The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-04-25
RICHES FROM GRUBSTAKES
GREATFORTUNEs BUILT ON 4 SMALL
INVESTMENT OF MONEY.

Nhi.s shbhH -"
tent Of the law OF Rrubstakcs among miners
on the Pacific coast have probably never been
so thoroughly discussed among lawyers and
miners in California rs In tho last few months.
There. have been several knotty cases In the
State courts to.determine how far q Grubstase
goes. and what q grubstak= Is. where there Is
no contract or stipulation, verbal or otherwise.
between the mining prospector and his grub
stalker. One. of the cases is that OF George
Abrams OF Los Angeles against the Berigo
Mining Company OF San Bernardino county.
Mr.. Abrams claims that he boarded AMI fed q
Drospector. Henry VI. BigGs. who found and To-
Gated the Bcrigo mine. and that the board was
considered a Erubs:ake. The mining com
pany and Biggs claim that the board was paid
for BY stable work by the prospector several
months after II was provided. Mr.. Abrams
claim, n one-third interest in the Berigo mine.
and he has won his case in the Superior Court
One-third of the BeriHo mine is sa.d to he
worth at least $3.50. 900. Naturally the min
ing company is defending the suit vigorously.
and has employed some very able lawyers Who
ridicule the plaintiffs claims under the grub
stake law.
In all the mining regions OF the West there
are mer constantly investing In Erubstakes.for
poor aud trust prospectors. Hundreds OF
bankers. professional men. and merchants all
over the West have for years laid aside at
periods a certain sum OF money from their
earnings to provide for the grubstakes Of men
who have given assurances that pay ore may
be found in a certain canon or mountain range.
1t is not uncommon to see In the local news
papers Of California and tine Territories a paid
item to the effect that $50 and So gruhstakes
reliable and competent mining prospectors."
A Erubstake no wadays commonly means
food. 2 few mining tools. and a lot OF dynamite
sticks or candles for blasting in rocks where
precious metal is suspected. The average min
Ing prospector Is hard-up, visionary. good
natured. phtlosophic soul. who has endured
much and pursued long In his following OF the
beckonings Of fortune over burning desert
wastes, among lonely AID barren mountains.
among desolate crags and PEAKS, and through
desolate calons and gulchss. lie as heen dead
sure scores Of times that he has found rock that
was going to be his fortune stroke, and has
been disappointed each time. He Is Just as
certain as ever that he is at last looking in the
right field for the right sort Of rock. A little
moro grubstaking. and he viii: soon find a
ledge of gold ore that will make him and his
friend rich beyond the dreams Of ayarice. His
food consists of a bushel or so OF beans.a chunk
of salt pork. ierked beef. crackers. sugar. and
coffee. He can shoot game almost any where in
the mining region. and he therefore wants gun
powder and shot. The expense Of q grubstake
is from $40 to s13 a month. IL the prospector
makes his g~rnbstaking partner believe that the
chances Of finding q golden ledge are uncom-
monty bright. and that the dangers Of finding
and locating the mining are considerable.
there may he an extra grubstake as a pack dom
key or two. aud the promise of several hun
dred or thousand dollars down as a bonus when
the mine is found and assayed. Sometimes Two
prospectors may work over q range Of noun
tains together a season, both being grubstaked
by a man at home. In case a mine is located.
the grubstaker and the prospectors have each
agreement in a kand ed is write :. The com
mon law Of the Western mining regions is SO
strong. and there isa certain sense of honor
among protest. nal prosecutors and mining
men regarding he contract for Erubstakes.
that It is a dlscourteous suspicion TO suggest
that the terms be put on paper. The Late Gen:
Fuller OF Los Angeles. who was in mining and
gruhstaking for forty years. said that he never
knew OF more than half a dozen written grub
stake agreement s.
The PRINCIPAL men who grubstake prospec-
tors have themselves been mining pro.pectors
aud know at a glance live" rock from dead"
and have ideas Of their own as 70 where pros
S %eaits. "f Rie esSe ZONE GIsa eR ~Ro MADE oa h3 d foit hiae 81
two millions OF dollars in the Tom ostone mines
IN southern Arizona. and has been the soul of
the great beet sugar industry al Chino. CAL.
recently told the writer that he had spent
from $4,000 to $4,000 a year for a long time
and in Lower California. He considered II
the best Kind OF investment. He got a third
leo. from a cruSsta&e in 1854 aad sold it for
$685. co. He is in Mexico at this writing
looking over O copper mine that q DrOspector,
waom he had been grubstskinS during several
years. finally located; II Is believed that Mr..
Grid will get something like $4,000 oGt OF
that property. That Will pay handsomely
for many years OF mos expensive grubstaE-
ing. The la;e United States Senator George
Hearst of California made the search for new
mines more OF a wholesale busins S. thaa any
one else. H made all his fortune Of $50. oon.-
600 in gold and silver mines. In the last ten
years OF his life he kept as many as hfty men
prospecting in the sierras and Rockies all the
way from Vancouver. b. c.. to Sonnra. Mex
leo. He han an accountant in San Francisco.
who was en- ployed to keep a record Of the
Gruhstake moneys and outfits sent to the pros
Quired statements to be made TO him by each
prospector at stated periods concerning the
work that was being done. and what might be
found in his particular field. The Senator
employed men 70 go and look into the pros.
the san Francisco office that favorable Lodges
had been di, covered. When a particularly
self to see what the prospe tor had uncovered.
Some OF his more trust worthy and industr!-
Gus prospecfors worked on salary ana grub
staked. In this way the Senator came TO have
interests in a half dozen first class gold mines
in Oregon and Arizona. and a share in twenty
other less successful mines.
II is easy to see how a mining prospectot may
he az his business or home in the city. the pros
pector may be ENJOYING the summer camping
along some mountain stream where there are
good fishing and plenty OF good game TO hunt.
But such prospectors do not deceive a saGac!ous
crubstaker long. for the gruhstaker has been a
from the specimens OF rock that the PROPRIETOR
brings To him at the close OF the GrubstakinR
period how much ground he has searched over.
ana has some idea how thoroughly the pros.
pesior has employed his time. 49,,
This very season there has been in the Ari'
IONA courts h suit Involving some S"5O. 900 in
the Gleason mine. because OF a misunderstood
ing. il seems. between the prospector. Harry
Edwards. and Edmund +. Randolph. OF the
Southern Pacihc Railroad COMPANY. The case
shows how near a man can ZONE to share In a
fortune and then lose it. Edwards last sum
mcr told Randolph that he knew where there
was good prospects near Tacna station. across
the blistering desert that surrounds Yuma, in
Arizona Randolph grubstaked Edwards fol
three months at Sl+ a month. When. Ed
wards came back EN- pity handed. Randolph de
clined to pay another dollar on mere opinions.
Then a loco motive engineer. II. :. Gleason,
put faith in Edwardss stories. and sent him
out with another grubstake. In December
Edwards found the pay rock. and II has proved
the Very richest fn1 in Arizona since the Har
qua Haia mines were discovered in 1890. The
, mine lie known as the Gleason. and one car
hardly pick up an Arizona or Southern Cali
fornia newspaper today without reading
something about il. EX-United States Senator
stephen W. Dorsey has offered 100000 tol
the property. II. Il. Gleason Is no longer a 10
, conceive engineer. He and Edwards say they