Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1898-01-06


further from the case of the Iron Silver
versus the Elgin Mining company, in
which the supreme court had explicitly
declared that if 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 had failed to jump the
Mascot out and out; but it was an in
stance of short-sightedness almost IN
raralleled in the history OF a gentleman
whose peculiar methods had contrib
Tted SO much of the spice of variety to
the mining annals of Colorado. And
from this he passed on to the mining
history of the state, to the first discov-
cries Of the precious metals, with an
eloquent tribute to the hardy endurance
and courage OF the pioneers, citing sew
eral of the first rich strikes, and slipping
in a story in which everybody over
looked the irrevelance for the fun that
was in it. The mining conditions next
occupied his attention, in his zeal to
make all clear TO the now somewhat
restless jury, going back quite to the
Palezotic age. He quoted unanimously
from Hayden's survey; he carefully eX-
planned the difference between the
water-worn sedimentary rocks and the
crystalline structure of the igneous;
going on to describe the differing char
acteristics of the metamorphosed sedi-
mentary rocks of the Cambrian, silurian
and carboniferous series until the gap
ing jury. first amazed at such show of
e1'uditioE, were presently yawning for
sheer WEAKNESS. Right manfu1ly he
neid his ground until il appeared clear
that another word would make his case
forever abhorred in the minds of thai
unhappy six; resuming his seat at last
in complacenG consciousness that it
lacked but IL minutes of four o'clock.
With the four witnesses at hand he felt
sure OF using up the remaining time be-
fore court adjourned, while before nine
o'clock the next morning he felt that
something must be discovered of Harvey
Neil
The first witness for the plaintiff was
the surveyor who had made the original
location for the Grubstake as well as
the Mascot lode. He produced u note
in regard to the properties some ten
years before. He thought the boundary
lines OF the Mascot as there entered
were the same as appeared in the United
States patent of later date, but it was
some time before he appeared TO be
perfectly sure. He mumbled in his
speech and appeared to be on the verge
of mental wreck whenever a new ques-
fo,, L
ing could have been more satisfactory to
Donald Bartels at the present juncture.
The unhappy gentleman was encour-
aged to take his time, and, although Mr..
Cri1ey courteously waived the privilege
of cross-examination,f fully 25 minutes
had been used up before a hatchet-
faced man in mining garb took his
place upon the stand. He had been
one of the original locators of the
Grubstake claim, and he ruefully eX-
planned how he and his partner had
conducted their Improbable expert
ment under spiritual direction. He re-
lated, with sly appreciation of the en-
tertainment he was affording, that they
had persevered in their work until
they had not so much to live upon as
the smell of an. oiled rag" when he
made his partner a present of his share
in the old tunnel and pulled out" No;
they had never discovered any min
eral to speak of, he disgustedly de-
clared; they had struck horse of
black granite that was almost as hard
as flint the first thing, and in his opin-
ion it went straight through the noun
tain; at all events, they had never seen
the end of it. He had never mined
under spirit direction before or since;
it had been his partner who had got
him into that scrape, and he grimly
averred that he didn't want no more
OF it in his, to the great delight of the
appreciative idlers in the back of the
room. Mr.. Criley had a few questions
to ask of this witness, but could elicit
nothing tending to show that the Grub
stake, as originally located, had devel-
oped anything even remotely suggest
ing the mineral of its present shipment.
But half an hour remained to be dis
posed of when the next witness took the
chair, a mining engineer and expert
whose reputation stood second TO none
in the state. He had carefully exam
ined the Mascot mine, it's surface ground
and workings, and he would state that
it was unquestionably a true fissure
vein, with foot and hanging walls most
clearly defined. He described the char
aeter of the country rock the width
between walls, direction and dip of the
vein, demonstrating the character of
its ore by certain specimens which,
after objections on the part of Mr..
Criley. were given to the jury for ex-
amination. He described the ''fauIt"
which occurred IN the hangingwall of
the mine, explaining by what natural
agency it had been occasioned, declar-
ing very positively that he had been
able to discover no evidences whatever