The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1905-05-23

the citizens to incorporate the town
and invest II with the dignity of
Mayor and obtain municipal govern
ment and the many improvements that
follow in it's train, such as a larger
schoolhouse and a high school. The
citizens of Tonopah represent every
grade from every rank of life-lawyers,
stock brokers, doctors, dentists, mining
engineers, store keepers. miners and
the miscellaneous crowd that is invari-
ably associated with a mining camp
Balls and other social functions are
frequent and the Masons. Elks. Eagles
and other orders are strongly repre-
scented.
What was always regarded as the
great drawback to Tonopah-the water
supply-has now been solved. A. COM
pany of California capitalists acquired
what is known as the Rye Patch, stu
ated fifteen miles north of Tonepah,
and by sinking wells has secured a
practically unlimited supply Of pure
water large pumping station with
pumps capable of raising 1901 gal
Ions of water per day has been con-
structeo and the water is pumped ZIP
into a reservoir on the summit of a
mountain and flows by gravity through
a seven-inch main to Tonopah, where
it is connected with all the business
houses, the fire hydrants and most CT
the private residences, the total outlay
of capital being over $4,000.
NEWSPAPERS OF ToNoPAH.
Besides daily paper. The Tonopah
Daily Sun, very creditable journal re-
GENTLY established. the camp has two
weekly papers, The Tonopah Miner of
twelve pages, which gives the mining
news from all the districts OF South
western Nevada, the editor being Sam
c. Durham. well-khown and brilliant
journalist. The other weekly mining
PAPER Is the ,Tonopah Bonanza, the pio-
neer journal of the camp. This is
owned by w. W. Booth.
Tonopah is well served by two local
telephone companies with house to
house connection and extending to
Goldfield, and one company has cor1tin-
red its wires to Rullfrog. A local tele-
graph company connects with the
Western Union at sodaville. and the
Western Union Telegraph Company has
also just completed it's own line to the
town.
Among the improvements abous 10
be undertaken Immediately is 4 second
electric light plant and franchise has
also been granted for a complete sew
eIage system; while the growth of lie
town is so rapid that streetcar fys-
tenn is admitted to be necessary.
another great mining camp, WAS al
most matter of chance. On tho west
slope of Mount Oddie outcropping views
were found by James l.. Butler of hard
barren looking hungry quartz heavily
stained with black oxide of manganese,
which passed from hand to hand befor .
it was finally assayed, partly because
the discoverer had not the means 10
pay for assaying and partly because
its appearance was no inducement 10
an assayer to do the work for an n
terest in the claims: We know now
that some time in the dim and distant
past these veins had been diseoverod
by others and perchance the Same rc:l-
son caused them to be disregarded and
again become secret of the desert.
But the richness of the ore AMI tie
fact that it would stand SIS per ton
freight as well as smelter. charges and
still pay a splendid prohtf,spoA caused
the. fame OF Tonopah to be noised
abroad. The owners not having .;aai-
tai to open up the mine resorted TO the
leasing system and in all about 200
verbal leases We're granted on what
are now known as the Mizpah, Valley
View and Burro Nos. l and veins.
Not all of the leases proved profit
able, for in some the values were scat
tered or spotted, and In some the ore
was too low grade to bear the heavy
expense entaiied in marketing il.
leases was SO great that soon the smell
ters at San Francisco, Everett and Ta-
coma were choked with Tonopah ore.
In the meantime water had been found
on the sixty miles OF desert between
Tonopah and Sodaville. the railroad
point, thus enabling leasers to ship out
at a profit ore OF a minimum value OF
500 per ton.
The leasing period ended on Decem-
Der 81, 1901, and in about thirteen
months to that date the camp had pro-
duced about s3,000,000 worth OF ship
ping ore, running from $1oo to $500
per ton. in addition to which the leas-
ers left on the dumps for treatment at
some future time about 10000 tons
"low-grade'' ore valued at an average
of SAT per ton. And the mine was sold
TONoPAH COMPANY OF NEVADA.
Philadelphia capitalists organized Z
company known as the Tonopah Mining
Company of Nevada with a capital OF
81, 800, 600, of which 100000 were pref
erence shares and constituted a mort
gage on the property. bearing per cent
interest per aflnum, and the only out
cropping veins at Tonopah. covering but
a small area, passed into their posses
sion on January 1. 1902
Because the main work of the camp
was concentrated on this property. be-
cause these were the only veins that
appeared on the surface. the pessinlist
proclaimed 1t a '.orie mine camp" Other
companies were formed-the Montana,
the Midway. Belmont. North Star West
End, Salt Lake and Fraction. The cry
went up they were wildcats, but the
organizers of these companies had faith
in their ground and then ensued that
era of blind sinking which, SO loudly
decried. called for so much courage and
has been so marveiously successful in
opening up some of the richest and
greatest mines in America to-day.
The Tonopah Mining Company has