davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-28

one piece is withdrawn from 2,Ooo
pieces or fraction thereof. These pieces
are placed in an envelope, sealed, dated
and deposited in the Pyx. Access 10
the interior of the PyX is only possible
in the presence of the assayer and cup
erintendent of the mint. The PyX is
sent quarterly to Philadelphia, and there
the function with the utmost care is
carried out by a commission appointed
by the President. The commission COM
prises in its ranks some of the most en-
inent scientific men in the United States,
and with the utmost eXactitude is de-
termined the actual weight and tineness
of the respective coins. We believe
that in the history of the United States
the Pyx commissioners have never yet
had to report that the coinage laws OF
the United States have not been COM
piled with. On the other hand, the
exactitude with which the work has
been carried on is a matter of pride to
the government officials entrusted with
this important work. The United States
coins deservedly rank among the best
minted coins of the world. Mining Re-
DOrter
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-28
KNOCKERS.

The MINING News is in posses
sion of information from several
creditable sources to the effect
that certain citizens Of Grange
vile and Lewiston does upon all
and every occasion which presents
itself designate Elk City district
as a wildcat camp, as having no
MERIT whatever as mining dis
trict, and that the operators are
merely grafters and stock job
bers.
We will say to begin with that
this SANDER is not of recent birth,
and that the source is no secret.
neither is the. underlying motive.
But what good end they hope to
serve by such cowardly BUSH
whacking is what stumps us. If
they were not blinded by an ex-
cess of spleen superinduced, we
are charitable enough to believe,
by ignorance alone, they must
see that the future greatness of
their towns is dependant almost
wholly upon the future greatness
OF this and contiguous districts.
But it is waste of ink and time to
demonstrate with those two
groups of worthless, for it is a well
established tenet of natural sci
ence that the harder you hammer
a pig on the nose the louder he'll
squeal, and their miserable little
span of self imposed Importance
is about dissolved. In conclusion
it it only fair to say that we are
aware that such d ark-lantern
methods does not meet with the
approval Of the decent and pro-
gressive majority of those two
towns. We think that is all.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-28

The Democrats of the district failed
to hold their primary election which
failure, according to law, leaves this
section without any voice in that party's
county convention, This would be de-
plorable, viewed from the standpoint of
the citizens duty to his particular Sec
ton were-it not for the redeeming fact
that owing to the scurvy treatment ac-
corded the mining districts by the pres
ent democratic administration, there
are no democrats left insofar, at least,
as the county is concerned.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-28

The above interesting bit of local MS
tory will be appreciated by readers OF
the MINING NEWS, furnishing as it does
an outline of the privations and vlclssl-
tudes Of the pioneers of this district
and the manner in which they solved
the school problem. Many of the prin-
cinal characters in the little drama are
still among us.
N. B. Pettibone is one of Sites NEST
prominent citizens. Judge j. G. CARRIER
is now the popular and Efficient postmas-
ter at Grangeville. r. F. Carney made
a fortune in the early boom days Of
Buffalo Hump, and was living in New
York when last heard from. j. G..
Young is still ding bushes at the old
stand a prosperous stock grower and
valued citizen. Mr.. and Mrs. Litchfield
who not only secured the organization
of the school but furnished all the pu-
pills but one for the first term, are still
living on their ranch on Elk creek, use
full and prosperous neighbors. The pu-
pills of ten years ago are now stalwart
men and charming women.
S. w. Smith, whose advent in the
camp dates about ten years prior to the
organization VI the school, and who is a
firm believer in the camps ultimate
greatness, is still with us and is show
ing the faith that is in him by more ac-
tive development work on the Buster,
one of the banner properties of the
camp.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-28
w orth Knowing

