The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-09-14


I was grateful TO him for hts advice
and offered him a half interest on the
spot if he would turn in and help me.
Haven't time" be said, calmly.
'But you're throwing away a for
tune" I persisted. Go halves with
me-
Couldn't think of it," he said. cool
Il, See you later Then he strolled
or over the hill.
he came again next day and directed
me now to proceed In fact, he rather
ordered than urged that I should dig
along the lead and open It up as he
had suggested the day before I sup
posed that ne had changed his mind
and was going to accept my offer Of
partnership. SO I said TO him. after he
had been bossing the work for a couple
OF hours;
Turn in and take a hand at the Dig
ging and rest me"
Cant do it" he said, I'm too
busy"
1t occurred to me after he had gone
that for a busy man he had spent the
best part of that day lodging labor I
supposed that he had some constitu-
tional objection to hard work and let 1t
go at that.
II was easy to see now why so many
of these poor devils OF miners never
amounted to anything. And then 1 was
thankful that he hadn't accepted my
proposition to go halves. On the preG-
ent showing the Get on Here" would
flush of success I would have given
him half of that sum. 1t wasn't COM
forting TO reflect that my interests had
been guarded by his density rather
than by my own wisdom
When he came around as usual the
next afternoon I was less civil 70 him.
And when he had examined the rock
was getting out and tasted some OF It
I waited for his opinion without ask
. 'Taint as good as the other" he
said, after a time. You have got TO
the end Of the chute on this here side
Get TO work on the other end"
That's pay rock, all right" I said.
And just remember this, viii you? [
work at any end of this claim that I
choose to. You've refused a half inter
est, and that let's you out"
I expected that this display of tenn
per would drive him away, but I was
mistaken.
"Oh. It's pay. all right" he said.
"Only there's maybe better tother side
of you. HOwsumever. work IT any old
way you like" And then ne sat down
and watched me until quitting time
without another word
That night I made up my mind to go
into Helena the next day and have
some of my rock tested. Getting up
before daybreak. I hoisted my effects
into tree, and, getting astraddle OF
the huTrO, headed back over the trail.
II there's anything on earth slower
AlAdAA d cAluAA IL > Al JUL IL LAAdA 4UN1AA
want to climb hills. I dubbed that
animal until I was tired and ashamed
of myself, and then I got down and
walked The burro went back to
camp.
1t was dark when I reached Helena.
but worn out as I was I could not
sleep until had hunted up an assayer
and offered him bonus to put my
sample through that night. His test
showed that the rock was worth S224.32
a ton, and he said that by careful
sorting 1 could get ii up to $3.50. L fig
ured il out quickly Ten thousand tons
at $3.50. Three and a half million dol
lars. I was a millionaire From $50
a week to unlimited wealth in ten daysi
That's what intelligence does for
man,
Poor old Tommy Cruise and his vast
ed years! Why, he'd have been the
richest man on earth il only he had
started out with my. But there.
Why be egotistical2 A man can only
go according TO his lights
1 couldn't sleep that night for the
press Of business that came upon me-
There was the house that intended
to build on Fifth avenue. There was
the troublesome question OF safe in
veStments at good interest to be con-
sidered. There was the stamp mill that
would have TO be put up on the Get
OF Here" There would be bullion to
be sent to the mint. And then-ah. yes,
there would he some shiftless. unfortu-
nate devils or poor relations TO plague
me- Well, they could be pensioned or
and got rid of. Something would have
J to be done for them. or I'd come in for
a roast from the newspapers Bob
Whyte, the billfonaire"-I mean mill
Honaire-''p permits a relative to StdrTe
10 death" or something like that. Well,
I'd do something for them for policy
sake. Next morning telesraphed
resignation to my employer IN New
York I didn't walk back to the Get
n F,rarHr -1-N ~ n h
gentle one this time-and arrived with
out accident. Hurrying up TO thu
claim, I found my QuOndam acquaint-
ance waiting for me and handed him
the assayer's certificate. He looked it
: over and said, Good"
You should have got in on this when
/ the chance offered remarked. It's
/ too late now
"Oh, dunno he said. Whatever
gOin' to do nOw?"
i've brought down a tape line this
time and I'm going to go over my lines
and make sure the measurements are
( correct" ] replied. Then I'm going in
to record, get a surveyor, prove up and
= Il wouldn't go to all that trouble II I
was you" he said
why not?'' I demanded.
"Geei It's hot here in the sun Come
over to my shack and let me advise
you" was his reply. It was the first
/ time he had invited me TO call
/ 1 climbed the hill with him and On
the other side saw a comfortable log
cabin That's my shack" he said.
I'm Fred Fisher. What's your name -
I told him. We had been on intimate
/ terms for several days and yet this was
our formal introduction
We'll, what do you adviser asked,
when we were comfortably seated i'm
the cool Of his cabin.
Why he drawled, first Of all, 7 !
advise you TO look that over" He hand
ed me a patent issued by the United
states government to Fred Fisher and
John Fisher on the Galena mining
claim. situate on Jack creek, in an
unorganized mining district, in the
county of Jefferson, state Of Montana, "
That's just the sort Of a paper I re
quire. I said, as gave it back to him.
i"Well?"
Next III advise you to take a look
out of that back window"
I did so. The view disclosed the
mouth Of a tunnel running into the hill
That's the Galena, I suppose?" was
my remark
TT is" said Mr.. Fisher, and it runs
straight through the hill. The end line
is down by your camp. You used one
of my corner posts to picket your burru
to-"
I was stunned. DO you mean"
managed to get out. and he nodded
THAT you've been prospectin' on my
In. 0n1icrad