Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-30

Goldfeld is probably the most opti-
mlsttc mining camp that ever existed.
Everybody Is booming Goldfeld. Ev-
erybody is excited and hopeful.
There are so many new-made rich in
town that everybody else expects his
turn will come. OF course, II won't
come for all Of them, but It Is safe to
say that the majority OF the $4,000
who have rushed to Goldheld and kept
their eyes open, worked hard and used
horse sense have made money.
a good many have made money out
of Goldfeld who never saw the town
and never will see It. But good many
more in this class will lose money
through lending a credulous ear to the
sweet songs Of promoters and takers
who trade upon the genuine success of
the really valuable properties to boom
enterprises whose sole assets are a
name, a few acres Of sterile rock and
endless adjectives displayed In big type.
That Goldfeld contains some of the
most valuable mining properties the
world has ever seen cannot be doubted
and is so declared by scores of mining
experts who have made impartial inves-
legations, and most of them say that
the ground has only been scratched as
yet. The result of this sincere and
well Informed opinion is visible In the
fact that from October Z to November
the stock market values of the shares
of thirteen Gold1eld companies in
creased over S30,0OO,00O. Naturally
somebody made a heap of money out
of this phenomenal jump.
In one of the little banks of Gold
field are stacked tiers of bags of ore.
They look for all the world like bags
Of oats.
Late every night. when most places
~ fa@ lNtFN oil oil fu
tenderloin is just beginning to get live
ly, a two-horse team comes in from
the mines with a new load guarded by
three men who know how to shoot and
shoot straight. Thus the heap grows,
tier by tier.
OF course it isn't oats at all, but
some of the richest ore the world has
ever known. 1t is the selected high
grade of the richest of the Goldfeld
mines, set aside especially for shipment
in one carload The owners of the
mine say that by January 1 there will
be a carload of 1t and that it will be
worth $1,OO0,0OO. So far as is known it
will be far the most valuable carload
of gold bearing ore ever shipped to the
smelters.
In the first two weeks of October
seven leases on one mine produced gold
ore estimated to be worth $670000. In
the single wek ending October 20 Gold
field mines shipped ore worth $4s3,000
Some of the richest ore has ben as
sayed to run at the stupendous rate of
$500, 900 ton. OF course there is very
little of this or gold would soon be as
cheap as tin. One of the Goldffeld
houses displays in its window
a lump OF ore which If broken UP
would scarcely fill a peck measure. Yet
tht assayers appraise it at s4,SOo
The Sun correspondent was allowed
to Inspect the workings of the Mohawk
mine, whose shares were vainly hawked
about few months ago at 25 cents and
are now selling at anywhere from SIG to
S1S. The Mohawk is out on the bare
sidehill of Columbia mountain, like all
the others in this district.
You put on an old jacket and a cap |
take a candle and get into the huge |
bucket that swings at the top of the |
down you go, slowly and circumspect |
". It's not exciting. A ride in a syn
1icate building elevator beats it to
death for sensation.
At the bottom of the shaft you find |
yourself at the beginning of a crooked |
tunnel just high enough to walk in.
You light your candle and follow your
guide.
The ore along here, he tells you, con-
is low grade-only about |
$50 a ton. You contemplate the soft |
gray rock on either side of you and you |
believe him. If you found it in a New |
England pasture you wouldn't give 10 |
cents mountain for it,.
Presently you hear the sound of picks |
and sbovels and you come upon a little |
group of men digging in the side wall. |
Here, says your guide, the ore gets |
pretty fair-say 500 a ton. You look at |
It as closely as you can and you can't |
see any difference in it.
You go along a little farther and you |
find two or three men boring into the |
rock with diamond drills run by COM |
pressed air Here, you are told, is ore |
to 1000 a ton. Your guide |
calls your attention to it and picks at
it with chisel
You stare at it dutifully and here and
there you see a shiny dot which, you
hear, is almost free gold. But it isn't
free to you, and for all you can tell it
might be mica or tin. Your heart
doesn't beat a single stroke faster
Dodging man pushing handcar
full of steam yachts and Fifth avenue
houses over a narrow trolley road, you
turn another corner and slip and slide