears on
the surface. and that good may come oat
/ of the apparent evil
| During the early months OF this year al
| eyes were turned to the Cascade mountains
! and the Coivilie reservation. and ali men
| were looking forward 10 an era Of invest
ment In Washington mines and OF conss-
qaent development which should soon
I place the mineral industry among the lead
/ ing ones of the state, as shown by produc-
/ ton But wild mania for the incorpora-
ton OF militoa-doiiar companies to work
| prospects broke out, and enough certif1-
/ Gates Of mining stock were issued TO paper
| the walls OF every house in Seattle. The
| distinction between prospect and mine
/ was lost 10 sight. though IL Is as wide as
! that between 4 quarter section of land. COW
| cred with q dense growth of timber and
| brush, and a well-tiiled farm. Men sink
1 out Of mine. That is the difference
| summed up. Men sink money in a pros
| peet In the hope OF making il a mine. Even
! under such favorable conditions as exist
| IN the Cascade mountains. where timber
/ and water power are abundant and mines
can be developed by tunneling. it requires
| capital 10 transform prospect into a mine,
and that capital must be applied with skill
and caution. Mining. too, Is a business in
which the unforeseen Is q larger element
than IN any other business, the result being
that, no matter how carefully a man may
estimate the amount of capital required 10
develop mine and equip 1t with machin-
cry. he will more closely approximate the
actual cost il he doubles his figures.
BY the great army OF incorporators these
facts were either unknown or overlooked,
and they peddled out treasury stock with
which TO secure enough money TO drive a
l0O-foot hole. trusting to their ability TO sell
more treasury stock for the next 100 feet.
But the local market soon became giutted
and 1t was not easy to sell stock in the
Eastern market. Finally the discovery OF
frauds In the management OF some British
Columbia companies aroused such general
prejudice that 1t became impossible to sell
any stocks except in properties of proved
merit and under the management OF men
of known integrity.
This was the condition OF affairs In the
middle of July, when the klondike excite
ment suddenly broke out all over the coun-
try, and all attention was Immediately
turned away TO the great Yukon basin.
The kiondike fever has struck in. and has
shut all other subjects out OF mems minds.
II Is useless to talk to them az present OF
anything else. Consequently all weak min
ing companies have passed into a state Of
suspended animation. and only those have
continued operations which already had
Fok ~ yAz3r -x.vs- -,
them through: or were controlled by men
of abiding faith in their property and finan-
cial ability to carry out their plans, regard
less OF any passing craze. The men who
were not in this happy condition have had
decided attack Of "the blues"
Yet they may turn their misfortunes to
their own advantage II they will study the
conditions and act upon them. Mining In
vestments have for years been under the
ban among investors who regarded them
as purely speculative. The details of
mining proposition involved the use OF too
many unfamiliar technical terms to be
easily understood by the average Eastern
man. II he put his money into a house
and lot, he could ride to 1t on street car
and examine II and understand every de.
tail. II he put II In mining property, he
could not sec IL without an expensive jour-
ney and many hardships In a remote
mountainous country, and when he had
seen II he usually did not understand 1t
fully. Thus the Eastern investor failed to
enthuse when quartz mining proposition
was laid before him.
With the Klondike 1t was very different.
The miners brought out sacks of virgin
gold as practical evidence of what they had
found. They told simple but enhancing
story OF having washed so many cubic
yards of gravel and obtained so many
ounces of gold: and they had the gold TO
show. The result has been that the gold
fever has seized men OF every occupation
In every state In the Union and In every
country on the globe; and by the hundreds
OF thousands they are preparing TO go to
the frozen north
This state OF affairs may seem to offer
little hope 10 the washington mining man.
but 1t Is really playing his game. A uni
sersal interest in the general subject OF
mining has been aroused and this could
have been accomplished in no other
way. Almost alt the intending ar
gonauts on their way TO the Yu-
kon VIII pass through Seattle. the
headquarters Of the Cascade mountain
mining region. and opportunity will thus
be afforded TO point oat 20 them the exist
euce. within comparatively easy reach, of
mineral deposits promising good returns
without one 1.-THE OF the risk and hardship
10 be encountered on the Yukon. The ice
has been broken on the subject OF mining
with these new immigrants and they will
lend willing ear where they formerly
lent an unwilling one. Development on
several properties has reached such a point
that within a few months one of them
may he expected to declare a dividend and
this viii he an unanswerabIe argument TO
the kesitating Investor. Several others
Will become regular producers within a
year and one or more OF them may also
become dividend-payers within that period
Of tiTae. The wave OF excitement which
has rolled up 10 the placer mines of the
Yukon will subside and spread to the
quartz mines of the whole Pacific North
west as men come TO realize that the same
mineral belt which first peopied Califor.
MIA and now promises 10 people Alaska ex-
tends through the Intervening country
From placer to quartz mining Is bat q
step. as the experience OF California has
proved. and the men who have come 70
the coast 70 buy or locate Yukon piacers
may be induced &c turn aside TO Cascade
mountain quartz. They viii have the
temptation Of being able 10 1--we in a beau
t,ful city like Seattle and make an occa-
s:ouai trip of few days into the noun
tains 20 look a. the!: property
\ positive and immediate advantage
from the kIondike excitement Is the fact
that {: has brought tne prospec;orss ss4i-
mates OF the value of their claims down 10
something like rsaScua BILE figures. During
the heat OF the excitement last spring. the
price % claims was 50 exorhitantiy high
that il could not be touched with the pro-
verbal ten-foos pole. Several deals which
would have meant much 10 the Develop
aaent Of this section fsll through from this
cause Men are row quite reasonable
either because they are alive TO the corl6i-
tons, or because they have the ktondike
fever and wish 20 sell cut quickly In order