Arizona republican., 1903-11-21
DISAPPEARANCE OF PRosPEcToR
He and the Frontier Are Not What
 They Were.

In the general advancement of min ing the prospector appears to have lost his former importance; it is as though
 the army of those who develop the mineral resources of the country had marched forward so fast as to Overtake
 the advance guard of the pioneers, then
 absorb them, and finally leave them
 behind. This apparent disappearance of the prospector of the old days has been the heme of retrospective com ment among those who direct mining explorations.
 It is a fact to regret. In part it was inevitable in part it is due to the de- cadence of a type. The tracts formerly unexplored are becoming well trodden
 and the once inaccessible places of the earth are now easily attainable. The
 glamor of the dawn has faded from off
 the mountain tops, the never-never
 lands have been made commonplace by
 travel, and that nameless grace the charm of the unknown" has been
 stripped off the regions which were,
 not long ago. the goal of the adven
 turous. In other words, the attractive ness of prospecting has waned. The young men find it no more Of allure ment, and the only prOspectors worth mentioning are the old fellows who no longer seek for the hidden ore, but are content to sit by camp-fires and talk of the days when they struck it rich on Bullion Hill, or washed the first pan of dirt in Colchis Valley. The prospector's calling has fallen upon evil days. If you ask him why, he will tell you that he cannot get any back ing" no one will "grub-stake" him, the moneyed men who formerly provid- ed the wherewithall have ceased to put up." For this there are various reasons forthcoming. Twenty years ago the merchants and bankers of a mining center like San Francisco, Den yer or Salt Lake were in the habit of giving a prOspectOr a "grub-stake;" that is they found him food, supplies and a horse or mule. and thus provid- ed, they sent him out to seek for gold, silver or copper, on the understanding that any discovery should be shared equally between the miner and his pa tron. Such agreements rested upon good faith, and it is a fact that they were kept in a manner highly credit able to all concerned. As the frontier
 came into closer touch with the more complex civilization of the cities the simple codes of honor, strong amid
 border life. became weakened by the interpositiOn of the letter of the law As soon as it became necessary to
 draw up legal contracts, as > soon as
 good faith needed stiffening by attor- neys, the whole system of grub-stak- ing broke down. The merchants who formerly had men constantly in the field ceased to support them when
 time after time it was found that dis coveries would be made only to be hidden for subsequent location by the prOspector on his own account Bad faith will undermine any forms of
 business. The prospector illustrates
 the law of organic life; he does not survive because he is not fitted to the
 new conditions; he is threatened with
 the extinction of the Dodo
 Another factor has proved inimical to
 the prospectCr-and that is the labor
 union. When a certain rate per diem
 is to be the one and final recompense
 for all men. irrespective of ability and
 experience, it is obvious that the pros
 pector, who typifies the cooperative aspect in its most adventurous mood,
 must succumb to the walking delegate
 The bitter antagonism of the ignorant leaders of the labor unions is not the
 sentiment likely to foster the relations or mutual trust and good will which
 characterized the days of the pioneers.
 It is pity, but it is the price of progress. Simplicity yields to complex
 ity in all avenues of live. Time was when We shared some of our salary
 with the prospector, when we sent him into the hills in search of lost mines and of mines that were never found We loved the young and fearless, we respected the old and experienced prospector. We ate his bacon and beans, we drank his coffee, and at night we slept under the same blankets by his side. We swapped yarns. and philosophical over the hidden things of the earth. He was a man and a brother; above all, he was free to come and go among the hills, no one hind ering him. Other times. other men.
 May the sunlight finger on the old cabin upon the hill side. may the
 breeze sing like the voice of the sea among the pines where once the pros | pectOr dwelt and may the snow fall soft upon the far divide across which he took his lonely way never to re- turn-Engineering and Mining Jour