Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1897-01-29

very luIcISStluss 1lO UP So III lHC SldFoI,
he throws il INTO suice, he forks out
the bouders, he cleans up' to see how
much gold he has secured day after
day, week after week, month after
mon h. There isn't any romance in
~ kind OF hard work. Tne romance
is slways in results The preiminaries
are always prosaic. IL is sufficient for
me 10 say, therefore, that | worked
hard, and at the eud of the season
found that l had cleared 5000 That
isn't much money nowadays, and very
often since then | have cleared ten
times that amount in less than half the
time, but never have l felt so happy as
over that little pile of dust dug out OF
the gravel ci California Gulch in the
summer of 1860 The next summer /
worked my claim, and in TWO seasons
made SIS .000."
After this Tabor moved to Buckskin
Joe, booming mining camp then, a
wilderness nov, where be opened
store Of general merchandise, and was
made postmaster. There be stayed for
several years. Then, when the Printer
mine was discover. d at California
Gulch, he moved his store over to the
old camp and was made postmaster
lere. Then for nearly twenty years 8
TABOR logged along, no meeting with moa,
crate prosperity. Thousands of times,
as he says, he walked over Fryer Hill,
and never thought it worth while to
"stick a pick into it" when within
venty- seven feet of the surface lay the
est of a silver deposit worth millions
OF dollars. Every season he grub.
etaked" men TO prospect for him and
lemselves, and every season was "out'
just that much, for they never found
anything. Fer the benefit of those un.
familiar with mining terms it may be
said that to 'grub.stake" a prospector
is TO furnish him with food free of cost
for share in any mines that he may
discover. But On the 18th of April,
1878, Tabor "grub-staked" Rische and
Hook. They began to dig on Fryer Hill
and all the old miners laughed at them.
They dug away and at the depth OF
twenty seven feet struck silver ore
that ran 200 ounces to the ton. They
called their mine the Little Pittsburgh.
This was the foundation OF Tabor's
great fortune. In less than month
after the discovery he paid Hook $50,
600 for his share of the mine, and in
three months more he paid Riscbe
$262, 800 for his third, thus becoming
sole owner of the Little Pittsburgh,
one of the greatest mines ever discov
cred at Leadville, from which he re-
Il
Tabor was now bonanza king; he
was more than that, he was public
spirited, open. handed citizen. He built
a fne opera house for Lesdvile at
cost of $4,000 Then he built the Ts
bor block in Delver and had cbiselled
on the keystone of the arch over the
entrance the two words. "Dies
Faustes," for those were indeed happy
days. The block was wo.th nearly
half million dollars. Then he erect
ed in Denver the Grand Opera House.
second only in beauty to the Grand
Opera House of Paris, and costing
5000 900.
For ten years everything went well
with Tabor. He was rated as worth
S6,O0O,00 He became ambitious for
political honors. He poured out money
like water to acc )mplish his ends. He
was always betrayed by those who pre-
tended to be his friends. He was given
the lieutenant governorsbip, which he
didn't want Then he entered the race
for United States Senator and was
chosen for term, made vacant by the
death of the incumbent. He was Sen
ator for three or four months
After his return from Washington he
began to invest 10 real estate. He
loaded up with Chicago property and
got the worst of the bargain. He in
vested 10 mines in New Mexico, Ari-
iona, and old Mexico. They were fail
ures. He borrowed vast sums. He
mortgaged his Tabor block and his
grand opera house. The panic of '93
finished the work begun by iniudicious
Investments. He fought foreclosure,
but in vain. The sheriff took posses
sion of all the property he had. His
wife gave up her diamonds, and but
few days ago the last fragment of prop
erty was taken from him. Now he
."digs in the gravel" There isn't any
romance in any kind of hard work. The
preliminaries are always prosaic. The
romance is always in results.