The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-02-19

country, was appointed to take charge
of the Isabella ground.
In the summer of 1892, when he COM
menced operations, he found an IN
debtedness of SIS, 900 and very little ore
in sight The old incline shaft on the
Buena Vista was continued down ana
levels opened every eighty feet. In De-
cember, 1895, the first dividend on
cent per share, or $22, 800. was palo. IN
the next eighteen months $zI0Ooo was
distributed among shareholders anu
then dividends were stopped. AT the
400 foot point, or fifth Level, the oIo
Buena Vista rich chute was lost: "A
great deal of prosecuting ana drlLtlns
and sinking was done, Dut tnat chuee
could not be located or, if 1T was, the
high values had disappeared IN the
meantime Hagerman disposed or ms
stock to French investors at ABOUT oo
cents per share At that time is was
consdefed a high price. In FeoruarS,
1898, a new board of directors was
chosen and Nelson B. Williams OF chi
cago elected president. February L
when George NJ. Kilborn took charge Oh
the mine, he found very nttle ore
blocked out in the different levers.
enough to meet the monthly payroll.
while he kept the vast majority o.
miners employed on development work.
In November, in cross cut from Inc
Buena Vista fisSure, at the nlntn' VI
$50 foot level, the new vein ana ore
cb,ta was entered. 1t was kept very
ouiet. and Williams and associates
nicI1ed I'D all the stock they wanted at
from 20 to 80 cents per share. Inc lIsl
shipment of high grade ore from the
new vein was sent out on Decelnoei
IT consisted of sixty-fve tons, ana II
averaged 5000 per ton. Since that time
/. half a dozen or more shipments OF SIM
ilarIy rich ore have been marketed. Inc
same chute and vein has Deen opeheu
in cross cuts at the fifth and seventh
levels 400 and 200 feet respectively
above the ninth level.
The Big Strike.
In running the drift at the seventh
level on the vein, Whlch Is mere dpous
six feet wide there was a streak OF
quartz and sand encountered that as
saws all the way from $1,000 to as high
as SCI, 500 per ton. This chute appears
to be over $50 feet in length. the phe-
nomenally rich ore encountered IN the
+ stone last Saturday is holding out and
is gradually lengthening and widening.
There is now a streak of metallic ore
three feet wide and twenty-five feet in
length, eighteen inches of which is al
most solid sylvanite, and the other hall
an oxidized, rusty and native gold rock
that is even richer.
This sudden riches is simply adding
another chapter to the fascinating his
tory of mining in the West. Where one
strikes it rich" a hundred never strike
it at all, but one may be certain, In
the case of the man who does strike 1t,
that he did not find fortune by any
other means than patience, perSever-
ance and pluck The history of mining
in Colorado is replete with such in
stances as the Isabella has just fur
nished, and stories of the well-knoWn
men and mines have been told and re-
told, but the most interesting ones are
those that rarely reach the newspapers,
because they lie out of the path which
the average newspaper man treads
when in the West, and so are seldom
heard of in the East.
In the mountains of Colorado, scat
tered about among the villages and
towns which for the most part contain
it's mining population, are scores of
men who have located claims and cling
to them in the fond faith that some day
they will bring their owners wealth and
ease and enjoyment. If the property
be silver, it is held by doing on it each
year the one hundred dollars worth of
development work which the Govern
ment requires, in the hope that silver
will be again restored" Then silver
will be profitable to mine in small
operations. Now the ore must be of
operation must be conducted on a scale
which places 1t beyond the reach of
any but wealthy individual or COM
bination to conduct.
Story of the Enterprise.
Tt story of the Enterprise mine, one
of the celebrat ones Of Colorado, fur
nishes an instance of how a woman
takes up part of the blu len r. the
. struggle for wealth and oftener than
o. mo IL -;-
was located early in the eighties in
R1co-one of the oldest and, at that
Time one of the Invest mining camps
IN the San Juan country-by John
SWlckheimer. He was a very poor man
and his wife assisted him in carving
on the development of the mine by
taking boarders; and tradition says
1T is one of the fondest of traditions in
; the lie of any mining cam woman,
and began with Mrs. Mackay in Cali
fornia-tra, ton says she did washing
to help out
One thing that she did, which ulti-
mately proved her fortune, was to in
vest each month in Louisiana lottery
ticket. One month when her husband
was hopelessly behind in his payment
to his men she drew $4,000 prize In
her disposition of it she proved herself
princess of finance. She paid the men
the large sum which was owing them
! on condition that they would work on
for two weeks on the chance OF making
! the long expected strike
The men agreed to it. With what was
left of her prize the lady Supplied the
house with provender against the hard
times she knew might again VISIT II,
, and very quietly invested the rest OF
: the money in some very Iich ore from
, a neighboring camp. With IL she
Sailed the mine one ntght ner nus,
band doing the practical work involved
in Shooting the vein upon wnlch thes