The trial of the Pyx is an old custom
handed down from ancient times. 1t is
the work carried on annually by a COM
mission appointed by the President to
ascertain if the coinage of the money of
the country has been conducted accord
ing to law, especially as to the variation
in standard of alloy and weights of the
various pieces of money. The United
States coinage standard is goo for either
golp or silver. That is to say, the gold
and silver coins in the United States
are composed of an alloy containing 800
parts gold or silver per thousand parts
of alloy. Of course, it is impossible
practically to make an alloy exactly 900
fine in the quantity such as is needed to
make the coins annually turned out by
the mints. Hence the law allows a
slight variation from the exact standard.
This legal variation is known as the
tolerance. =" For gold coins the limit
OF tolerance is one. That is to say,
gold coin which has a finess of S99 or 9O1
is within the limits of the law. For
silver the tolerance is three. That is to
say, the silver pieces may be from S97
to SOB fine. 1t is the function of the
Pyx trial to see if these limits are OBJ
served, although it is fact that our
minters would be very much blamed if
these limits of variation were ever
reached, not to speak of them being ex-
ceeded. The name is derived from the
word Pyx, which is the name of the box
in which the sample coins are kept.
Samples are taken thus: Every delivery
of coins made to the superintendent of
the mint is made in the presence Of the
assayer. One gold piece is withdrawn
Unfortunately from each LOCO pieces
or fraction of 1000. For silver coins
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-28

All mine owners, whether corporations
or individuals, should secure a United
states Patent to their ground as exped-
itiously as circumstances will permit.
That many good mines are being held
securely, and operated satisfactorily
under the ordinary location title goes
without saying, but there is a constant
danger of litigation where the property
shows value enough to excite the cupid
ity of the blackmailer, whether the
legal ''shyster" or the professional
claim jumper.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-28

Un1er our institutions there appears
to be no way, or even desire, to make
the shoemaker ''stick to his LAST in the
enactment of laws. The desire to recu-
late the ''other fellows" affairs has
always been a passion with the human
family and we see no reason, at this
time, to expect a change for the better;
which fact we make the excuse for
taking hand in the regulating bus
mess to the extent Of the following sug-
gestions: that where a claim is being
held in good faith, good faith be made
the. basis of title pending patent, how
ever long patent may be in issuing;
that where said claim is Jumped" on
technicality the act be made felony,
with the penalty at least one year in
the states prison, and rnnning to ten
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-28

Every session of Idahc,s Reichstag
brings forth some funny little creation
which is usually tagged and labelled H.
B. No, or S. B, so and so, and if
the father of this hybrid little devil OBJ
serves the lack of distinctive lineaments
he straightway, with the connivance of
his fellow Solons, designate it ga Min
ing Law" and is done with it so far as
he is concerned, and the world hears no
more of it till some unusually ricn mine
is discovered, when the attorney at
blackmail and his fellow jackal, the pro-
fessional claim jumper, moved thereto
by their natural craving for other mems
possessions, look up the farmer or law
yer made mining law and, ofcourse, find
holes big enough to run an automobile
through; ofcotrse the weakness lies
nearly altogether in technical errors in
perfecting location work. All those
laws, so called, fairly bristle with tech
nialities, some cunningly planted with a
thrifty eye to the future, others the re-
suit of ignorance, and some are added
from time to time by the divers half
cooked lawyers whose luck at the polls
constitute their only legitimate claim to
the Judicial Ermine.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-28

years for the jumper; that where there
exists a reasonable doubt that the prop
erty is being held in good faith and is
jumped, both claimants be disqualified
as claimants to that particular property
These suggestions are merely an outline
of an act which is very much needed in
order that the prospector and legitimate
claim owner be protected in his calling.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-28
Idaho Output Is
$2O,451,933.
Product of the Mines For
The Year 1908.

Boise, May q. Especial to the Tri-
bune. The United States assay office
has completed the task of computing
the mineral output of Idaho for the cal
endar year of 1903. 1t shows the total
production to be $40, 451, 933, an increase
of over S5,000,0 900 over the previous
year. Shoshone county is the leading
producer in the state, the total value of
all the metals for the year having been
81, 235, 222.
A large majority of the silver pro-
duced was from lead ore, the output of
the Occur d'Alenes ranking in this
class. There were altogether 1927, 81
fine ounces of quartz silver and {, O42, 225
ounces of lead ore silver. The value of
the silver produced is figured at the
coinage rate, rather than the market
value. The production of the Occur d'A-
lenes for the last year was silver, fine
ounces, 5,471, $40; solid pounds, 2O7. 1882.
448.
Gold and silver by counties:
Ada, $12, 122.
Bannock, $lO,6
Bingham, $1S, 421.
Blaine, $687, O82.
Boise, 1913, 700.
Canyon, SO, 264.
Cassia, 81, 424.
Custer, 1928, 623.
Elmore, S1O8, 682.
Idaho, $24l, 729.
Lemhi, S248, 661.
Lincoln, s9,7l2.
Oneida, S1I, 345.
Owyhee, S1,4O4,1l4.
Shoshone, 81, 235, 222.
Washington, SIPS, $50.
Total $1O,671, $40.
Total product in Idaho, l9O3-gold
81, 79O, 997; silver, So, $40, 652; lead So
e4l' 1856; copper, $138, 92s. Total, $40,
45l, 933. Lewiston Tribune.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-28
The LonesoInesE hgaN.

