The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-20
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. SUIT.
Pending 81 SOC, 900 Suit Recalls Fea-
lures Attending Former Litigation.


The most sensational mine litigation
IN the history of Tintic district has
oeen recalled by the pending suits be-
tween the Eureka Hill. Bullion Beck
q Champion and Genini Mining
companies for damages for ore ex-
tfacted' in violation of the famous
compromise" line. The contest re-
terred to occurred nearly twenty wears
ago. 1t occupied the attention Of tbe
territorial courts for many mon+,1s.
experts were brought from All narts Of
the world as witnesses for the con-
testants, and money was poured forth
like water by these immensely wealthy
| corporations then in the heydav of
their youth.
The action was brought by the Eu-
reka Hill Mining company. which
claimed the right 70 follow its ore on
the dip into BuIlion-Beck territory.
Inc plaintiff won on every appeal. and
"hlle the action was pending in the
supreme court of the United States. a
compromise was effected and a vertical
line esta biished between both the En-
reka Hill and Bullion-Beck on the
south, and the Genini and RuIIion
Beck on the north
That the Eureka Hill should consent
10 a compromise when il had all the
best of the points at issue was a source
OF considerable surprise to the public
and has never been satisfactorily ex-
planned. One reason which has since
been given was that Chief Justice
Field of the United States suprerne
court was a stakeholder in the Eureka
Hill Mining company, and wishing to
relieve his colleagues OF any embar-
rassment IN deciding the case. urged
and secured the compromise
However, the more reasonable ex-
PLANTATION. which is borne out by sub
sequent events. is that John Q. Pack
ard, who owned the majority of En-
reka Hill stock and three-fifths of the
Gemini mine, discovered unmistakabIe
evidence that, while the ore assure
dipped to the west from the Eureka
Hill into the Bullion-Beck on the south
end, it turned over at greater depth
on the boundary line between the Bull
lion Beck and the Gemini mines. and
that the advantage gained by winning
the Eureka Hill suit wonId be n1orN
that offset by the loss of the tremen-
dous ore bodies which he believed ex-
listed in the Gemini. Mr. Packard had
not yet developed the philanthropic
Carnegie spirit that has since prompted
his $4,000 gift to the city of Salt Lake,
hence he sacrificed the penny to gain
the pound.
The present contention between the
companies is over the ore extracted on
the sides of this compromise line,
which in some places extends through
large and rich Slopes, and in other
places through the limestone. For
about 200 feet vertically the line be-
tween the Beck and the Gemini was in
ore, but on the ], 400-foot level it dipped
out of the Beck entirely into the Gem
ini as fOreseen by Mr.. Packard's en-
gineers and Superintendent McChrys-
tai of the Gemini.
George w. Ritter, secretary of the
Eureka Hill Mining company, and c.
p. Brooks, surveyor, are now at the
mine, and are engaged in sampling the
Slopes from where the ore was ex-
tracted that is claimed by the Beck
company. The Bullion-Beck brought
suit a year ago against the Eureka
Hill, it's neighbor on the south, and the
Gemini Mining company on the north,
claiming 81 500 900 for ore that it de-
clared these companies had extracted
from within Bullion-Beck lines. Both
companies, after a survey, admitted
taking a small amount of ore, amount
ing in all to about $1,000, and offered
payment in that sum- The Bullion
Beck declined the offer, and the de-
PENDANT companies retaliated by bring
ing suit against the plaintiff on the
same grounds. The hearing is to take
place before Referee p. L. Williams in
Salt Lake next week.