Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1899-11-04
Tho Trials of . Prospeotor.

pector that it is hard one. beset with
privation and hardship, and bersft ol
the pleasures and comforts OF those who
follow other occupations for a liyeli.
hood. Still of all of those who have
attempted to picture or portray the
woes Of the man who climbs the hills
and digs holes, seeking for the rock that
carries the precious metal there have
none. according to our reading, which
have touched upon the phase of hard
ship which prospectors as class are
the most often compelled to undergo,
and the one which more than all the
rest they find the hardest to bear. 1t is
not the hunger or thirst. the heat or the
cold, neither Is il exposure or fatigue
that comprises his chief woe, but to sum
it up in one word it is waiting. All .he
rest he expects, it is in the contract so
to speak, and he is prepared TO meet it,
but after he has found what he seeks :
looks for his reward. When he has dis
covered a mine, and developed it suffi
ciently to demonstrate its character
when he Fnows that he has large vein
going down vertically, with solid walls
and having had his ore thoroughly test
ed and proven that it is of a grade
which gives him the assurance that il il
a paying proposition, he looks then fol
customer. He has a mine for sale
and then it is his care and trouble com.
mences. He is not able to fully devel
ope his property, for he has no money
he has nothing but his muscle and
when he has sunk his shaft to water
level, he has gone as far as his circum:
stances will admit. He requires a steam
pump. The ore. although Of grade tc
pay with works on the ground will moi
admit Of the added expense of a rail
road and smelter charges, he canno
purchase machinery, he can do nothing
but cell out to capitalist or company
and then he is ready to go and look for
another mine. But he finds that mines
are manv and buyers are few. He has
net the means to travel to the cities oil
the east, to the money centers, where he
might meet with those who are seeking
for mine as an investment He has in
his possession Just The property they de
sire but he can not acqnaint them with
the fact. Mahomet cannot 90 to the
mountain, the mountain will not come
to Mahomet. And so he waits, year
passes and another, and still another
He can not leave his claim, he cannot
so away and take a position, no matter
what his ability, he is chained like
Prome;heus To the rnck. with the vul
ture at his vita ls." It is the vulture O
suspense. He is tasting the bitter pill
Of hope deferred that maketh the heart
sick He is restless and cannot remain
idle, so he goes away for a month tc
work for wages in the deep mines. bu,
he cannot stay long. He takes his pay
and hurries back to the spot where his
treasure lies buried. He knows he
has fortune in that ground, 81
with the wages he has earned
he lays in supply of bacon, -four anc
vegetables, and summoning his phyloso
ply, his patience and his hope, he pre-
pares to wait. At leng th there comes
man TO examine his III inc. he ia what il
called a pro moter, or middle man. Fl,
has no money of his own, does no
pretend 10 have more than enough t
pay his travelling expenses, but is ir
touch with capital, has an extensive &C
quaintance with business men, some o
who have surplus funds which the,
desire to invest in q mine. He think,
this one will suit them, he takes bone
on tho property at a given price, say
500, 900 on four months tine. Ofcourse
this middle man will add $4,000 to the
price Of the mine, that is his commits
sion, and that is all right, it is worth it
for he has risk to run, and if he failt
| in his negotiation his time and money
is lost. But what will your prospector
do now? Well, his principal business
is to wait for the expiration of that -four
months, at which time he is to receive
the 100000 for which his hand is itching
and his pocket book yawning. But in
the mean time he packs his broncho
with tent, bedding, cooking utensils and
mining tools and strikes out over the
mountains (but not too far from home)
to find another mine. But long before
good for man to be alOne," and he has
taken partner. Not wife, alas no, he
cannot afford that just now, although
there is the image of sweet face en-.
graved on the tablets of his heart, he
says to himself she and | must wait
wait till get my money. He dare not
get too far from the postoffice, his man
may be sendiDg for samples of the mine
for assay, Oh he may receive word of the
coming of an expert to examine the
mine, and he will be expected to enter
tain him and show him the property.
When the four months is about up, and
he is expecting soon to handle small
fortune, he receives letter stating that
the parties at the last moment backed
out and the deal is off. During the next
ten years this experience may be repeat.
ed dozen time, and the waiting game
continues with all it's different phazes
Time and disappointment. hard luck
and sleeping in wet blankets are now
beginning to show their effects upon the
prospector. His hair turns gray prema-
turely, and the rheumatism calls on him
occasionally, lines of care gather in his