A prospector old seeking for gold
Lived high on a mountain side;
his cabin dank was covered with mold
And the chinks in the walls we're vide
As ne picked away through the LONG dav
lie droned a song, and this IS fla lov.
I'm the lonesomest man l allow
For no kith nor kin hev I;
And friends, couldn' make 'en - bo,,,
However SO much I'd try!
My kindness, it never seems to mani
And SO Pm jest the lonesomest MIN
"And the sun don't seem to shine fer
me,
Like 1t shines fer other folk;
oorter looks to man up a tree
mat 1t Jest because I'm broke;
Seems to be under kinder a ban.
And SO I'm jest the lonesomest man
Camp birds won't even make fri.rds
rho with me,
though feed 'em lots of stuff.
Gan t git thin a rod Of Sing Lee
" no nVes Jest under the bluf;
Ian I even git a game of fan tan;
ana so I'm jest the lonesomest man
When cid Gabe toots his little cows
horn
ana go whar eyerythin pans.
- 'hlngs up thar air jest as forlorn
AS AZ. they air in airthly lan's.
=, Il go to Tophet 'ithout fan;
hnen l won't be the lonesomest man"
F. A. 3.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-28
Respectfully,
j. c. CARRIER.
Teachers Monthly Report.

Showing names of all children attend
ing the school taught in district No. 28
Oh icaho county, state of Idaho, for the
school month ending December 7th
1894, and the number of days each child
has attended.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-28
The First School
In Elk City District Organized In
1894.
Mrs. Litchfeld Writes.
Elk City, Idaho, May %, 19(

Elk City, Idaho, May %, 1904
Editor MINING NEWS:
At last l redeem the promise l
made you some time since and submit
for your approval and acceptance few
items in regard to the first school of
Elk City.
In the early part of the summer of
1894 Mr.. Litchfield and myself felt very
forcibly the need of a school for our
children and finally got petition writ
ten which Mr. Litchfield circulated and
procured the signatures of Messrs. C.
l.. Rice and A. 7. Reynolds to it, and
the district, No. %, was formed by the
Commissioners at their July session,
1904.
By enclosed letter from Supt ]. C.
CARRIER you will see that very little in
terest was manifested in school matters
by the residents of the district at that
time, outside of the Litchtields, to whom
the matter was of vital Importance, as
they expected to remain here perma-
nently, the other families did not. Be-
lieving that ''neither of individuals nor
of nations is it true that the way to be
prosperous is to keep your neighbors
poor, weak and ignorant" I filed out
the census report as requested, and the
first school of Elk was opened Novem-
Der 10th, 1894, and closed March End,
1895.
To the call for school room Mr.. N.
B. Pettibone responded promptly by of
fering, without cost, the office room of
his hotel, which was afterwards totally
consumed by fire, January LIST, 1899.
MIR. j. c. Litchfield donated the fire.
wood for the three months school and
Mr., R, F. Carney was appointed teacher
for the same length of time.
The present site of the school house
was donated by J. c. Young and wife
and the school building was erected un-
der the supervision of Messrs. Young.
Rice and Litchfeld, trustees.
I enclose list of pupils attending first
school.
Yours Truly.
Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1904-05-28
Yours Truly,
MRS. S. E. LITCHFIELD.
Superintendent's Letter.

Grangeville, Idaho, Sept. l, 1894.
Mrs. S. E. Litchfield,
Elk City, Idaho.
My Dear Madame:
Your brother, Mr.. S. w. Smith
called on me this morning and handed
me the census nlarshalPs reports that
| had sent out to be filled cut and re-
turned, with the census copies of Elk
City school district, formed by the
Board of Commissioners at their july
session. The new school year common
ces today, September LIST, 1894.
| will wait for the census marshalPs
report until the 10th of this month: if
1t is not here by that time, your district
will have to go by the hoard. Your
brother requested me to send this to
you, that you would probably attend to
it.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-07-02
A ForgivIng Chinnmnn.

