The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1900-07-05

none to wear; to be where there l5 no
fear of trespassing on any mans land,
and to fear nobody's dog; to feel that
the world is yours as much as any
body's, and whatever riches you may
find buried in its treasure house you
can call your own.
The prospector descends into the
dark mine, submitting himself to
slavery awhile that he may GRUB
stake" himself and be free man for
the rest of the year and have prospect
of striking something rich" and be-
coming as wea.,h, or more wealthy
than his employer.
The mine owner is much tine same
kind of man, but he has the advantage
in having more money to start with.
and is looking for place where he can
invest his money in good PROPOSE
ton" and get richer.
With both mine owner and prospec-
tor intelligence and judgment are need
ed. 1t is true that sometimes those
who have learned little from books and
nothing from experience have blum
dered onto rich leads; but if the truth
were summed up think it would APP
pear that very large percentage Of
good mines have been found by men
of experience, who have worked in
mines. have seen and handled the ores
and have observed the rock in which
they occur. l firmly believe, too, that
a mans chances of finding the treas
ures hid in the earth would be in
creased many fold by adding to his ex-
perience that of other men, by study
ing thu mode of occurrence of ores, the
rock formations in which they occur
in fact, the better knowledge OF
geology and mlneralogy he possesses
and the better his power of observation
and judgment the better his chances OF
success. The same holds true of the
dealer in mining property. 1t is true
that these sciences are large ones, but
it is just as true that the chances OF
failure without the necessary knowl-
edge are fully as large. If q sick man,
ignorant of the properties of drugs,
were turned loose in an apothecary s
shop he might blunder onto something
that would help him, but the chances
would be against him. We need not
be scared by the voluminous books on
geology with their frightful looking
names. There are simple, interesting
books, giving the most important in
formation. and written especially for
prospectors and mining men, and for
the understanding of them no previous
knowledge of geology and mineralogy
are needed. These may lead to deeper
study later. But someone will say
that certain minerals have been found
where no experienced prospector would
search and where biologists have said
| they cannot occur. The trouble is,
an old miner comes from California,
to Montana and begins to look for gold
here. He knows just how the rock
looks in which the ore occurs whele he
mined in California, and he is looking
for the same kind of rock and the same
looking ore, but he probably will not
find it. An old Montana miner goes
to Colorado and meets with the same
disappointment. His views of the oc.
currepce of ores are too narrow. The
precious metals occur in many differ
emit kinds of rock and under a great
variety of conditions; and one would
have to know the geology of the whole
world to know all the conditions in
which they occur; yet there are certain
underlying truths that, if understood,
~u;1I yoe<1v Il. croo 90 tho cl,o ,,,xc ri GOO
cess and save not only many years but
many life times. Many brother geolo-
gists-perhape ought to say uncle ge-
ologists. for think they are of the gen.
Grafton that is passing away-have
| studied certain region and have
judged all the world by that. ! might
whisper to you, too, that not all who
talk and write on geological subjects
know just what they are talking about,
and have no doubt you have thought
of that before reading this article.
A recent report from Boise, Idaho, il
to the effect that q fabulously rich
body of gold ore has been encountered
in the Iowa mine. owned by Judge w.
B. Hepburn. The mine is located near
Quartxburg.
Okanogan Gold Mines, Ltd. is the
name of corporation capitalized for
$500, 900 which has been incorporated
to take over the property of the Okla.
hogan Free Gold Mines, Ltd, which
has property in Okanogan county
Wash.
A unique gold dredge has been built
by the Hammond Manufacturing Com
pany of Portland. Oregon, for the
Monarch Gold Mining g. Dredging
Company, which will be taken to Cape
Nome. The dredge is on rollers, and
may Be moved from place to place at
the will of the engineer while the ma
chime is in operation. It is constructed
to work the ground below tide water.
It IL capable of excavating to q width
Of % feet and six feet deep without
moving. The gravel is raised by a
chain of buckets, screened and passed
lever copper plates