The San Francisco call., 1898-07-03
SALTINC THE MOUNTAIN MINE Wreck of a Dazzling
 Deal. A SIERRA COUNTY TALE THE JOB TOO RAW FOR THE
 ASSAYER.
SIERRA COUNTY TALE
Why the Canadian Minister of Rail- ways Has Left a Famous Cal ifornia Mine to Fate
 and Rats.

The famous Mountain mine of Sierra County and its romantic history have just provided another mining sensation.
 A great Canadian company, with the Canadian Minister of Railways at it's head was soon to burst on the world with 900 shares and this great and idle property, but the bursting has been done by the promoters and their dazzling scheme. The end has come, because some $4 ore samples were salted one night about two weeks ago, up there in the noun tains, and a well-known California min ing engineer and his assayer were not deceived, as some London people were, with salted samples from the same mine a few years ago.
 This is the property, once belonging to the late Senator Mahoney, on which the Bonanza Gold Mining Company Qimited) of London spent about $S00,O00 four or five years ago, and then went to smash without receiving a dollar, after the fine new 40-stamp mill had been running two months. The property reverted, somehow, mainly to George NJ. Pinney, now of Bos- ton, and the magnificent plant has been idle ever since. The latest attempt ;. to sell and resuscitate the propery provides the present story.
 Pinney it appears, recently associated with him mining engineer and promoter of New York, named Van Slooten. For IQGT HduaBGT NllQ NIOl6 d COIlSSI GilAfS report describing the property and stat ing that the ore would average 4 ton and could be mined and milled for about Sl p & ton. Armed with this and an ar ray of other documentary evidence, Van Slooten interested recently Hon. A. G. Blair of Ottawa, Canadian Minister or scheme as finally worked out involved the organizing of company with 500,OO0 shares, or which the promoters, vendors and organizers should retain 249,0 shares. piDneNv XUO11ld his share Of this in part payment for the mine, and besides S60, 900 in cash was to be paid. But Sl0,OOO in in, cash was to be put UP on the start; could be resumed, and when the mine was in full blast and the profits demonstrated, the 25l,OOO shares would be issued and terested some other Canadian capitalists, but was the principal investor. The prop osition appeared inviting and legitimate to the Canadians and so far there appears nothing to be greatly criticized.
 Everything was agreed to, and about three weeks ago there arrived here with Messrs. Pinney, Van Slooten and Wild, the Hon. F. P. Thompson, M P, of Fred erickton, New Brunswick, who came as the financial agent of Minister Blair with the money which was to be paid If repre- sentations were true. MT. Thompson se- ! lected as mining engineer to represent the investors, H. E. Ttbbitts, the we'll known Californian, now of San Francisco and Bedding, and for many years of Anna dor County. The rest of the story MT. Tibbitts tells as follows:
 'I went to Sierra County with MT. Thompson about two weeks ago. l select ed as my aSSayer Mir Hudson of Grass l Valley, an honest and competent man, and placed him in the company's assay office. l selected three men there to work with me in the mine taking samples. Two weeks ago Monday I had twenty-six sam- pies sacked and sealed and left them In the assay ofi1ce over night, instructing my assayer 10 use extreme care and report to none but me. On Wednesday evening he had five samples pulverized and ready for fire test, but as 1t was late, said he would not start the fire. I told him not to let 1t occur again, and to leave the samples so that he would know If they were tempered with.
 Each sample was piled cone-shaped in the middle. Next morning he told me the samples had been tempered with The placed; took one sample and simply banned 1t out. It went $250 to the ton. Two others l banned with similar re- suit. found in them coarse gold, fine gold and smooth gold, much of which was l too big to go through the seventy-mesh screen MT. Hudson had used. I sealed up partner. Mr. Carson, assayed them at Bedding one went s2S6 and the other s1O3 to the ton, All around, 1t was as raw a job of salting as I ever heard of. 'I reported to MT. Thompson. and lot of telegraphing to Ottawa was done. I wouldn't have anything to do with the
 
 proposed bringing there men of my own and taking new samples. I proposed a two weeks washing test with ten stamps, but there seemed to be objections to these propositions. We telegraphed to Price in San Francisco about assaying 100 samples, but while all this and more was going on a telegram from Ottawa said that things looked too suspicious and directed us to drop the whole thing, It was dropped right there.
 "I wrote report of what I had learned of the mine and I regret that I could not have made reliable tests. I did not demn the property, but my report was rather unfavorable as far as 1t went. There are nearly 100000 tons of ore blocked out, and I think 1t can be mined and milled for from s1 75 to g a ton. I don't know anything about who did the salt ing and have made no charges" That great Canadian company will never be foated. The watchman at the Noun tain mine will resume his vigils. Another | mine salting story has been told and an- other chapter of Mountain mine history written. The midnight job in the assay office up in the mountains wrecked an- other chance that that splendid mill would cease it's rustng.