Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-26
Sold His Discovery.


Mrs. Walsh is fine musician She taught
music here before her marriage and played
the organ in one of the largest churches IN
town. Her old friends here say that she
might have married the parson, but shs
preferred the miner, and shortly after their
marriage she and Mr.. Walsh went 20 BIZ
mingham, Ala which was Just beginning
TO boom. He lost great deal Oh money
there. Everything seemed to be against
him. 1t was the only time in his life when
his luck ran that way.
In 1892 he returned to Colorado, settled
at Cripple Creek. bought the Deernorn NINE
and his fortunes turned again. He Gult
smelter at Kokomo and another a. Silver
ton, where he picked up several small but
well-paying mines. One day, while he was
running his snelter at Silverton. ne was
riding across the hills and his horse STUN
bled Walsh dismounted to sec If the ami
NAL was hurt. For years he has been
considered ore of Ike best judges of pay
rock in Colorado. and he never took
walk in the mountains without examining
the stones in his path. After he had salts
fled himself that his horse WAS not injured,
he picked up several pieces of rock lying
in the grass, and his curiosity was excited
by them. He Eitched his horse and fol-
lowed the outcroppings UP hill. There
was abandoned shaft few feet deep
on the slope. and he looked into that. After
an hour or two of examine ton he turned
his horse toward home with his pockets full
of ore. During the next few months he
quietly purchased all the anu 10
Gated on all the vacant land in that vi
cinify. Nobody looking for gold in
those days, and nobody suspected Tom
Walsh of doing so. He invested about
SloO. 600 before he commenced the develop
ment: but as soon as he got the first shat
opened he paid for the property in few
weeks. The ore ran from 500 TO s125
ton, and al one time in 1897 he took out
$4,000 net profit In eighty-one days
In May. 1862, he sold the mine to an Eng
fish syndicate for s7.000,o0o. The contract
of sale provided that after the buyers had
reimbursed themselves from the output of
the mine he should receive fourth of the
future profits. His fourth interest. accord
ing to the gossip of Denver now pays him
about $iCG, 900 a year. and his income is
likely to continue at that rate indefinitely.
AT the time of the sale he gave J. w. Ben
son, who for sixteen years had been his
manager, right-hand man and confidential
friend. handsome fortune, upon which the
latter has now retired and is living in
Denver.
+ A great many people have been curious to
know why Mr. Walsh sold the Camp
Bird Mine. 1t is called, for there is no
better piece of mining property in Colorado
or anywhere else, and. according to the
testimony of the ablest experts it is now
paying Sl2O,GGa a month and will continue
TO pay that amount indefinitely Indeed
they say II would pay twice or three times
as much If the managers desired. To his
trends here Mr. Walsh has frequently ex-
planned his reasons. Like every other man
who strikes IL rich,' he has been attacked
on all sides by blackmailers and others. who
think they are entitled to participate in his
good fortune To protect himself he has
been compelled to suffer a great deal of an
noyance and expense. This is the inevitable
fate of every successful miner In Colorado.
ana Mr.. Walsh had no doubt of his ability
to protect his interests at any and all times
But, he argued, IL he should die he would
leave his wife and children legacy of
lawsuits from which he desired to preserve
them He decided that the best way-to do
that was to transfer his mine to a corpora-
uon that would be capable of taking care
of its interests.