The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-07-31
KANSAS GOLD. +"
How the EIIis-TregO SchemeHas
MisIed People.
First Shaft Sunk by II. II. Artz
and f. BurIeigh Johnson.
LOOKING FOR ZINC.
Bought 10000 Acres Of Union
Pacific Lands.
Real Estate Prices Have More
Than Doubled.
Investors Disregard Evidence
Of Expert Assayers.
LOOKING FOR ZINC.
Investors Disregard Evidence
of Expert Assayers.

After making a thorough investiga-
ton Of the EIls-Trego gold excitement
the Kansas City Star says;
so far there has nothing come Of the
Smoky Hill shale to warrant a man IN
vesting a dollar there, unless he can al
ford to lose it in experiments tnat nave
every indication of failure.
The Star correspondence account OF
his investigation follows:
Reports that gold in paying QUANTITIES
has been found in the Shale beds or the
Smoky Hill river in Ellis and Treeo
counties Kansas, have caused sur
over all the state. Thousands of dol
lars have been spent IN lands ana e1-
periments and one syndicate an IopeKa
has 900 to build a mill to Work the
gold out of the shale-
The Smoky Hill excitement IS re
rnarka BILE from a good many dlnerehl
points of view It is astonishing that
those who have the gold fever believe
in it so thoroughly that their IalIh IS
not shaken by statement after state
ment from assayers and chemists and
mineral experts that there is no gold
in the Smoky Hill country. among
those who believe that there are gold
fields in these counties are many OF the
leading men of Topeka, and Lawrence,
kas., and these men have spent money
and are spending more buying land, eX-
perimenting and building machinery to
work the ore" Faith in the so-called
gold fields is not confined to Kansas.
There is a syndicate in Illinois, dnoJher
IN Michigan and one in Indiana, which
have bought land in big tracts Sew
eraI wen known Kansas City men with
money have bought tracts of land, too,
and expect to make millions out of it.
If the expectations of these enthusl-
asts are realized Ellis and TregO cOun-
ties will contain the greatest and rich
est gold diggingS in the world The rock
in which the gold is supposed 10 pc Is
soft gray sha1e. There is bed OF II
from 200 to 300 feet thick. forty miles in
length and ten miles in width This
bed Of shale may be a good deal larger
in extent than that Some say it I'M
derlies several whole counties In West
ern Kansas. But its outcroppings show
that it lies along the Smoky Hill river
for forty miles and reaches out for five
miles on each side. At points along the
river it crops out for miles in an I'M
broken high bluff. The gold enthuSi-
asts say that all of this shale contains
more or less Of gold, silver and zinc.
They make fabulous claims of its rich
ness. Most of the new owners of land
have official reports from assay lists.
Many OF the reports are that the shale
contains no precious metal but this
does not discourage those who have the
gold craze They say:
THE gold IS there, but it is in a Pc
culiar form and only a few assayers
know how to extract it"
Others have reports showing that the
shale contains from $3.50 to $1,000 in
gold to the ton. Many reports show $50
to the ton, many more show S14 TO the
ton and a few show between $500 and
$500 to the ton One assayer in Chicago
reported that he found $1,OO3 in gold to
the ton.
1t is very important to remember two
things about these assays. One is that
in every case where an assayer found
gold it was in shale sent him by some
one who owned land in the field. And
in every case where a competent and
reputable assayer went to the field and
dug out his own shale and tested it no
gold was found.
Those who laugh at the claim that
there IS gold in these shales say that in
every case where gold was found the
Shale was sailed before it was sent
to the assayer. There is positive proof
that at least part of this shale was
sailed by someone.
If there was even s14 in gold to the
ton OF this sha1e it would be the rich
est gold field on earth. because the
shale deposit is so large that it is prac-
tically inexhaustible- It lies only from
ten to 100 feet below the surface and in
many places it crops out, and it is so
soft that it is easily dug with a pick
So the labor Of getting it out would be
less than % cents a ton It could be
milled at the banks of the Smoky Hill
river at a trifing cost and at least SO
ton would be clear profit. The most
enthusiastic promoters say if the shale
be very profitable.
One result of the excitement is that
all of the government and railroad
4AA4uS All Ellis ana IregO counties have
Deen bought by spectators. Those who
have no faith in the thing say that the
boom was started for this verv purpose
Al any rate. year ago, before the talk
or goId IN the shale became general the
Union Pacific railroad owned every al
ternate section Of land for twenty miles
south OF its line in these two counties
taking in the Smoky Hill river and all
OF tne snare lands Two years ago land
could be bought at from 81 so to S. an
acre Now 1t is all sold, and brings from
$40 to $40 an acre.
The history of the development Of this
remarkable excitement is as follows.
Three years ago H. H Artz who vJas
Governor dwellings adiutant general
and is well remembered in Kansas C,itv
as the one who led a Coxev army into
and through this city several wears
ago, was prospecting for zinc in She
Smoky Hill district. He and Rurlefeh
Johnson sank shaft sixty feet and
struck Shale and sent humps of it ava y
TO be assayed- The report they recefv-
ed was that it contained 1892 in gold 70
the ton, and some zinc. This led to the
organization of the EIlis-Trego Mining
company, with Johnson as president
and Geo. H VeaIe of Topeka as score
tary. Veale was formerly the tax man
Tor the Union Pacific railroad. In his
company were Dr. McCuran and Colo
mel Fred Close of North & South rail-
road fame. and several others This
company bought 10000 acres of land at
from 81 to IS an acre. It did not paw
cash, but had contract with the rail-
road company for the land. This COM
pany made no money from gold but re-
allied something by selling the lands
again TO other companies and individu-
Since that first discovery the gold
excitement has steadily grown. Much
OF the land underlaid by the shaIe is
held now by a Topeka syndicate headed
by 3 s OFT of the Kansas Photograph
company. Otis company is the one
SHAT Ia building the $4,000 mill in Den