The Goldfield news. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1904-1911, 1905-04-21
Two BLIND LEADS"
Mark Twain Was Once q Millionaire
for Ten DAYS.

Not many probably would search the
works OF Mark Twain for mining history
or information on mining law, yet they
would not go far astray in reading
"Roughing It." Mark Twain was once
a millionaire tor ten days. The story of
how the fortune was gained and lost, as
told in "Roughing It," is a realistic de-
| scription of the Nevada OF the past, with
| which the Nevada of the present has so
much i'm In fact, the whole
book is delightful reading both for its
humor and also for its entertaining ac-
count OF life among the pioneers and the
Argonauts of the early days, and 1t will
be a valuable source for the historian
who wishes to learn OF the west as 1t
was.
Mark Twain and his partner, Calvin
III. Higbie, to whom the book Is dedl-
Gated, had come to the end of their
credit with the butcher at the time Nir-
ginia City was thrown into a fever of ex-
element by the discovery of marvellous
" rich ore in the Wide West mine.
Higbie was the only one of the curious
crowds that visited the mine to notice
that the bonanza ore taken from the
Wide West shaft was apparently from a
different vein han the ore on which
work had previously been done. 1t
was not Wide West ore, he told his part
ner, and he determined to investigate.
After several attempts, he succeeded in
evading the guards and getting down
the shaft. His suspicious were con-
tirmed. The rich ore was coming from
a new vein which intersected, but was
entirely distinct from the old Wide
| W. ,,-n IT.la. tha 1, NC nd a,,S-
toms of the time, the new veinswa open
to location. 1t was a ''blind lead" and
the property of the first to take posses
sion and make a record under the forms
OF the law. Each took up POO feet along
the vein, the amount hen allowed, and
they also made the foreman of the mine
one of the three partners, so that to-
gether they had 600 feet. All that was
necessary to hold their claim vas to do
a certain amount of work within ten
DAYS. Their dreams of wealth had come
true. Their credit suddenly expanded.
Their promise to pay was good for any
thing for sale in the camp. There was
nothing of the simple life in their plans
for the future.
The next day Mark Twain left town
suddenly to nurse a sick friend, but be-
fore going wrote a note to Higbie telling
what he had done. The latter, at the
same time heard of a reported discovery
and started to investigate, writing a note
which he threw into the cabin window
as he passed on horseback. The third
partner was called to California by
urgent business, and went, depending
on the other two to do the required
work. Neither Mark Twain nor Higbie
got back in time to say their fortune,
but the foreman, who arrived just as a
gang Of IA determined men we e making
a relocation, by making a gunplay, per-
suaded them to let him in for One-half
what each of the other II received. This
small interest he sold for 500, 600, after
the two companies had consolidated to
avoid litigation. Some of the mining
laws OF the present are far from satisfac-
tory, but this experience of Mark Twain
is an example of the working of worse
ones. At present, it would certainly be
impossible to locate a blind lead through
another mans shalt.
While the disappointment of the two
comrades was naturally great, Mark
Twain's loss may not have been a mis-
fortune. 1t was some years later before
he struck that blind lead of humor that
he has since worked to the mutual adj
vantage OF himself and his readers. That
this vein, which has Welded such treas
ures as tom Sawyer and "Pudd'n-
head Wilson," still carries pay ore is
proved by the contribution signed Satan,
which appears in the current number of
Harper's Weekly. Indirectly, through
their application to the further develop
ment of material wealth and their use
in furnishing opportunity for the profita-
BILE employment OF labor. the riches of
the Floods, the Fairs and the Mackay's
have been of benefit to thousands, but
the multitude who have shared with
Mark Twain the products of his mental
mine have a far keener appreciation
of their obligations.
Possibly even if his million dollars had
not taken wings, and young Clemens had
been permitted to continue in af~fluence,
he would also have found the second
blind lead which has made him a friend
and counsellor of the American people,
but this may be doubted. Possibly the
scattering of the three partners was ac-
complished through the operations of
that divinity which shapes our ends,
rough hew them Is we may" and if so,
We have no reason to complain Of the re-
sult.-RecOrd.