The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-05-15

followed that marks the man. All use
full work is honorable that is honorably
/ followed but it does seem true that no
other trade has such a universal pride
of profession as does the gold miner
before the world he stands erect and
/ clear-eyed. Gold is the noble metal,
and its persuit has fascination and
charm that appeals to the imagination
of men. The call of gold finds no deaf
ears-it can be heard across seas and
deserts and mountains No land so re-
mote, no trail so dangerous, no winter
50 cold, no privations SO great that its
call does not thrill to action and stir
the ambition, Man ma! have many
gods, but all worship at the shrine OF
god d. The road to the cross may be
scant of pilgrims; the road to gold
mine will be crowded with the active,
the alert and daring of every land. AS
god, gold is delusion; as product,
it is premier Mining is a trade that
competes with no one-wrongs no one.
! Upon the gold of our hills there is no
taint; the gold from Colorado mines is
clean. 1t is fit to be a sacrifice upon
the altars of purity and innocence; to
secure it miners invade no ones rights.
They robbed no temples as did Cortez
and Pizarro. They draw upon the bank
of the Almighty. The only industry
that aids everybody, takes from no one,
helps all, robs none. Other products
perish; gold is permanent contribu-
ton to the worlds capital. In my hand
l hold a coin minted by Clark Gruber &
Co. at Denver in 1860. The gold in
this coin came from these gulches. 1t
may be the very ounce that George
Jackson dug that winter day. 1t is as
mint. 1t will be doing it's part hun
dred, thousand years hence. All else
is transitory; gold, like the soil, abideth
forever. Sometimes gold builds en-
pires; again it becomes their doom.
Gold has made western America i'm
perial. 1t was the lure that cost the
African republics their liberty. Colo
rado gold has been the messenger of
liberty, never of tyranny.
In Spain there is bible adorned with
gold. Upon the book is this inscription
Ferdinand and Isabella, Those Most
, Devout Sovereigns Adorned this Sacred
Book with the First Fruits of the
Indies" This was the first gold that
Columbus sent from the new world.
The first gold from the mines of Colo
RADIO entered the channels of commerce
, in time to steady the finances of the
nation, when it was rocking with the
. shock of civil war. So impressed was
, Lincoln with the beneficient effect of
the gold and silver of Colorado upon the
stability of the nations finances that
when Colfax was about to journey
across the continent, Lincoln gave him
message to be delivered to the miners
of Colorado, expressing his gratitude
for the aid they had given him in pre-
serving the Union. This was the last
message that came from the lips of
Lincoln. When it was delivered at
Central City, the tongue that original
ed it was silenced forever.
Gold was the germ of this mountain
empire. but agriculture is to be it's
abiding nourishment. Gold has but one
crop; it leaves no seed; civilization de-
pends upon reproduction. jackson,
Gregory, Russell and their comrades
gave birth to Colorado, but its builders
are those who widened and heightened
the bitches that fed the miners sluice
boxes into irrigation canals. The min
ing prospector was the most heroic
character of the 10Th century-t those
who discovered and utilized the opulent
prodigality of Colorado soil were the
enduring benefactors. The miner was
the John the Baptist of new dispen-
sation, the farmer the herald of the
home. The one represents the radical,
the other the conservative; one pio-
neers, the other perpetuates; both were
needed In the prospector there is the
strain of a crusader, the spirit of the
the westward march of empire and
broadened the domain of liberty.
Colorado prospectors were not wan
dering "Sinbads of the Wilderness"
they were the alert, restless, enterpris-
ing spirits of other states, fearless men
who dared to face danger. They
sought wider skies, new fields. The
love of adventure had lured to this land
of romance and mystery the noblest
army of men our country has known.
They were patriots as well as pioneers.
The United States took a census Of
Colorado in 1861 The population was
found to be 25, 81. When nation and
state called for volunteers to defend