The following remarkable story ap-
pears in Mr.. Whigham's "Manchuria
and Korea" "A Cossack in Il fit of
drunkenness had shot Chinaman. and
it was necessary to bring several OF
the meIc to the bedside of the dying
victim for purpose of Identification of
the culprit. The Chinaman. however
refused absolutely to single out the
guilty man, saying, Why should he be
killed, since l must die in any caseY
Then they explained to him that the
man would only be severely punished,
to which the Chinaman responded that
since he forgave the culprit there was
no reason why he should suffer. Then
the theory of the punishment was adj
duced as an argument-the Cossack
must be punished in order that he
might not repeat the offense. But
said the Chinaman, he will never do it
again when he knows that I forgive
him. and there the matter ended
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-07-02

For Your DEATH" answered st. John,
81 will answer to my superiors-if they
ever hear about ii. You have q min
ute and a half"
In the succeeding silence there came
suddenly the sound of q woman's
voice. a moment later Constance was
led in from the hall.
'She came across the fields" said a
soldier. I'VE let her come to the
door
st. John gave her one glance and
turned away.
You have one minute said he to
Lawrence.
The meaning of the scene leaped in
to Constance's mind instantly, and she
screamed
"Stop that woman's mouth said St
John roughly.
The girl eluded a soldiers grasp and
sprang to Lawrence's side They clasp
ed hands and stood facing the British
officer and the file OF men beyond him.
IF gun is fred here" said the girl.
you will all die! This house is sur
rounded
st. John took a quick step forward
and looked keenly at her. He saw that
her words were not ruse
Come" said he. This is worth
knowing. Well have no shooting. A
rope will make less noise and viii
serve as well. Tie this fellow Up and
muzzle the girl
With cry, Constance sprang toward
the window which she knew that Cap
tain Boyd and his men " ere watching.
a burly sentry was on guard there. but
she hoped 10 elude him for long enough
10 thrust her hand through the pane.
Perhaps she might have succeeded, but
st. John was far quicker than the sen
try. He seized her in his arms just in
time She would have screamed, but
he caught her by the throat.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-07-02
Submarine Wells.

Submarine wells are found in many
places. The, supply oftdrinking water
drITxnAuponi by the pQpula ton of Bah
rein, xon the shores offthe Persian gulf,
comesS from springs which have their
origin1in the hills of Oman, 500 miles
away4a nd' which. rise in the salt waters
of@the gulf.
A diver, winding a large goatskin
bag round This left arm and grasping
with one hand its mouth, takes in the
other handIa heavy stone secured by a
strong line TO his boat. Plunging with
thisfto the bottom, he instantly opens
hesbag over the rushing jet of fresh
waberIand closes it again as he springs
up in the ascending current. The
stone is then hauled up. and after
short breathing space the diver repeats
the process.
Thus a constant supply of fresh
water is found in a locality as dry
and hot as any on earth, where there
are no land springs and where no rain
fallS.-LOndon Standard
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-07-02

The next Instam Lawrence burst
through the file of ,men who were adj
vancing upon him rope in hand. He
caught St John by the wrists and
wrenched him away from the girl.
Then as the BritOn, turned, he struck
him fairly between the eyes, and st.
John went backward against the win
dow. The low sill was on level with
his knees and could not stop him. Ee
crashed through glass and sash and
fell upon the grass outside.
Instantly yell arose from the edge
Of the woods, and Boyd and his men
swept out intOtthe field. They were in
plain view from the room. and their
number made resistance futile. 1t was
case of devil take the hindmost."
and the troopers fed through the front
doors and windows of the house
Two soldiers captured st. John be-
fore he recovered consciousness. As
they dragged him TO his feet they look
ed in through the broken window and
saw Captain Lawrence holding Con-
stance close to his breast and whisper
ing to her that she must not weep now
that all'the danger was over.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-07-02
L e in gtOn
And Concord
By WALTON WILLIAMS
Copyright. 1901. by c. N. Lurie.I

