Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1898-02-19
THE Old SILVER Trail.
~ MARY E,sncUfy.
lcopuishs 1896. by J. 3. upplneots Col
CHAPTER X.-CoSrrNuED.

SAAAAA = A<At 49, VIVA ANbEsDs
When court convened again at two
O'Clock there were still no tidings Of
the missing man, and Donald Bartels,
never more Jelly calm, began his UNI
equal contest in the spirit of Travis Mt
the battle Of the Alamo. OF words he
must build his only bulwark, talking
against time. He began his address to
the jury with careful description of the
locations Of the two mines, describing
with minute particularly the Mascot
lode, its dip and trend, the width be-
tween foot and hanging will and the
character Of its ore. He waxed elo-
quent In the story Of Harvey Neil's
long time Of toll on the bleak hillside,
through storm and sunshine, summer
and winter, handicapped by poverty
and even more by his boyish inexperi-
ence, bravely keeping on even when q.
times scarce so much rs slice OF bacon
remained between him and starvation.
so pathetic was his VOID picture Of this
weary time of wording and waiting
that couple of mining men on the jury,
who had perh-ps suffered similar ex-
periences in chat same gambling game
with natur e, were visibly affected, their
iaces Frightening alphabetically when
the sp eaker went on to tell of the rich
STRIFE which Mt last had promised mete
r.ward for all that had gone before
Skillfully the clever speaker SKINNED
the surface OF the troublous times with
the miners afterward, paying shrcwd
tribute to the avowcd aims OF the union
while Mt the same time delicately up
holding the man who would not dis
charge faithful and efficient work.
man ut the behest OF any man, prefer
ring to run the gauntlet of recrimina-
ftion and enmity rather than be rccreant
ITO his conception Of an employers duty;
summarizing the whole matter rs mere
~ an unfortunate misunderstanding
which, in retrospect, should be consid
cred really oreditablc 10 both sides.
From this he went on to show how the
Mascot vein had developed in richness
with depth until envy had cast
its evil eye upon n neightor's pros
perity, showing how the Grub
stake mine had been relocated the
trend Of its side lines SO changed
that larger section of the Mascot's
rich territory might he covered by the
intersection Of the two lodcs-if II
could be said that there were two lodcs.
For he would undertake to prove, the
speaker went on to declare, that never
lad any mineral been discovered in this
so-called Grubstakc lode until after this
relocation; they would show that the
present management Of the Grubstake
mine, mining men Of acknowledged
skill and experience, had sunk shaft
upon ground revealing no smallest vein
Of mineral, ground utterly barren, and
experiment Of which the merest tyro
in mining could scarcely he guilty
without the set purpose which became
apparent when from that unproanisirg
shaft drift went creeping out to the
westward, q drift which to the I'M
initiated must have seemed no less des.
titute of rational design than the work
nj the outset, since IL followed no lead,
the method in which madness only be-
coming clear when that drift cut into
q tiny fault or fissure which had pre-
viously been uncovered in the Mascot
hanging wall. Then IL was that the
Gsubstake claimed n true assure vein
making a turn at this point into the
Mascot's rich ore body, although even
then they had not ventured TO reveal
their purpose by cutting into the
Mascot workings, preferrlng rather to
delvc in the wealth they had opened up
beyond, where they might work UNI
detected for the time. They could show
that man employed rs foreman on
the Mascot ut the time this small fault
in the hanging wall was uncovered, had
had full direction of the Grubstake
workings which led to the latter dis
covery, so-called, n man influenced 10
less by personal enmity toward his late
employer than through zeal for the man
who now paid him wage to do such
dirty work. From this he went on to
quote the decision of the supreme court
of the United States in the Amy-Silver.
smith case, as determining the extra
lateral rights Of the mine owner, ar
guing that even II through ignorance
or willful blindness to the truth this
fault in the rock which constituted the
Grubstake's only real claim to discov.
cry, could he considered true vein, lis
direction, running MS it did across the
side lines OF the Mascot, effcctually
barred the GrubstalSe owner Of any
extra-lateral rights whatever in that
so-called discovery. In relocating the
claim, plainly the intent had been 10
bring the richest portion Of the Mascot
territory within the Grubstake side
lines; but nature had been so inconsid-
crate Us to put that little slip in the
hanging wall Just few feet too far
toward the east, and thus the Grub
stake drift, for obvious reason, planned
TO enter the Mascot territory ut such n
point rs would not intcrscct the Masco;
workings, had first come into ground
80 unexpectedly lean that the enterpris-
ing manager had been forced to 60 be-
yond his side lines for the rich pick
ings he was after. The speaker quoted
further from the case of the Iron Silver
versus the Elgin Mining company, in
which the supreme court had explicitly
declared that II the locator does not
make the explorations necessary to
ascertain the true course OF his vein
and draws his end lines ignorantly, he
must bear the consequences. The
owner of the Grubstake, the speaker
declared, his voice vibrant with sar-
casm, had perhaps made the mistake Of
his life when he Ind failed to jump the