The Sumpter miner. [volume] (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905, 1901-05-01
MINE RUN BY MEDIUM.
Money Spent Under Direction
Of a Spiritualist.

A press dispatch from Nelson, British
Columbia, says that consultation with
mediums by prospectors who have lean.
ing towards the occult Is common enough
to excite little or no curiosity, but the
spectacle Of big property operated on
plans laid down by medium Is unique.
Such spectacle Is afforded by the King
Solomon, on Woodbury. creek, about &c
miles from this city.
Up to the present time the spirits which
animate the medium seem to have fallen
down In their reading Of the ground, for |,
Is patent to all who are familiar with the
situation that the company Is not getting
enough ore to make scarf pins for the
management.
The King Solomon Mining company,
which should not be confused with the
King Solomon property at Ainsworth,
operated by pr. Wingate, Of Spokane,
controls 1000 acres Of mineral land, ex.
tending from Kootenay lake for six miles
up Woodbury. creek.
The camp Is located a few hundred
yards from the lake shore and Is thorough.
ly equipped with offices, a hotel, assay
plant, concentrator, wharf and other fea.
lures required to put the property on
a paying basis. The workings are also
confined to this section OF the company's
holdings.
The president of the company Is man
named Townsend, a wealthy Lima, Ohio.
man, handsome and Thoroughly business.
like In appearance. His sister, Miss
Townsend, Is the medium on whose di.
vinations the property Is worked.
The president says he has made every
cent he has made through following his
sisters advice, and he has implicit faith
In her spirit messages. It Is stated that
the Rockefeller interests have a share In
the proposition, but this Is mere report.
The balance Of information concerning
the King Solomon Is obtained from men
working on the group. They state that
the medium will lay out certain work,
and without further consideration the crew
goes to work.
For months they have been tunneling
first In one direction, now In another,
sometimes under the bed Of the creek, but
ever In country rock. Not sign Of min.
eral has been encountered outside Of one
shoot, which was worked when the prop.
erty was first opened.
The big coneetrator Is ready to treat the
ore, but the mineral has yet to be found,
and the miners who work on the property
are sceptical as to the outcome. President
Townsend appears to have an abundance
Of funds and to be willing to back the
spirits In the search for mineral.
The miners are we'll treated and never
find fault with the management, although
many Of them become dissatisfied with
the bootless quest and 60 down the hill.
At Ainsworth. the nearest camp Of any
size. the situation Is regarded as amusing,
and Esprit leads" have become more or
less Of joke. The company has easily
spent $4,000 outside Of the purchc:.
piice Of the claims and the cost Of build
lngs and plant. which probably represents
An investment Of we'll on to SIoo,oo
Recently four or five Of the crew quit
work In bun,h, and this gave rise to
report that the property had been shut
down. Investigation disclosed the fact
that the report was incorrect, and that
operations are still under way with crew