The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1903-05-21
A WELL SATISFIED INVESTOR
4 weli.known lsdy Writes Interestingly Of
fancy County.

ty and bought tract of land. To the
casual observer her opinion was correct.
Perhaps she wns not the only one who
thought 30. To the compliment ! re-
piled, "Time will tell which one Of us
Is the goose"
She had lived In Taney county long
enough to have acquired homestead,
and TO have improved /, either us farm
or orchard. She might have been In
ION the ground floor" Of the mineral
hoom, but 1t frequently happens that
long familiarity with things prevents
our proper appreciation Of their value.
In other words, "T'is distance lends
enchantmcnt TO the view"
had had my attention called to the
mineral lands Of Marion county, Ar
kansas, and knew that In less than u
year prices advanced from five dollars
an acre to fifteen. went to Arkansas
and studied the conditions there; noted
the topography, ore formation, surface
indications, drainage, timber, etc, and
knew that a political line had nothing
TO do with nature, so that one might
expect TO find the same geological for.
nation across the line in Missouri. AZ
ter investigating Taney county and
comparing II with Arkansas, saw
enough similarity TO know that In few
years mineral land In the former would
be In ~ much demand as ip the latter.
or course, the lady who denominnted
me Goose" had given the matter no
consideration whatever.
While In Marion county, Arkansas, !
learned that there was much litigation
over titles-in fact the ownership Of the
two best prospects there wns disputed
and claims might DO Jumped" II one
failed to comply with the requirements
10 do certain amount OF work before
securing n patent; 40 decided to invest
where the mineral law did not apply,
Therefore In the hills OF Taney county
bought land, and was not surprised to
find mineral on it.
1t was red letter day for me when
! equipped myself with hammer and
went prospecting. | walked over u
mile and returned In three hours with
my pockets filed with ore. / had
galena and blende. At first, people
thought had gone to the Anna Lee
prospect and got ore for joke. In n
few days we put In shot and found the
first marionite In the county. How
glad and excited VIC were! There Is a
fascination In finding ore that is known
only to those engaged In II.
After finding surface ore the wise
ones said there would be no deep de.
posits found. They seemed to think
nature had planned TO deceive people
by wholesale. While we could no,
prove them wrong, We believed they
were, and waited. Now that deep de
posits have been found In Marion coun
ty by drilling We are confident the sam,
exist In Taney county. This will soon
be tested for arrangements are beinl
made TO thoroughly prospect thi
section.
At that time we were about tifty mile
from q railroad. When II was talket
OF, some were hopeful that road woult
be built, and told Of the numerous sur
veys rs proof that II was contemplated
Others scofIed, and said they had heart
OF road for fifteen years, and would be
lieve 1t only when they saw 1t. Tn,
stock men were opposed to road an'
to prospecting for mineral. Some o
them said they would leave II roa,
came. They wanted free range for stock
Now the road Is being built and tn
most skeptical will believe, for they will
see It. Fortunately for me 1t passe
within less than mile Of my purchase
II the railroad company had given me
| hint Of their future route, could nc
have made better selection. MI
johnson, my agent, assured me 1t wa
the best location for mineral, but h
could not foresec the location Of th
railroad. Had he told me II woul
4. probably come 80 near, would hay
considered IL real estate mans fanc.
A year after purchasing, the price (
ore declined and | would have accepte
two hundred per cent on the inves