Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913, 1905-07-29

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portance that without it the fair fabric
of our civilization would crumble into
ruins of desuetude great as that Of anci
ent Babylonia. Seldom is this denizen
of the wilds seen in the busy marts of
trade except to provide himself with
few necessities of life and of his chosen
avocation. For these reasons the life
and work of the prospector is as little
known to the average laymen as if he
were not. In the evolution of a mine
there are usually three distinct periods
discovery, promotion and exploitation,
each marked not infrequently by dis
tinct presiding genius, selected for
peculiar ability to perfect the process
under his division of labor, correlating
it to the composite whole in such order
as completes the creation.
Most persons are familiar with the
last two processes mentioned, but the
initial process upon which the others
depend is not very often, we fear. CON-
ceived of in it's true relation to mining
1t is sad to recall, but the truth is,
nevertheless, that the discoverer of
utilities in all the various occupations.
of life, the man who, at his own sacri
flee, purchases leisure for the rest Of
mankind to think, to improve and to
enjoy; the man who ungrudgingly, os-
tracises himself from the amenities of
social life that the world may have more
of the blessings that follow wealth, that
man, through the ingratitude of his fell
lows, is the first forgotten, the least
understood and the most niggardly rec
ompehsed. This will ever be until the
world learns to put honor above pleas
ure. We cannot grow in wisdom and
greatness and goodness until we appre-
ciate and recompense these rare quail
tiles as they appear in our benefactors.
We may not in thousand years ap-
proach the millennial possibilities of
civilization while our worshipful creed
is still that in which all unregenerate
times has actuated the lowest impulses
of man. Until we are the happy pos
SCISSORS of that which we have now
barely the sense to define Justice the
world may have more rapid transit,
aerial navigation, in fact, humiliation
of space as affecting transmission of
thought, yet these adjuncts of what we
are pleased to call civilization, may not
necessarily affect ever so slightly the
moral tone of the world. This want of |
recognition of and consideration of true
merit has led us to digress somewhat in
this article for we are unable to con-
template with serenity the too common
attitude of the world toward its bene-
factors.
The poor. prospector is often con-
founded with the promoter of mining
proposition and where the promoter is
dishonest is made to bear unjustly the
elimination OF another. The real pros
pector is honest. If fake properties
were his aim it would not be necessary
for him to pack his burro with provis-
ions and bed preparatory for sojourn
of months in the hills away from every
vestige of society. In any mining camp
worthless claims may be located by a
few hours work, and this kind of prop
erty is, of all others, just what the dis
honest promoter prefers, as it gives him
a chance to produce testimony which,
to the ignorant, is well nigh conclusive.
This spacious point made so much of is,
sour ground. is surrounded on all sides
by great producers" and eve adjoin
the great Doughnut mine, which has
produced ten million dollars" and eve
cover the extension of the Jim Dandy"
or some other contiguous mine if it
happens to be great enough to excite
cupidity in the foolish investor. With
mining ground situated alone means
nothing. 1t is mineral that makes the
mine, ard if this mineral comes to the
surface it is just as essential in law that
the ground should cover the outcrop.
Probably more people are swindled
through the false notion of value at
taching to mineral ground solly cause
of its relative position to proven ground
than through any other line of argu-
ment.
If one were inclined. to do what is
usually styled taking long shot, at
an Investment (Which, mind, we do not
advise) it will greatly reduce the haz-
card to get away from old and thorough
ly developed camps. Prospectors do
not locate wild cats" in the wilds. A