Gilpin observer., 1911-09-28
THE PRosPEcToR
AND HIS eURRO.
(salt Lake Mining Review.)

your QlScOnSOlate appearance, as
you stand in the corral with the bar
ley sack only foot out Of your
reach" said the prospector to his
burro, makes me think of the small
mine owner who is on the very verge
Of success; who has the ore in sight
with a mill on the ground, but who
is down to the last penny and can
not raise enough money to pay the
miners to take out the ore, or buy
the fuel necessary to run the mill.
To all intent and purposes this man
is in your boots, so to speak, for he
is hog-tied. You cannot get to the
barley sack, and he cannot realize on
the ore he has in sight, with mill
standing ready to treat it.
"Of course" continued the pros
pector. you are of the opinion that
the mine owner should do something
to find way out Of the difficulty,
and that, as he has nearly a full
hand, he should draw suit out Of
the pack. This is all very easy to
say, but difficult to perform, for it
is almost an impossibility to rake in
the chips when the dealer has the
ace up his sleeve. In the mining
game the man Of means is in the
same position as the dealer in a faro
game, and he holds the destiny of a
mining proposition in his hnads. The
mine may be all right, with thous--
ands in sight, and the mill may be
ready to turn the metallic contents
Of the ore into bullion, into the roy
al token that rules the destinies of
the world; but If the ore is not ex-
! tracted and taken to the mill, il the
power is not supplied to the crush
ers and the stamps and the mill set
in motion, the whole proposition is
as worthless as an Arizona state con-
stitution containing a clause for the
recall of judges.
/ Il see that you seem interested
f, in what I am saying, and would like
to hear of an instance where a min
ing man was so close to a fortune
that he could almost draw on it
through his bank, and so / will re-
late an incident coming to my no.
tice few years ago; just before the
late panic which gave a painful twist
| to the tail Of the financial world, and
which cut down the allowance of the
prospector and made it harder for a
b,,rr fo;r ho,
! ley sack. The man l speak of had ac-
quired a group Of most promising
gold claims some fifty miles from
any railroad. He was hog for work
i development of his property, during
which he blocked out a large tonnage
ot pay rock. Then he succeeded in
interesting capital to the extent of
installing five-stamp mill, and was
just about to begin ore treatment
when the crash came that l have al
luded to. At first 1t was thought
that this panicky feeling would soon
pass over, and his associate promised
, that the means would be forthcom-
ing as soon as the financial skies
cleared a little. But the clearing
failed to come. Instead, and to make
matters worse, the situation was in
tensified by great hurrah about the
methods Of Rockefeller, the tobacco
trust, rebating by the railroads, reci-
procity agitation and tariff legisla-
ton, so that the man with the mine
ready for production, and the mill
ready for the first dropping of the
stamps. is still waiting for his asso-
ciates to come through with the few
thousands necessary to make the in
ftial run; and they cannot come
through because they cannot inter-
est people who. only a. short time
| ago, were ready and anxious to take
hold Of an enterprise so inviting in
its character. And so the mining man
the same as you masticate the col
ored wrappings from a tomato can,
and wait until times are more propi-
tious for the consummation Of en-
terprises which had nearly reached a
paying basis when the late crash
came.
Il want to tell you, Old Long
Ears" concluded the prospector, "it
is a most discouraging thing to be
SO near success that it seems as II
in another minute one will have a
big roll in his hands; and there are
many who give up at the critical
and disastrous minute when all hope