Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1904-12-28

cause IL Is more IMAM prOOaDie thdt
he will not look through either a tran
sit or level during the seasons work,
| he has to know how TO do 1t all him.
self. He is not only the locating en-
| gineer of the company. but he Is the
financeer OF the company. First, ne
has to size up the general conditions
OF the country. what the probable
traffic both In freight and passengers
is going to be not only as s0on as the
road is completed. but for a number
of years In the future. 80 that the
general construction and equipment
of the road will be such that II can
handle all the traffic that may 90
over II and still not spend any un.
necessary money In the construction
work.
The same Is true of q large propo.
%sition; II I vas to learn OF a new
strike Of ore rs or 100 miles from
the railroad. and wanted to look into
IL with a view of purchasing 1t and
ulding a mill ON 1t. / would have no
trouble in getting plenty OF assayers,
mill foremen, mine f0remen. and all
of the different classes Of labor nee.
essary to open up the mine. construct
the mill and put both In successful op-
Grafton, but II | were so situated that
I could not visit the property myself,
I do not know where l could find a
man that I could say to him: Here
is my pocketbook. 60 and look this
property over and, II 1t Is a worthy
one, buy 1t for me and build q mill
on It that will be suitable for treat
ing the ore. There are a number OF
such men, but none Of them r Idle;
they all have good positions paying
from $1,000 to $4,000 q year. and
they r never hunting a Job. but the
job Is always hunting them.
A man who IL competent to go out
and purchase q mine. ID I have just
outlined. and build q mill on It, and
put the property In operation must
have q cool calculating business head
ON him. az the problem he has to deal
with IL as much q financial problem
as 1t IL q mining engineers job. and
q mistake In his business calculations
may blast his future reputation more
than any error he may make in his
engineering calculations. We will
say, for illustration, that l should hear
OF a property out here In the noun
tains. 80 miles from Bozeman. and
had decided on q man to examine It
for me. and had instructed him to
purchase II and build a mill and start
In to operate the property, II, In his
Judgment, 1t was q woruny one. The
first thing he would do would be to
60 out and thoroughly sample the
supposed ore bodies, and In doing this
he would not only be careful not to
salt himself. but not to let the own
ers salt him. SO that he might buy
something that was worthless. While
he is still on the ground he would
have to make q rough sketch of the
claims, showing their relative positions
and Of the supposed ore bodies on
the same, he would have to make a
copy of each location notice as the
same was recorded and see that 1t
complied with the letter OF the law.
He would also have to note whether
or not there are any conflicting claims
or claims In the group that were
larger than the law allows. so that
any fractions might be taken care of
at the start, he would also have to
make careful notes as to the amount
OF timber for mining purposes, and
also for fuel that was available, and
the amount and permanency of the
water supply and whether any water
rights had already been fled ON the
same. he would also have to make
several sketches of available mill.
sites, 30 that the transportation
charges would be as light as possible
on the ore; he would have 10 look
the ground over carefully below the
mill and zee where the tailings from
the mill would f1ow.: he would look
the ground " carefully and approx.
innate the cost Of building roads and
bridges over which to haul machinery
and supplies up to the mill and also
make general notes on the geological
conditions Of the country. and be
come acquainted with the prospectors
and settlers who lived near the prop
erty. With this data he could come
out and have his samples carefully
assayed and some of the unchecked
by other assayers. and II the returns
were favorable he would want to &c
back and get an option on the property
for sixty or ninety days. and deeds ol
all OF the property put In escrow. and
then put on a crew of men and star
prosecuting the ore bodies, and a.
the same time do a more thorough
and systematic sampling SO that BY
the time the option had expired he
would not only have q very fair ides
Of the value of the ground, but hi
could have all of the claims properl,
surveyed out, and all Of the fraction.
or additional ground located thal
would be Of use. and also all Of thu
water. timber and tailings rights sc
cured and his right of way over 9th
er property for roads that might b,
needed. During this time he woult
also make all kinds Of tests of tn,
ore to determine al to the best meth
cd OF treating the same, In the near
time he would apply for patent to al
OF the ground, and do the necessar.
work on each claim. and secure alb
solute title to all OF the ground con
tanning the ore bodies. and also al
ground that might conflict or carr,
any possible apex right or rights 10
the flow Of tailings; by doing thi
he may avoid expensive law suits Il
the future and the possible loss o
the whole mining property. In tn
purchase of this property and puttinI
it In operation there will probably b
a great many thousand dollars e,
pended In the country In which It |
located. and the greater part OF
will be paid out for labor that direci
ly benefits the country. and the prof.
erty will also pay q great many do
lars In the years to come into tn
county treasury In the form Of Ia,
es. and It Is no more than right this
the county commissioners should al
TO some extent In building the perm
anent roads to the mining camp. an
II the matter Is properly laid befor
them by the engineer the ywill prol
ably do 1t.
The engineer has also got to be
good Judge Of human nature and US
n -~ook Aanr - -~-~ 4. thA ooloofto