Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-17
WHY HE REFUSED IT
DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO INVEST
THE MONEY.
Bought It in 1883 for S26, 800
Yields an Income Of 100000
Month.
BY WILLIAM L. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of Tie Star and the Chicago
Record Herald.


dicate not longago for the United Verde cop
per mine and lie told me that he refused 1t,
because he did not know what TO do with
the money. II is said to be difficult to invest
s25oU0UtN although few people ever at
tempted such a task. Senator Clark has
had considerable experience that way-more |
than most Of US. There are other reasons !
why he would rather have the mine than
the money. Some idea of the value Of the
property may be gained from the fact that
since operations began in 1854 more than
SSO,CO0,OOO worth of ore has been taken
out of it, and Clark's engineers assert that
S5o,0oo.0O0 worth has already been blocked
out, ready to be removed as fast as de-
sired or the facilities will permit. OF this
block of twelve millions Is supporting the
machinery, which must be removed first.
i do not know where more valuable foun-
dation for hosting plant can be found
Inc United Verde property consists of 260
acres of land and controlling interest cost
Senator Clark $26, 500 in 1885 1t is situated
at the town OF Jerome, on the Santa Fee
Prescott and Phoenix railroad about forty
miles south of Ash Fork station on the
Santa Fe line to California. Jerome is a
town of about 500 inhabitants and nearly
everything IN 1t belongs to the mining com
panyt of which Charles w. Clark the son
OF the senator, is manager He is assisted
by several experienced men. Jerome is
reached by a narrow gauge road twenty
SIX miles long, which also serves several
ulHei Important mining properties in the
hslshboiHood Inc town was named after
larry Jerome, a famous bon vivant of
Ne" York. who used to have some interest
Guy mere. jerome Park, near New York
city, was also named after him and NC
OF his daughters married into the Rritisb
peerage " i'''h
Product of the Mine
senator Clark owns rs per cent of tho
'H''eu verde mine. and according to popu
iar opinion. his income from it averages
anout $4,000 month. He can make as
much more as he likes but is satisfied
with that. The mine produces an average
OF fo'"nWn pounds of copper wear Last
year the output was IS 600 600 nonnds
WIlch at II cents pound was worth
N"NooO, and this is said to have been All
CS3F proht, because the -products-the
sold and silver found with the copper ore
more than paid running expenses Rut
really. nobody down here knows ANYTHING
ABOUT H. There is no mining inspection |
law In Arizona and no reports are re- |
CURED. Senator Clark talks freely to his |
Hlehas, but does not allow his managers to |
ENJOY that privilege, and nobody except |
tie Woikmen OF the company Is admitted to |
the lncIosure without a personal pass from |
him- He has several other welI-paying
mines In the same neighborhood but thew
are not worked TO their full capacity The |
Equator mine, three miles south of the
United Verde. is popularity believed to be
equally valuable.
1t is satire upon human fate that sena-
tor Clark bought the United Verde for a |
gold mine. and admits that II he had sup |
posed 1t was copper property he would |
have turned 1t down" 1t was offered to a |
dozen different parties before he leased It, |
and he says he was not proud of the trade |
at the time. The mine was discovered by |
Capt John Boyd, veteran prospector, in |
1873, and was developed by two Chicago |
men-John ODaugherty, amateur as |
sayer and his brother Edward Daugherty |
m herr for
his health They discovered and developed |
several other prospects In the immed ate |
neighhorhood. including the now famous
Copper Chief and Iron King mines They |
organized the district and Incorporated |
two or three mining companies in the sew
entities and early eighties.
Offered to Many People.
The United Verde mine was first offered |
to the owners of the famous Calumet-Hecla |
mines OF Lake Superior; then to Phelps, |
Dodge & Co. of New York; then to Mark |
Hopkins of San Francisco and afterward |
TO John w. Mackey and his associates Mr.. |
Frank NJ. Murphy of this city president of |
the Santa Fe. Prescott and Phoenix rail- |
road tells an Interesting story in this con- |
nection. When he was quite a youngster |
knocking about this part of the country he |
was sent over to get some samples of the |
ore, which a promoter here wanted to take |
with him to New York. The latter had ar |
ranged To start the next day. and Mr.. Muir |
ply rode thirty-siX miles over the noun
talnS and thirty-Six miles back to Prescott |
IN one day. stopping at the prospect hole |
just long enough to pick up some of the |
best samples of metal-bearing rock he could /
ana lying around loose. The samples were |
taken TO New York and submitted to Mr.. |
Nackey and his associates who took very |
little interest In them. They were then pass
ed on 10 Mr.. Clark. who was operating in !
Montana. and he was sufficiently Interested |
to come down here to look at the property |
He did not have faith enough TO buy but |
obtained three-year lease to operate the !
mine on shares. the owners receiving one
half OF the net profits. In the meantime no
bought up the stock fast as he cou.f
until he obtained control.
There are very few great mines in the
world l saw an article in the Engineering
and Mining Journal the other day, giving a
list OF l61 profitable mines In America
which paid dividends amounting to $780,
4toS'l above the cost OF operation during
the year 1904 Seventy-two were gold
mines paying S14, goo in dividends: sew
enteen were copper mines. and the best
bread winner" was the Calumet Hecla OF
Michigan. which has paid for itself IA times
over however, many modest properties IN
Arizona and elsewhere are earning GOOD
dividends. This country is dotted all over
with mines but the business is changed.
Mining is no longer a gambling game.
While the mountains are filled with pros
pectors they are now guided by scientific
knowledge and practical experience, rather
than by luck. Mining is no longer poor
mans business. Orga MIA ton, capital ma
chinefy and transportation facilities are alb
sOIute!y necessary; quite essential az
they are In the coal regions of Penusyl-
wanna. There must be means of reaching
smeters with the ore, and there must be
machinery and workmen to handle it,
Great Demand for Labor.
There is a great demand for labor in every
part OF Arizona. with wages al 81 and 81 a
day. Superintendent Drake of the S. F.. p
and p railroad told me 1t was impossible
for him to get sufficient number of track
hands. The company has It's right of way
strewn with ballast, and he cannot get men
enough to shovel IL on the tracks Most of
his labor comes from Mexico and the Indian
reservation. New mines are being devel-
oped all the time, principally with outside
capital. and thus the demand for labor is
constantly increased. New smelters are
being erected in all OF the mining districts
we went up to see one the other day which
VIII cost million more dollars 1t is
sixteen miles from Prescott, at a new town
called Humboldt, and is owned by New York
capitalists, who have organized what they
call the Arizona Smelling Company There