The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-02-18

forest and the sea inclusive Of lakes
and rivers. OF these four primary
sources Of wealth, the farm has always
stood first, and always will, for with
| out it We cannot live; the mine, how
| ever. has come 10 occupy close sec
ond place. and IS rapidly growing in
| Importance as the recent ''coal strike"
| has clearly demonstrated. Coal is rap
! idly becoming the worlds fuel. and iron
and steel are becoming indispensable TO
civilized life, and we must have gold
and silver. and copper. and lead and
| zinc. ETC., otherwise we are bankrupt.
There never was an age in the history
of the world when the mining industry
was so vast and important as the pres
ent; and there never was an age when
it received such general and sympa-
thetic attention from all classes as the
present; and there never was an age
| when so many and such vast projects
were taking form, and name, and legal
status as the present. The mountains
of California, Colorado, Montana, Ne,
vada. Idaho, Utah and Arizona are
staked out in bewildering fashion by
ulA pal 10 tAAC
country, and the hard-earned savings
Of the poor as we'll as the millions Of
the rich are gathered up to develop
those claims. Is 1t wise? Will those
millions ever come back again to their
owners? Some of them doubtless will.
but not all, for it is highly improbable
that all the claims staked out will ever
become remunerative mines. In fact it
Is quite probable that some Of them
were never intended TO become remune-
rative to anybody except to their pro-
motors.
But notwithstanding all that may be
said on that point, mining. legitimate
mining is still unquestionably the most
remunerative source of natural wealth,
and one of the most important forms
of human industry. Civilization is alb
solutely dependent on it. Close up the
coal, the iron, the copper, the gold, the
silver, the lead, the sink. the nickel
mines, and you will turn the face Of the
race backward toward barbarism.
But while the mining projects of the
present age are numerous and vast, the
number of genuine, productive mines is
relatively small. The great majority of
the mines named and praised in current
Industrial Literature are prospects"
rather than mines. 1t takes money and
time and hard, skillful work to make
mine, but a magnificent prospect" can
be elaboratly developed in few hours!
We have in this country at the pres
emit time a few phenominally lucrative
mines which have already made their
owners multi-millionaires, but 1t would
not be wise for an outsider to invest in
their stock for the simple reason that
their capitalization has been made to
more than equal their productiveness,
hence they would not be likely to net
four per cent. to an outsider on his in
vestment. But there is no good reason
why the outside investor should use
his savings in that way, for these we'll
known and phenomenally rich mines do
not by any means cover all the mineral
wealth of the country. 1t is altogether
safe to assume that there are other
fields which In due time will prove just
as rich as they are. There are at the
present time many mines which are
partially but sufficiently developed to
demonstrate their real value, into which
outsiders can safely put their money,
and be as sure to win fortune as
were the first owners of stock in the
great "bonanzas' were when they made
their investments.
The outside investor should confine
himself to these when making his selec-
ton, and then cultivate patience hope
CAL hat TO tit11a
to produce a mine. A great fortune oc-
casionalIy rewards the man who risks
his money in the "wild cat" field but
the chances are always decidedly
against him, for that Is always the field
where the fake" and the fraud" -four
ish.
So far as mining is concerned, the
conservative investor should limit his
investments to mines which are known
to have ore sufficiently rich in quality
and sufficiently abundant in quantity to
pay good profits for many years in adj
dition to operating expenses. Many
mines of this description are now in
process of development in the various
mining fields of the country, and there
is no more doubt Of their richness and
magnitude than there is of the richness
and magnitude of the Comstock Lode,
the United Verde and the Anaconda;
and they are in charge Of experienced,
capable and trustworthy men who are
doing their utmost to insure success,
and the investor who joins one of these,
and then cultivates patience hopefully
will surely reap his reward when his
mine reaches the full productive stage.
But he must be patient and not clam
NOR for dividends" until his mine can
afford to pay them honestly and safely.
To clammor for dividends from mine
in the early stages of its development
is as unreasonable and absurd as it
would be to clammor for milk and but
ter from a sucking calf. 1t requires
two or three years and careful feeding
to bring the calf to the milk and but
ter stage: it takes even more time and
vastly more skill and labor to bring a
mine to the productive stage, yet the
investor can afford to wait, for when it
reaches that stage it soon makes UP for
all the toll and for all the patient watt