The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-02-05
BURNS RAN HIS MINE TO MAKE IT
PAY. But MEMS WAGES GAVE MOST
OF THE GOOD RED GOLD IT BORE

the mind of Mr.. Burns, schemes equally
successful and in a similar way to his
wages mine at Yankee Jim, but he
made enough out of the Candelaria to
make up for his lost income from the
office of Secretary of State, and so
Mcclellan wrote to him again on jan
uary 7. 1891, for himself and some of his
friends In misfortune. He demanded
the payment of the claims, and warned
Burns that they still looked to him, as
the last superintendent, for the full
amount Mcclellan reminded Burns of
the last clean up and how he drove
away with the last grain of gold from
the mine and paid his men with a hol-
low promise. He received an answer in
which Burns, with all the. tabled gra-
ciousness of Jack Cade or Robin Hood,
declared the claims were right and just
and that he would pay his share-"a
one-tenth." This is his letter:
SAN FRANCISCO. Jan. 10. 1891.
A. F. Mcclellan Esq, Forest Hill, CAL
Dear Sir: Your letter of 7th inst in re-
gard to the Napoleon Mining Company Is
received and contents duly noted. was
a one-tenth owner in said company and
am perfectly willing to pay, my proportion
of those old debts, Notwithstanding that
they are outlawed.
1 do this not because of your threat Of
publication, but for the reason that l be-
", II Just anu 'S B. NJ. BdRNs.
1t was a deeper sarcasm than even
the miners knew. He owned nearly
%, 900 of the &c, 900 shares of the ten
million dollar corporation, yet to beat
the miners out of their little dollars
he said he owned "one-tenth. he
said he was willing to pay, yet he knew
there stood an unsatisfied Judgment
against him which he had evaded and
crossed like a f1shwife lodging her &C
count at the corner grocery; and to add
to it all he said the claims were right
and just.
No wonder old Adam Duncan jumps
into the road at the mention OF Dan
Burns name and shouts: Hes
thief! A thief, 1 say! Some may be
afraid of him, but I'm not. He's a
thief, and if he dared come back to
Yankee Jim I'd tell him so right here"
The records show that Burns was
properly served with the complaint in
the proceedings against him, ana ne
had ample knowledge of the trial. he
did not think the claims right enough
or just enough to stop the suit and pay
nor did he show any more Willingness
after the judgment was rendered than
before. He thought to fool the miners
and save a little more money to add 10
the seven figures of his fll-gotten bank
balance, or perhaps it was just his ma
ture He may be able to beat the hotel
men of Washington, as he did Lowell,
and cinch Government employees, as he
did his miners-if he should get to the
Senate-and he may want the miners
money to use in his fight for fame.
The Centennial mine was not pay
ing speculation for Burns either in rep
utation or financial aspect. he was
Secretary of State during all the time
he was an owner of the mine, and
many dollar that started honestly for
the State Treasury found it's way down
~, eI,o re +Io Cn11faT7Y7i91. then wish
ing to save some of his loot, he took
charge of the mine himself and
squeezed the miners for the few hard
earned dollars due them.
He never brought any money up to
the mine, but he brought other things.
Reynolds, his chief deputy in the Sec
rotary of States office, was at one time
his assistant superintendent at the
mine, and when Reynolds made his
periodical visits to Yankee Jim he often
brought with him big account books
leather bound, offlcial-looklng and sug-
gestive-and over these Burns or key
nolds would pore until far into the
night. They were not the books Of the
mine-those were at Yankee Jim al
ready, and it was a source of specula-
ton among the miners as to what &C
counts had to be hauled over the Placer
hills to be inspected in the privacy OF
mining camp.
IT was after all this that John P.
Dunn, State Controller, in writing of
Burns defalcation while Secretary of
State, and setting forth the difficulty OF
getting evidence of fraud. wrote:
Not one of the books in which were
entered the daily transactions of the OF
flee can be found"
And farther on in his report he wrote,
referring to the books which Reynolds
kept:
daily journal and private cash book
mentioned above should now be miss
ing
Perhaps if he had visited Yankee Jim
he might have heard something about
them.
Yankee Jim The miners keep him in
mind and watch for the returns from
the Joint ballot and exult in the pros
pect of his. defeat. They don't want a
swindler of miners to represent the
mining interests in the halls OF Con-
gress. They don't want petty lar
cenist to refer to honest men and say
my constituents"