The Goldfield news. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1904-1911, 1909-09-18

stance, was 10 mills, and on bullion,
from one and one-half to two and one
half mills, according to the cost of
treating the ore. They also brought a
suit to test the constitutionality of the
law. While they were waiting for the
supreme court to hand down a decision,
William Sharon had opened an agency
of the California Bank in Virginia City
eral small banks on the Comstock, but
acne were willing to carry the big risks
of supporting the exploration work in
the mines. The upper rich levels were
almost exhausted at that time and it
took a great amount of money to carry
forward the work of sinking deeper,
where all engineering authorities pre-
dicted great ore bodies would be found.
Sharon with the same display of nerve
that made him famous as a poker play
er, took up all the mortgages held by
the lesser banks and loaned hundreds
of thousands more on the mines. His
judgment was proven good shortly, by
discoveries of ore in Inc Kentuck, Vel
low Jacket, Chollar and other proper
tics of which he had obtained control.
Sharon also went into the railroad bust
ness and secured a gift of half a million
III bonds from Ormsby and Storey coun-
ties to help his company build the Vir-
ginia and Truckee railroad to connect
the mines with the central Pacific.
Storey county, in which the Comstock
Lode is located, was carrying 5000, 900
of these bonds, and its taxpayers were
assessed fifteen mills annually to dis
charge the interest and create a sink
ing fund. Soon after the bonds were
issued the Comstock mines began to
produce from fifteen to seventeen mil
lion dollars a year, most of which came
from Sharon's properties. Now this
put the Sharon interests in the anomal-
Gus position of paying interest and rails
ing a sinking fund to redeem their W
bonds. Sharon evidently thought such
an arrangement would be a ~reproach
upon Storey county's philanthropy, so
he went into politics. In 1869 his lobby
put a bill through the legislature which
lowered the bullion tax, and began at
the session of IL a further reduction
was made. This last law reused the
voters to a realization of the bad effect
on their own pocketbooks of Sharon 5
control of state affairs, and in the ses-
sion of rs there were enough dele
gates pledged to raise the tax, to enact
a new law introduced by John Piper, of
Virginia City, which made the tax equal
to that on other property, a levy of
$3.50 on 800 worth of bullion.
"For the first time since Sharon had
teen King of the Lode he did not OPP
pose the movement to increase the tax.
The reason was not hard to find. The
Sharon mines were worked out and a
heavier tax on other mines would issue
the redemption of his railway bonds .
"But another set of mining kings
now appeared to fight the tax. Mackay
and Fair had just opened up the great
bonanza on the Con Virginia and Cali
fornia mines, and the heavy tax would
fall principally on them. What CALLED
the Bonanza firm more than the amount
of the tax, was to have the money go
into the redemption and interest funds
for the railway bonds of their old rival,
Sharon, and his Bank of California. For
many months, as the Bonanza firm was
coming into power ON the Lode, there
had been an intense rivalry between
them and Sharon. The trouble started
in 1869 when Mackay and Fair were
developing the Hale and Norcross. Mac
kay and Sharon had a disagreement in
the bank one day.
"'IM make you pack your blankets
and get out of this place before I'm
through with you,' threatened Sharon,
who was a delicate little man not much
over five feet in height. Mackay was
a great athlete and lowered well above
the banker.
"'You willf' he retorted. well,
Sharon. if it wei comes to that, / can
pack my blankets out, but what in hell