Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-11-08

emptiness. There is nothing more
utterly desolate than the-aspects OIL 4
cnce prosperous mining camp deserted
and fallepF to decay there Is Already
more thamsone such picture OF desofi-
tfof in the land of gold. ~ " hff ~
But the people of Cripple Creek are
very far from anticipating such uiti-
mate ruin. 81 What they have wrought
and are stili working out With feverish
energy. For the district is riding high
on the topmost wave of. a. marvellous
prosperity. and all the talk is of
output and magnifi-
cent dividands, ofgexpsnSion and vast
im,rovefrients. And the Cripple Creek
region certainly has every reason to.
he proud of its achievements. The
hare facts are eloquent enough with
out any embellishments or exaggera-
ton. This plot of ground four miles
square is now regularly producing over
twenty million dollars worth of gold
a year. or about three fourths Of all
the gold produced in the great mining
state of Colorado From this dot upon
the map of our country comes one
third of All the gold produced bv all
the mining camps OF the entire United
! 1t Is a curious fact that the CripplA
CreSh district produces pINrtit any
nothing but gold, while in most of the
Colorado mining districts gold occurs
together with the other metals, which
usually far exceed it in quantity in the
ore as it is mined. The quantity OF
the other metals in the Cripple Creek
ore is so infinitesimal that the ore rs
commonly assayed for gold alone, 40
attention being paid 10 siINel, lead or
copper. which elsewhere are at least
valuable by-products. The richness
of some of the ores found in this dis
trict seems fabulous. Specimens taken
from The famous Strattons Indepen-
dence Mine. shown in the State Mill.
eraIogicaI Exhibit run $I6G,000 to the
ton: that means that in every pound of
reck brought down by the Pick or drill
from the vein at this point there was
eighty dollars worth of goitl. For the
purpose of comparison it may be
stated that ordinarily good ore runs
about $50 to the ton. This was the
mine that raised from poverty to vast
wealth. IlldI ttldl ttttCI W - t'Ni ot
ton. who recently died IT Colorado
Springs and whose whole fortune Is to
be devoted to u home for sick paupers
unless the heirs succeed IN breaking
his will. Think of Il poorhoIse to cost
a million. and with an endowment OF
at least ten millions more. The con-
cepton is bizarre enough, but in Its
very adventurousneSs it is worthy of
being born out of that stI-angest Of
wonderlands called Cripple Greek.
The tremendous Investments of cap
ital that have been made in the Grip
pie Creek district and the elaborate
mining plants established there are
representative of recent developments
in the mining industry. On the whole,
ii may be said that the day of the
small miner is past, and the digging of
gold like every other industry in this
age of consolidation, is coming to be
successful only where it is carried out
on a large scale. Though the element
of chance is Inherently very large in
this particular industry. it has been
minimized by the scientific eXploita-
ton and systematic organization of
the mines. A gold mine cannot be
developed" properly without the in
vestment of Il large sum of money in
plant and workings, and returns can
not ordinarily he expected until this
work Of development is done. Figura-
lively speaking. heavy stakes must he
yentured if there are to be any win
nings, and thousands of small invest
urs have lost their little fortunes sim
ply because their purses Were not long
enough ito enable them to play the
game This quite apart from the other
thousands who have been ,inveighed
into squandering their good dollars on
One of the strongest evidences of the
great advantage of sufficient evidences
of the great advantage of sufficient
capital and scientific methods is found
i'm the number of leasing companies
that are successful IN working mines
which gave only negative results in
the hands of their owners 1t would
be n most wholesome thing for the
country at large as well as for the gold
and silver districts If the knowledge
could be widely disseminated that
mining is now a science and a legiti-
mate business. though still d hazard
Gus one. and not u gambling scheme
or a lottery in which every fool with a
little money to risk has the same
chance as the expert.
The scene that meets the eye as the
train enters and traverses the Cripple