The silver state news. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1907-1909, 1907-11-07
HOW SOME OF THE GREAT
MINES WEhEDISCOvERED

1890
MINES WEhEDISCOvERED
Nowhere else does Dame Fortune
reveal her false and fckle nature so
brazenly as in the mines. 10 tAe
~prospector n miner her smile e
all that the heart o. man can uesIre;
her frown means disappointment, de'
spair, perhaps death. let sne scarters
smiles and rowns with IrIvoious aes.
regard f the desires OF those WAC woo
her. Sometimes she seems a grim,
sardonic joker, making qulps and Jests
of the lives n hopes OF men,; some
times the tragedies she inspires are
unrelieved by even graveyard numor;
and sometimes, though not often, she
plays the Leading woman IN a comedy
80 bright and cneerIuI that the Wnoie
world joins in the laugh Yet, strum-
pet though she is, she never lacks
ardent sultors, wiling to 1awn ana
sue for her favor, even though she
leads them through hre, hood, famine
and dishonor into the very jaws OF
death.
With the possible exception OF Mar
shalI,s lucky md in the race of SUIT
ter mill, which started the rush OIL
the forty miners to California, the
most famous of the American COLO
discoveries was that OF the ComsrocK
lode. Yet years before the discovery
of the Comstock the pan, the cradle,
the long tom and the slulce bzoA
had extracted tens of millions from the
sands OF the washoe piacers, com
posed OF crumbs tnat mad dropped
from the cradle Of Dives spread at the
foot Of Mount Davidson. Every miner
in Washoe district experienced the
same difficulty, due t. a heavy, blue
ish black substance that refused to be
washed away with the lighter sand
and gravel. No one knew what it was
but felt sure it was not gold, and
gold was the only thing they wanteu.
Probably it caused more profanity
than anything ever caused in a min
ing camp. Yet it was sulphide OF sill
yer, worth more than $4,000 to the
ton, one-third in gold and the rest in
silver, and every miner in the Washot
diggings ignorantly threw away four
times the wealth that his misdirected
labor yielded.
Then the Grosh brothers came upon
the scene. They hailed from Maine,
where people are born asking ques-
tions. They didn't know what the
black stuff was, either, but they took
the triuble to find out. And OF all the
tens of thousands OF seasoned sou,
coughs and unseasoned tenderfeet,
these two young men from Maine
were the only ones who knew what
they were doing. They did not pro
claim their knowledge in g very sa-
loon and dance hall in the district,
but set to work to find out where the
sulphide of silver came from. Then
quest was successful. They locateo
the great mother vein that was des
tined to set the financial world agog
disorganize the world 3 monetary sys
tenn, create scores II m~illlonalres AM
instigate the ''crime Of '16.' One OF
them started tor California to ennis
the aid OF capitalists. The otnel
stayed to watch the mine. Then thu
jade Fortune played them a scurv,
trick. The hrsr Iroze to death IN III,
irove u rus.y p4.A in.v nA0 Aoo. 49,
lied OF Liovu poAsenAAk.
Next came RAJ a..
Pete O'heuly. win tne pAvs.ioA"
luck OF lUu4s anu tcuuUrAoct tAsJ
struck a pAcuoAucAany rieu sUican v
pay art tAdt Aay A4Ae a soAuen o4@-
ker over tne spvt Al WINCH .no na4-
shaft or Lne sAslnAa nline was 40
tined To Dc ufAscu. xAs Incy LaS4o-
themselves waSuAng out sne p.se.o.'
Particles Li1nu Aucn uAose AASAAy SoM
STOCK tnaL way. ue was a AaAn, 7"
daverous, unLuLofeu aAu unwasncu "a
madam. rosscss.u Wan ncAtnci noA
or, brains "a iuuus.iy nc ""o -
GIFTED Van Acrsc ~ AuoA.AIeAs.
n a IL ovetLoppcu Tue nAgnos. ps@-
OF the oIer4ds. oce4ng VAC s4Ans y
color III JnvAA io~AeA uo u.s--o@-.s
they weiv .4vspaos.As "a las AaiAA "A'
using Wa.eI ArvAu uAo oolcaul, 1oSa.o~
ne clalmeu, ue uMneu aAl Lnc iaA.
location. "a coulse Luis "ao puA'
hctlon, DuL Lne Diuu WAS uos ~a4Ao-
The ovei-anAAVus uisSvvcicAs PAoArs
ly donated nln a .wv-tnlius Anteiss
in the greatest mIneral discovery naau'
in America.
ComsJocA . Incompatible new
thus gave nls name ~ tne AaAiv@'
mother loue oL 4~sevaua, -anuvs 49,
ney, a anu worLnicSs urunA
ard, known IN camp as Oiu virginia
bestowed ms sopii4ueL upon oAc "
the famous UIg uliAes, as WEI
as upon the cay tnaL spfang INTO ca
lStence. These anu the pair Which,
Comstock mad nVouWlnheu, Iareu IL.
tie better IMAM tue urOSn brothers
Finney drank niInselI Into n grave
Comstock Went away crazy anu com
mltted suiclue; O'nelliy dleQ III al
insane asylum and Mclaughlin dlS