Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1897-09-29

prise In all history Is now under de
velopment In Colorado. For boldness
1t Is without a parallel. and for the
Implicit confidence II number of eapi
talists place in the Judgment of a sin.
gle man 1t towers above anything else
on record. The company is the Gey
ser Mining and Milling Company, Will
It's principal offices in Boston, and the
scene of its operations is near Silver
Cliff, Colorado.
James w. Cartwright and ]. II. Nor
ton Of Boston, are heads of syndt
cate that claims TO have invested 50
OOO,Oo0 i'll nine years, without the re
turn of penny, and they expect te
spend as much more and perhaps
twice that amount before they will
quit work. They have been advised
by mining men of experience that they
are taking tremendous chances, thai
everything is against them, that mil
lions will be necessary TO carry on
| the gigantic plans of the company. ant
that there are ninety-nine chances il
100 that they will lose in the end. bu
their superintendent, on whose knowl
edge the company is paying out sc
much money, is confident, and while
he is confident the money flows in q
stream from Boston to Silver Cliff. and
the citizens of the little Colorado com
munity rejoice as draft after draft is
paid.
In order to appreciate the magnitude
OF the proposition It is necessary TO go
back 70 1850 In that year. two hun
lers, while resting, picked mp some
beautiful specimens OF silver almost
| pure-about thirty miles south of Can
on, City, Colorado They staked the
ground. and from the grass roots took
| out a fortune every foot. It was won
derful. II was perfect cliff of silver
and the mine was named silver CHm.
Two hundred thousand dollars
worth of the white metal was taken
out of the ground, a railroad was built
/ from Canon City to accommodate the
business Of the mine. Il town grew up.
and telegraph wires were strung.
/ Then, In the twinkllng' Of an eye. al
most, the ore gave out The one mine
seemed TO be pocket, almost round
surrounded by volcanic mud BY this
| time there We're thousands Of men in
the neighborhood. prospect holes had
been driven everywhere, and at a dis
tance some mines were found. but the
ore was not so rich. nor was IL of the
1 oiiil' Mil hlleS OF lEeDclleS ana
bitches We're dug The hills We're eX-
/ plored with drifts aud tunnels, in the
vain search for the lost lead" More
money than was taken out of the mine
was expended in the effort TO locate
the source from which fhe silver came
/ but II could not he found.
/ In 1887 Caleb H. johnson. a mining
man of California repute. who had
passed upon a number of properties
for Boston capitalists. paid a visit tc
Silver Cliff. He heard the story OF
/ the lost lead and made an examination,
/ covering several weeks Of the mine
/ workings He did Lot use a pick or
i shovel; did not use dynamite or giant
i powder, nor go to the expense of n sin
/ gle penny, but he did form a most re-
markable theory in reference to the
origin of the silver mine. He cOnclud-
cd from the geological conditions that
the Silver cliff pocket came from a
distance; that It was hurled from the
earth through the redhot throat of n
volcano in active operation ages ago;
| that II passed into fhe air described n
| long are to the south. settled in the
warm. ooZy, volcanic mud, and was
covered and so remained for centuries.
until discovered by the hunters. With
tape line and transit he measured the
pocket. caught its inclination. and as
best he could, calculated the are the
ore body had taken to reach the spot
In which it was found
Then he spent considerable time in
the field and finally placed his foot up
on the mountain seven miles away.
from which, lie figured. the mass of
silver had been hurled by the volcano.
/ But there was no crater To be seen
4 lie examined every inch of the ground
4 which was badly broken, in chaotic
4 granite, a mighty conglomeration OF
4 almost every known rock. Then hc
arrived at the conclusion that the era T.
er had buried itself, having in fhe
/ course of time thrown out mountains
Of lava choked itself and then sub
sided
Completing his figures. he went to
Boston and laid before his friends the
/ proposition. The story was fascinat
4 ing, the reward was rich. Johnson
/ was earnest, determined. honest. and
/ the longer he talked the more favor
i ably impressed they became. In speak
ing to Mr.. Cartwright he said:
I'VE may have TO 90 mile into The
! ground before we reach the mouth OF
4 the volcano, and when we do we will
4 find that its walls are coated with sill
/ yer. We can make ii all back after we
4 strike the ore. but 1t is Il chance: Il
may take millions; we may fail and
we may win. The chances are that
we shall win
So the company, a close corporation.
/ was organized, and Johnson was sent
I back to Colorado with S2OOO0O to his
4 credit in bank to prospect for the
volcano. Going to the mountain
where he supposed the volcano had
! been buried, he cut a tunnel fifty
4 feet wide and eight feet high. The
I rock was badly broken and splinterpd
! crushed and crumbled, hut there were
seams and he measured the dip of
every one of them When 200 feet
into the hill he picked up small no
dule of silver, weighing perhaps an
ounce. He compared 1t with speci-
mems from the original Silver cliff
mine. One would have sworn that It
had been taken from that property.
The people of Silver cliff marveled I'M
til their heads ached at .Iohnson's
action and watched him suspleiously
When he found the nodule Of silver
he suspended all operations, dismissed
his force and went TO Boston. Laying
his silver nodule on table before
Messrs. Cartwright & Norton, he said: