, 1902-06-12
Holes in the Wash
EDITOR Sun:

The article on Extinct Nolcan-
ic Craters.' which appeared in
your last number, no doubt
brought a feeling of relief and Sc
curity to many in the Upper
Platte and other mining districts.
A fear of sudden eruptions from
extinct craters has apparently
caused many good mining proper
ties to remain undeveloped. Now
that eminent scientists pronounce
this fear groundless the writer
hopes to see mining in the future
pushed energeticaliy, confidently.
systematically and fearlessly.
For years'it must have been ter
ribly trying to the nerves of many
to feel themselves compelled
through geologic conditions to
sink inch by inch, while every
moment expecting to tap a volca-
no. The writer has known ten
years to be consumed in sinking
fifty feet. while this leaden cloud
of fear hung heavy, paralyzing
otherwise energetic workers. I'm
til the writer became convinced
that herein lay the cause, he often
wondered why the mines of the
Upper Platte district we're not
more rapidly developed. In many
cases locating and annual work
has been done in the wash"
for fear, it would appear, of weak
ening the earth's crust by a shaft
or a tunnel. In fact many pros
pectors through fear of risking
their lives by disturbing she crust
or by remaining too long in the
vicinity of these extinct craters,
have hurriedly done their annual
work with a lead pencil and hasti-
ly escaped from the dangerous ter
ritory,
Through all this the law has
been evaded and the development
of the district seriously retarded.
At the present time large tracts of
mineral land are held by men who
did their locatian work in the
wash where neither lead nor
flow from the lead was visible,
and who year after year do their
annual work in soft ground or
with a pencil. The mineral lands
of this state should not be tied up
in this manner by men who make
no effort to develop it. Several
good companies which failed to
secure sufficient territory at the
start for extensive operations, have
been forced to suspend work
through being surrounded by
these locations, which are at best
usually held by a very slender
thread by n class of prospectors
who are a standing obstacle to the
development of any country. Let
the laws be enforced or this prac.
tice will become an established
custom through continued usage.
In the opinion of the writer the
mining laws should be amended
to reduce the number of mining
claims to which an individual
would be entitled in a mining dis
trict. This would more
careful prospecting before locat-
ing and bring about more satisfac-
tory results to the mining inter-
terests in general.
For the information of those
who may be unacquainted with
the mining laws please publish
extracts from same, bearing on To-
cation and annual work. so that
they may plainly see hat digging
holes in the wash" Except as
placer locations) will not hold
mineral land. Under the law the
writer would also like to see pub
lished the penalty for moving
stakes and changing location no.
tices. The writer is interested in
the development of the vast min
eral resources of Wyoming and
therefore would like to see pros
pecting and mining carried on in
a manner that would be profitable
to the individual, company and
state. Wyoming, though possess
ing great mineral wealth. is prac-
-. =. A