Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-04-26
DESERT REFORMS
THE TENDERFOOT
LEAVES CITY TO KICK, BUT RE-
TURNS WITH REGRET
VISITS GOLD MINE AND SEES
REAL MEN
Sunset Among Sage and caeti Ex-
tracts Sentiment in Bunches ana
Makes Pilgrim Long for
Turner's Brush
ny e. z. TENDERFooT

+rra,s men view a sunset grander imam
turner's dreams, once more hear inc
Iii birds warbling their na1I'-H lore,
vyather flowers on the desert, see 1 sie
sanoa old moon a-shining, but IN olt-
ferent way-would you ,,,o 70
A. enthusiastic friend induced me 10
,rrchase stock in the Lucy Gray solu
mine. He said the property had eret.e
future and that the company was sls-
ing stockholders a falr run Ioi '.i,,a
money I had never seen q golu hlille'
co sent word of my coming ana podru-
81 +be Salt Lake train at Los AnSeies
7 1oCIxad forward to the experience WIN
5aIiob+ hut when the shadows OF night
had fallen and the dreary desert con-
trasted so poorly with the hgnteo car,
INV spirits dropped. When httie laeer r
the conductor called Lyons, a ~, vera
n,,t off at a pumping station, tney "eFe
A blackboard and a pair of jackrabplt
horses were waiting. After a snorI
greeting from the driver we started
1,iewed the solemn-looking night 1or
what seemed to me an age, theh ven
tured: "You get quite lonely up nere,
don't vou?" NAV; we're busy Don
have time to get lonesome. When
could stand it no longer l tried AGAIN.
"Rut this desert, these barren NILS
don't Won get tired of them?" ANY
one could tell you were from the city
was the answer. Hours later, II seem
ed. we arrived somewhere, was intro
duced to a cot, the driver said good
night and I was alone.
Sweet Sounds at Dawn
T am awake, fairly. What sweet
sounds are those? The thrill of Wild
birds singing for joy, boyhoods melouy;
I tried to distinguish one BIRDS carol
from another. but the hustle ana seLlLe
Of civ life have blotted memory's page
and I cannot. Then a triangle sounded
and a CHEEKY voice called: First Dell.
7 lost no time in getting OUTSIDE INTO
the freshness of the new day and was
surprised to feel young and energetlc.
Drinking deeply of the morning ar
and deeper still of the delightful airs
of my awakening songsters' my mature
was ready for the reception l received
from a happy mining family at table;
The cover was oilcloth, the plates ana
Guns of granite, but the men-klndly
ewes. sincere voices, natural manners
and buoyance of spirit that was posi-
lively contagious. Why, they MADE me
feel right at home in moment.
Taking their lunch pals the men
were soon on their way up the hill, ana
shortly after we followed. At the main
shaft my guide told me to climb onto
the rim of a big bucket. I looked over
the edge, saw just space below and my
knees sank. I heaved thankful sign
when the order was given to go slow
Down. down, down! We passed gate
in the wall. ''That is the 1OO-foot level"
said the guide. "There is nearly
quarter of a mile of work done there
on the eighty" "And didn't you find
any ore bodies?" I asked. ooh. yes.
good ore, but there is better down be-
low" Then the cable stopped. All was
darkness, but soon I could discern
flickers of light ahead A candle was
nut into my hand "Be careful of the
track" said my guide. Just then AROUND
the curve came an iron car loaded with
rock inquired of the man in charge
what it was and he replied, Muck
Stalls on Mucky Way
wonder what muck is? We stopped
at an opening. Here" said my in
structor. "is where we got the $4,000
assay. Take this pick and knock f
piece" I did and was told that it
would assay into the thousands. And
here" said he, after we had gone in
and out of a number of openings, rs
where we found the twenty-foot VEIN"
Next we went down another tunnel and
found a miner sorting ore that had been
blown out by the last shots. Take
some of that" said he. ut will go
from $40 to $400. We have over five
feet of it now" Everywhere the men
IRE working with will. There didn't
seem to be any boss around. either.
One was shoveling, another picking,
another getting ready to drill. And so
we went in and out of tunnels (my
guide said they We're levels, drifts and
crosscuts, but they were just tunnels)
until my head was full of figures and
my pockets full of rock. Then we went
back to the hoist. Two men were work
ing under the platform there. 1--WE
are sinking to the 300-foot level" they
said. I did the balancing act on the
bucket again and soon was out in the
sunlight How pure and sparkling it
was and how I reveled in it! Next
was introduced to a furnace, a lot of
little flower pots, some medicine bottles
and a pair of scales that would weigh n
lead pencil mark. 1--WE have made over
200 assays this year" said my friend.
Then I was shown the large bins where
the ore is dumped. Some sacks at
tracted my attention. "That's high
grade-$200 a sack. "Now will you
please excuse me-" he said; "I must
go to work. Just make yourself at
home at the camp"
Gets Desert Appetite
On the way back l felt a peculiar
sensation. Somehow a piece of dry
bread would taste good. 1t was scarce
ly IL o'clock. The gOod-natured cook
set me out a bite I spent the after
noon with the wild flowers, admiring
wondering, variety after variety, in
in the clubhouse. Then came another
I then found a dagger cactus in full
bloom Has any one ever been fortu-
nate enough to see its hundreds of
bulbs-with each leaf so delicately
waved and in place-and not felt a
deep reverence for something? The
touch of man would ruin it, l left it
on the stalk
At o'clock the men came swinging
down the trail, not with detected
wrinkled, 'toil-worn faces, but with the
same hearty look of the morning hour
and I soon heard the sound of music
the rocky soil ond on the hot sand
Jolly meal, and afterward a talk with
the principal owner of the mine. His
words were simple, but there was a
spirit of frankness in them that car
ried weight.
This was his last statement: 1--WE
feel that each stakeholder is sort of
partner in this mine and try to treat
hem that way. We send them letters
monthly telling about the work and
lsking their cooperation. We don't