The Sumpter miner. [volume] (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905, 1899-10-11
SOME SOUND ADVICE TO OWN.
ERS- or PROSPECTS.
Poor Business Policy to Demand . Bonus
Of Prospective Buyen for the Privilege
Of Developing Your Own Claims.
Methods viii Seriously lnjuse the District.

There Is a growing belief In the minds
OF outside mining men, that while there
Is no question rs to the merits Of the
Sumpter ore belt, II Is impossible to oh.
tain anything like a reasonable opportu.
nifty to develop prospects held by certain
class Of claim owners In this section.
The intelligent, trained, experienced pros.
pector, who has seen something Of the
commercial side Of life, knows how diff.
cult Il Is to influence capital, and Is al.
ways reasonable In his demands, but the
unreasonable attitude Of n numerous class
Of claim owners will certainly result In
keeping capital out Of the district, and
more than offset every effort thus far
made TO attract men Of means to enter
and develop this field, and thus retard, II
not completely check, the development Of
one Of the greatest gold belts In America,
and In the end become u lot Of worthless,
undeveloped claims In the hands Of their
owners, who will foolishly lose the op.
portunity TO benefit themselves and the
camp.
II the former owners Of the Little
Giant had taken this unreasonable and
selfish position, there would have been no
mine or mill there today. They gave per.
mission to those who were willing and
able to find mine, to work their property
and received wages on their own property
while II was being developed, and inside
Of a year sold their mine for $4,000. II
would seem that examples like this would
instill a little business sense into the
heads Of the class referred to, who, like
the proverbial "dog In the manger," will
neither eat nor allow anyone else to.
There are men In this camp owning
claims, upon which there Is not a hole big
enough TO cover hat, who cannot tell a
man whether their ore runs nickel or a
dollar a ton, have no conception OF the
law Of averages, who demand a bonus OF
every intending investor for the mere
risky privilege Of discovering a mine.
This Is n part Of the history that has re.
tarded the growth Of all camps, but there
are more men here who know nothing OF
the value Of their ore than any spot ]
know Of. What they are working for Is
hard to discover. They might as we'll dig
n hole In a snow bank. The writer re.
Gently visited a mine where the owner
claimed he had been robbed by the last
leaser. When asked what his ore aver.
aged per ton, he did not know. The mys.
terry Is how he knew he had been robbed.
The woods are full Of these fellows who
continually make the mistake by as suming
the other fellow doesn't know anything.
The law Of retribution Is certain 10 follow
these mistaken notions. II Is possible
that these men will get over this delusion
some day. as they sigh for lost opportu'
mites and In the remote future have the
sweet satisfaction Of knowing that they
are the sole owners Of piece OF ground
COOK, 500 feet that they can leave to their
heirs.
A man or company that puts money In
TO prospect with view to find mine,
Is certainly taking big per cent Of the
chances, while the owner Of the claim
takes none. He Is sure Of wages while
prospecting his own ground. II mine Is
found, his chance for sale Is good, II not
he Is ahead Of the game anyway. The
utter absurdity Of asking an investor