The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-06-08

gentlewoman Now that she has both
in full measure, she confesses that the
hardest of ali her fights was with her.
self, to force herself Systematically to
enter on a business life.
In Denver, a business life Is apt to
have some touch with mining, and
very shortly Mrs. Murrell went to one
of the biggest of penver's investment
companies, and was at once put to
work.
TO do the work conscienciously, she
needed to know all that could be
learned about mines generally, and
certain particular properties. So there
followed journeys, up and down, and
round about-to Cripple Creek, to Cen
trail City, Boulder, the San Juan dis
trict. She went up mountains $4,000
feet high, down into mines 1000 feet be-
low ground, made perilous passages of
deep gorges upon aerial tramways, see
ing much, saying little, asking such
questions as were pertinent, and ev-
erywhere winning good will and good
words from the miners themselves, the
stout fellows with pick and shovel and
drill who are the real power behind
the thrones of the gold and silver
kings. Once she ate dinner with two
hundred miners-and not another wo-
man in sight. This was at the famous
Iowa mine. In between the journeys
and the questioning, there were long
and interesting sessions with county
| records, maps, profiles, along with
much study of titles, abstracts. and le-
gal looking papers that bristled with
such terms as leads, veins, drifts,
| cross-cuts, dips, spurs, angles and sin
| uositie Soon she came to know what
all of them meant, and could discourse
entertainingly, and what is ever so
much better, truthfully of sylvanite.
and sienite, porphyry bikes, basalt,
gneiss, shale, and all the rest of it.
Then she felt herself fairly equipped
for work. Meantime she had discovered
things that set her mind toward
great undertaking. In course of her
journeyings and Investigations, she
had discovered a mountain, which, un-
less all mine portents went for naught,
was full of both the precious metals.
The precious metals indeed cropped out
at few places. and at others had been
reached by deep shafts, costly to sink,
and still more costly to ventilate and
drain. The expenses of them were in
fact so great, that only few of the
richest We're worked. Fhe mountain it,
self was about $4,000 feet high. A
tunnel through it would have to be five
miles long, but once built, would bring
to light almost fabulous riches.
Mrs Murrell resolved to buy the
mountain mines, clear the title, then
build the tunnel-with other mems
money.
To a woman of her temperament that
meant a much greater strain than
building it with her own. But she
went to work at it undaunted. To
clear away every cloud from the title
and acquire all outstanding interests,
was a tedious job. In course of it she
Travelled thousands of miles, and car
ried on negotiations with owners or
claimants in Alaska, Montana, Wash
ington, California, Colorado, Michigan,
New Jersey and New York. This done
she had a profile model of her noun
tain made and went eastward after
the money to develop it.
Throughout she showed a Wonderful
capacity for acting the gentleman. and
strict man of business, yet without any
sacrifice of womanlyS dignity Men
such as the late Gov. Flower, Calvin
Brice, Frank Rockefeller Henry
Adams and their compeers in Boston
and cities little further west, listen
ed to her, at first doubtfully, then be-
lovingly, then enthusiastically-and
ended by putting money, Jumps OF
money, in her tunnel scheme. That
was very we'll indeed, but what pleased
her more was their assurances that her
clear knowledge and accurate state
ment of mining matters, greater by
far than almost any man possessed, in
no way lessened her womanly gentle
ness.
The Reward.
That was years ago-so many years
that the tunnel is now an accomplish
ed fact. 1t is owned by tunnel and