The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-06-22

concerning the turquoises on the
porches G the houses, but he obtained
from the natives many turquoise ear
rings and tablets set with stones
When il is recalled that MOntezuma
presented beautiful specimens of tur-
Quoises TO the COnquistadOres nearly
400 years ago. some of which are stun
among the crown jewels Of Spain, the
question arises, BY whom was this
mine worked2 1t may have been by
the TOltecs or Aztecs. or even before
their time.
Formation Is Peculiar.
It is somewhat difficult to tell what
is the formation in which they Occar
in this district Some call it d mica
sehiSt others a metamOrDhOsed gran
tie. while to yOut correspondent it ap-
peared very similar to the volcanic ash
in which the Dewey mine was found
in the Thunder mountain district. Ida
no. The zone in which the gems are
found here IS about half a mile wide
and little more than a mile Ions.
There appears. to have been no fssur-
ing. with the exception of the intrusion
of one large dyke. which is about go
feet wide and shows clearly Tor 1000
feet in length. and the turquoise IS
found in this dyke, sometimes showing
on the surface in nOdules. which vary
from the size of pin head to an aver
age walnut Mr.. Simmons has opened
the property in many places and the
supply of gems seems to be practically
inexhaustibIe.
Trouble to Float Mine.
After Mr.. Simmons had found his
wonderful mine his troubles only COM
menced. In 1897 he took some of the
gems to Denver, where he had them
cut He sold a few there and then
went on to New York, where he sold
some more. He endeavOred to raise
money FOR development purposes, but
was met with doubts and fears He
bonded his property several times. and
every time the sale fell through IN
1898 he went 20 London with his grip
sack containing gems of various sizes.
They were found TO be purer and
brighter than those even from Arabia
and Persia, and he sold a few there
He brought back to New York his best
gems and sold a IS carat stone TO a
prominent New Yorker. after the clos
est tests lad been made, for 81 900.
That settled the question. HV enlisted
Charles F. Wood & Co of 1 Maiden
lane in his enterprise, and John la
mont, a prominent lapidary, and they
organized the TOltec Gem Mining COM
pany. The three members of the firm
of Wood & Co, Mr.. Lamont and Mr.
Simmons own all the stock. of which
there is none for sale They have sew
enteen claims here and twenty-fOUr in
California, and they can limit or in
crease the supply at their will. and
they can fix the price as effectually
for turquoises as can the DeBeers COM
pany of South Africa for diamonds.
Lives in Mountain Eyrie.
Mr.. Simmons lives quietly and unos-
tentatiOusly with his wife in an eyre
up on Sugar Loaf mountain. from
which can be seen parts Of Nevada,
California, Arizona and Utah. As an
index to his character it might be said
that he has not deserted his friends of
former and poorer days. There are,
however, other posi- bilities connected
with this mine worth mentioning. From
various parts OF this property samples
Of quartz have been taken and assay
returns have shown values of S5S in
gold. This bears out the theory of
your correspondent that Sugar Loaf
mountain may be the crater of an ex-
tlnct volcano which may carry untold
riches.
Believing in the Crescent district as
a gold-bearing section, Mr.. Simmons is
developing the Emma mine, which has
a shaft down 40 feet and well de-
-A--~N- fNAAA VI Ntldl q dSSei AlAS go BGA
ton. He also owns the Big Tiger, for
merly known as the EsmeraIda, and
the first location in the district, which
ne has just purchased and given a
contract to sink 100 feet from its pres
ent depth. If it then looks good he
viii sink 100 or 1000 feet further Sew
eral shipments of ore were made from
this property when it was owned by
William Sherman, which carried $3.50 in
silver and $40 in sold.
Colorado Men Interested.
That the district is attracting atten-
ton IN the outside world is evidenced
BY a number of circumstances, among
which may be mentioned the fact that
Denis Sullivan, the well known mining
tnlIuonalre Of Denver, has been quietly
developing the Double Standard group,
three miles from here. for the past
nVe years. Associated with him are
some milliOnaires from New York and
Denver, while the work has been care
fully and Systematically done uRder
the supervision Of Robert D. Kenney.
who is also interested in the property
and who began mining in Gilpin cOun~
ty, Colo, in 1859. His reputation for
a0lIfty and experience is second to
none, and he informs your correspond
ent Jnat he has sampled every mining
district from San Diego to the Utah
line, and that he has seen nothing that
promises so well as the Crescent dis
trict. Over 1000 feet of work have
been done on the Double Standard and
returns show from SO to $50 in gold
and from twenty ounces to 5000 ounces
IN silver. Mr. Kenney pronOunces the
formation of the district to be granite
and pOrphyry-
Much High-grade Gold.
The Nippeno Mining company. recent
y organized by Grant HaIfpenny and
associates of Los Angeles. owns six
claims in the heart of the district, from
which shipments Of gold running from
go to several thousand dollars per ton