The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-22
FORTUNE OF THE MINERS.
syoRMoUs WEALTH DISCOVERED BIZ
PURE LUtK.

-,, Rich Trojan Mine Found by Diseour
aged Men-.Riches Unearthed in the Pur
alt of n Murderer-whnt n whim OF
u,nnmite Did-Fnmous Mines Found
nv Chnnce-Fatallty of Tho DISCOVERIES
los ANGELES. Cal. Jan. 16..-Tery naturally
Tho eytraordiuary luck OF younC Ben Y. Daw-
,1r. who last month stumbled upon the golden
ledge OF the Copper King mine. aud started the
nav gold mining camp Of Dawson. Col, has
lad TO a nood OF "reminiscences among the old
tim. miners In the West. Dawson built a
,nb'n on Grape Creek and one day blasted
away a erpl srot among the rocks for his win
ter,s woodpile. In doing 80 he revealed a vein
nj ore, hidden under n foot. or two OF earth.
vbich assayed $4,000 n ton. The fact
,bnt Dawson and thousands of other pros
pe,tors have braved hardships, endured pain
And risked life In prospecting among the
Rocky Mountains year after year. while a rich
depo,it Of gold lay right beneath Dawson's
onhIn, has been considered from many points
Of view by the lo1uacious philosophers In tho
mining Fam Us out this way.
The stories that gold miners tell when they
are IN the mood are as thrilling as a romance.
superstition enters largely into a majority OF
the stories one hears about a campfire, but
,hey are generally founded on facts, however
wonderful they may seem. The pure luck
that attends the finding of enormous wealth
Ia an exhauStless subject for discussion. The
.iCDs of mineral riches that amateur pros
pectors see at a glance and veteran prospec-
tors are blind to are the subject Of many
.,ories. The finding Of tie Copper King mine
sembl somewhat the discovery of the Tro-
inn mint in Calaveras county. Cal. about 1885.
ulf,., yaara'a 90 the Trojan rpnkni with tha
Idaho and the Consolation of California. 1t
Welded $4,000 in dividends in six years
and made several Boston people very rich.
l. German. Henry Becker. and a Connecticut
man. John l.. Trimmer. had been respecting
IN Nevada and in northern California for sew
eral years without finding any ore worth de-
velopment. Thew were poor. ragged fellows.
and Il they had been anything else besides
mining prospcctors, with the prospector's pro-
verbal hopefuluess. they would have aban-
doned in disgust their.pursuit long before. As
II was they were nearly d~isheartened and had
practically made up their minds to go to work as
!aborers for the Central Pacific Railroad Com
pauy. then building the railroad across the
Sicrras from sacramento.
In January. 1865. Becker and Trimmer
found thatlsome money could be made by gath
ering oak wood for fuel in the mountains OF
Calaveras county. They set out expecting to
make possibly $50 or $40 each by a months
work. They lived in an abandoned miners
cabin. Snow was oil the ground two feet deep
all about. One day they built a great bonfire
Of brush which melted the snow and left an
area OF hot earth. Becker got a haunch Of
oeer Wed' anu prep"teu u ""NH Il 'he no'
SOL ne aug "" ,ee' oo"n MI" came upona
orH ., i'.S, w ~ ptospe''oi ihs'inoCn 20
examiner INC 'och anu "iohe vi VI III
Ihe >e"i7"h was "utieu onu 'oas'eu' i"en
Becker oy me ilRnt Oh MS caoln cannIe. exam
i'eu Tue pi' VI rocA more careluly. ~ s""i'
was WHAT MINERS cai ,Ne roch' iuil IL Eoin.
An assdyer at i'acerNiiie reporten 'hat IL run
S'"V'" the ton DECKER anu trimmer marked
OIL i've mining cluihls Close 10 "here 1heir
ca"ih S'"ou' ~ was several "on.hs peiore 'heS
'"in me 'afV'cu'a's oi ''elr hnu' ihe' wore
secretly sa'herihs i~htorh"Iioh III the mean
nm" c"nceiulhS lie NV ansle' ienE'h anu
'radutn Oh 'he'r newly discovered leuse' ms
NINE 'he iroJan' maze Dotn becker ana
trimmer rlcl III a year. nu' ohey SOFA LOT
S''u" each what was alter~aru worm 10
III" boston N,ochho'nerS 9"o.'o' d mohIh.
III" r'ch i'"en inihe III Alpine county AL
VIZ ''uhu III Il curious way oherih james W.
'"'''i ""'N '"o men hau Sohe o'e- 'iie mum
aus "''er TWO iue "no h"H ihurue'eu d e"eep
ne''"' ii" reeion 10 'oneiS as any ahiohs
~ ,Ir''aS' II ''ine ""s hafch' io''' me
'"eI'' anu MS coihpaliohs were IL 'he sauule
~" "'N7' an" "neh 'hts we're wen U among
,"e mountains 'ne iran ot 'ne iuOitiHe muir
u''e'' "'ca"e "p'i'"rh'eu, ihcy you ouC Vi
."e' sauu'es anu niaue themselves as COM
'',''"'e y We "'sn' Us posSip'e II 'heir oinh-
hr'N on tue GROUND. Inc next m orhihe tne
t'' SCI ao'u' 70 iihu s"nle tracks that "ou'u
s'o CHo't +" cue 10 'he 'uRl''EeS 'raH' i"e
'nFIlI anu MS cOilbtIllOIlS W6lI ABOUT SedTcn-