commanded the company and gave the
famous command now engraved on the
stone in Lexington green, was namedI
John and was not the Jonas Parker
killed in the engagement, as supposed
by LOSING. There were six Ameri-
cans killed in the battle and nine
wounded. one of these wounded being
killed later in the fighting of the after
noon. There were rs men in the ros-
Ger made up by the News Letter, but
only about sixty were on the ground
at the time of the engagement. the rest
not having reached the common. The
Lexington company was among those
who harried the British in the retreat
of the afternoon.
Lexington green is very much today
as it was at the time of the battle. 1t
is a triangular fiat common. studded
with noble trees and surrounded by
houses of colonial appearance. many
of which were standing in Revolution
airy days. On one side is modern
edifice. however, of artistic design. 1t
is the Hancock church, erected out n
few years ago. This was named for
the Rev. John Hancock. pastor OF the
congregation in colonial days and
grandfather of the John Hancock who
presided over the meetings of the Con-
tinental congress. 1t is an interesting
fact in this connection that the Revo-
lutionary Hancock and Samuel Adams
were in Lexington ana were being
searched for by the royal troops ut the
time the Lexington battle took place.
Standing on the green is modest
commemorative of the six
who fell on that early April
morning. This shaft looks rather
squat and plain among the surround
ing trees, and it is the hone of many
that in time more imposing. monu-
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-07-02

had suddenly made him n man, and
his heart burned within him, though
he gave no sign.
AS twilight fell the search in the
lower part of the house was abandon
cd. In the kitchen no one remained
except two sentries. the prisoner and
the leader of the raiders. Major Bran
don st. John was nominally an officer
on the staff of Clinton. In reality he
was a licensed marauder. a gatherer
OF information for his superiors and
plumber for himself.
There was a stir upon the stairs, and
ST. John turned toward the door, scowI-
ing. a man entered and saluted.
Here are the dispatches, sir" he
said. We found them
"Give them TO me"
He took the sealed packet and ripped
it open. His eye ran hastily over the
contents. The frown darkened on his
brow. He glanced from the papers to
the prisoner.
$50 much for this stuff" said he,
and tore the dispatches into bits.
There was a brief silence.
Sergeant" said the leader, draw
I'D a file of six men on this side of the
room. Prisoner. take your place there"
He pulled out his watch.
81 have two questions TO ask you"
he continued. land I'll give you two
minutes TO answer them. These are
the questions: One-Is Washington at
Dobbs Ferry? TwO-If not. where has
he gone and with what force?'
1.-The last time 1 had the honor of
seeing General Washington began
the prisoner, but St John checked him
with loud oath and struck the table
with his fist
The facts, the factsr' he cried.
The facts or your life! Choose
You dare not murder ner' said
Lawrence.
Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-07-02

- EXTINCTION and Concord. where
occurred the historic skirmisheS
~ which precipitated the Amer.
lean Revolution, are rapidly
taking on a suburban air. owing to the
outward movement of the population
of Boston. Lexington is only n little
over ten miles from the business por-
ton of the Hub-that is, by the old
county road, though a tribe farther by
rail. 1t lies in a northwesterly direc-
ton, and its quiet and reStful surround
ings, no less than its historic asSocia-
tons, render ii a desirable retreat for
those who wish TO escape the busy life
Of the city. Concord is seven miles
west of Lexington and is twenty miles
by the Fitchburg railroad from the
Boston station. This quaint and beau
tiful old New England town, that must
so soon be swallowed in the environs
of the advancing city of culture, is
not only patriotic shrine, but a liter
airy Mecca as well, for here it was that
the poet-Sage Emerson lived, and Haw-
thorne, whose rare genius is only now
beginning 10 be recognized at its true
worth. Here also We're the Alcotts and
Thoreau, and not far away was Brook
Farm, the utopian prophecy that sue
ceeded even in its failure Senator
George +. Hoar and others of the IA
nous sons of Massachusetts also hail
from Concord.
1t was 129 years ago, the 10Th of
April, that the first American blood
was shed, the news of which fired the
hearts of the colonists from Vermont to-
Georgia. Up to that day few believed
the struggle would so to the length of
armed conflict. Before the setting of
the sun the issue was made With the
arrival of the COuriers bearing the
startling intelligence all knew that the