Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-06
WANT SURVEY OF
ROUND MOUNTAIN
IMPORTANT PETITION FILED IN
GOLDFIELD
Los Angeles Men Are Co-Owners in
Company Which Disputes Right
of Rich Company to VaIu-
able Ore Bodies


A question involving extra-lateral
rights to some of the richest ore bod
les in Round mountain, Nevada, ana
in which Los Angeles mining men are
Interested as contestants, Will come up
in the district court at Goldfield next
Monday, when the Round Mountain
Mining company will be required to
show cause why the Round Mountain
Red Top and the Round Mountain
Sphinx shall not have their petllloh
for an underground survey OF the
Round Mountain Mining company's
ground granted. 1t is understood that
the Round Mountain Mining company
will resist the demand, on the plea
that the survey is sought TO enable lne
petitioners to learn the exact condl-
tions of the mine, but it is not thought
that this defense will prevail, as the
courts are disposed to order such sur
veys when it can be shown that a
company is mining ore beyond its YER
tical lines The plaintiffs in this case
allege that this is what the Round
Mountain Mining company is doing,
and if the survey is ordered and shows
this to be the case, it is probable that
a bitter fight will follow, unless the
three corporations get together ana
consolidate their interests.
The veining system of the Round
Mountain district is not particularly
complicated, the ore making in a big
fiat fissure extending around the base
of the mountain and dipping toward
the north. The Round Mountain Min
ing company owns the Sunnyside,
Combination and Great Western
groups, the Red Top adjoining them
on the north and west and the Sphinx
on the west. The company is equipped
with a mill, and the values of the
ore bodies is indicated by the pro-
duction of bullion to the value of
$35, 900 per month.
The first indication of trouble in the
camp came more than year ago,
when r. L. Colburn and Gurney Cor
don of Goldheld, Tom Robinson of
San Francisco and Harry Taylor of
Los Angeles filed a petition for the
survey. For some reason the matter
was never forced to a hearing. Now
comes the Sphinx and joins in the ac-
tion. The Sphinx was organized by
w. II. Clark of Goldfeld and Salt
Lake, who is a partner of James K.
Davis, manager of the Round Noun
tain Mining company in the rich Ne
vada Hills mine at Fairview, New. In
terested with Mr.. Clark are Weir
Brothers & Co.=of New York, G. Reu-
sens, first vice president of the Amer
lean Tobacco company; Winsor V.
Rice, a wealthy banker and mine
owner of Salt Lake and also a part
ner of Davis in the Nevada Hills; COL
w. p. Parish, the noted expert, and A.
w. Lounsberry of Los Angeles and
John +. Campion of Denver. The
Sphinx is also equipped with a mill.
which has been idle for several
months because of lack of water.
The Round Mountain Mining COM
pany has the only never falling water
supply in the camp that is not involved
in litigation, and the treasury is well
equipped for a fight, which the COM
pany, it is understood, has long ex-
pected. The principal owners in the
other mines are wealthy and aggressive
men, and a battle royal is likely to
ensue. barring a compromise, in which
event, if the properties are absorbed
by the Round Mountain Mining COM
pany, that corporation would find it,
self possessed of an empire of vast
wealth.
In The Herald of October Is a brief
history of the Round Mountain mine
was published, which was taken from
a paper read at the last session of the
American mining congress, by ]. p.
Lotus, president of the company. Mr..
Lotus stated that control of the mine
was purchased III feDTudTy, 1SUO, Dy
his partner, Jim Davis, for $4,000;
that it has since produced bullion to
the amount of $709,1S and paid divi-
dends to the amount of 1892, 1920. The
property was bought on the strength
of a strike of almost solid gold in a
two-foot hole, which was about the
extent of the workings at that time.
Within eleven months the mine was
opened up and equipped with a mill,
since enlarged to a capacity of 100
tons, and in eighteen months after the
organization of the Round Mountain
Mining company, dividend paying was
begun on the basis of $4,000 a quar-
ter. The mill cost $4,000 and makes
an average saving of SO per cent by
amalgamation.
Mr.. Lotus concluded his paper with
the significant statement that the COM
pany has 100000 in cash and ore re-
serves, and it is we'll known in Nevada
mining circles that the company has
been earning far in excess of its divi-
dend rate. AS an illustration, the
bullion produced the first two weeks
of October was worth $1,000.