The Arizona sentinel., 1903-01-14

reservoiring the waters of a small spring for use in their prospecting operations for gold with the rocker. While making the pit and cleaning off it's bot tom, material of a different char acter from anything they had before found was encountered. Nothing in it's appearance, how ever. suggested that there was gold in it, but they concluded to run some of it through the rock CT. The stuff was black and heavy and after washing cou- pie of bucketsful of it the apron of the rocker was found to be burdened with glittering parti- cles of gold and they realized that they had made strike.
 Thus was American silver mining born. On the apron also lodged considerable quantities of rich sulphuret of silver, the des- pissed "heavy black stuff, " wbich they considered worthless and which interfered with their col lecting the fine free gold parti cles. They were at loss how to rid themselves of it. Other miners visited the claim and they were advised to send some of the "black stuff" to California for assay, where it was determined that it was almost pure silver. The assays were made at Nevada City, California, and the results so astonished the assayer that he was unable to believe his own figures. Then came the great rush from California and else where. Many hundreds of mil lions of dollars, in both gold and silver, have since been taken from the Comstock lode.
 Mclaughlin soon disposed of his interest in the mine for S3, 800, which he rapidly squandered in dissipation. He afterwards work ed as a cook at the different mines in the vicinity of the Com stock and finally died penniless while wandering from camp to camp.
 O'Riley held on to his interest until it was worth. $50,O00 for which sum he sold, receiving part of his pay in mining stock. He started a hotel in Virginia City called the Virginia House. A spirit of speculation seized him and through some deals in mining stocks he soon lost every thing. He was an ardent spiritu- alist and under the directions of the spirits he began the work of driving a tunnel into one of the barren peaks of the Sierras, tell ing his friends that he was sure to find richer vein than the Comstock. While engaged in this work he became insane and finally died in an asylum at Woodbridge, California.
 Comstock sold his interest in the mine for $10,000. He then opened small mercantile estab- lishments at Carson and Silver City. Having no education and being entirely ignorant of busi- ness, it was only question of a few months before his money was gone and he found himself without a dollar. He then struck out for Montana, Idaho and the Black Hills, where he prospect ed for mines without success. In September, 1870, he arrived at Bozeman, Montana, coming from the Black Hills in Dakota. He was fiat broke," and de- spondent, and after 8 stay of few days in the town drove a pistol ball through his head with a six-shooter.
 Comstock took the loss of his fortune and his subsequent ill luck in prospecting very much at heart. The great riches of the mine he had once owned and the knowledge that 1t was his no longer, prompted the rash act which ended his life. He was a man of powerful build, dark compleXioned and black hair which had begun to show streaks of grey when he sent the fatal bullet crashing through his