Tonopah daily bonanza. [volume] (Tonopah, Nev.) 1906-1929, 1911-01-04
THE pROSpECTOR AND
HIS FAITHFUL PRICES

From the Salt Lake Mining Review
ct is an old saying" said the
prospector to his burro, that if,
you take care of the little things, |
the big ones will take care of them
selves 1t used to be that big pro-
iects occupied the attention of al
most everyone, and the little de-
tails were neglected, and to such an
extent that many failures were re-
well as in other lines of business
Now, however, what seemed to us
too trivial for notice not long ago,
is receiving careful attention. Why,
even the burro is looked after
more than he used to be, and you,
yourself, have attracted more or less
attention, which goes to show that
the most humble feature of mining
and prospecting is scrutinized by
experienced in the mining business.
A few days ago, for instance, l re-
ceived a letter from a mining man
in Idaho in which it was asserted
that you were cinched too far back;
while a Salt Lake veteran along
mining lines, and who consorted
much with burros in early life, is
afraid that your back will get sore
unless l take your pack off more
frequently Still another man sug-
gests that l have another picture
taken of you, as he thinks you look
too fresh for a burro who is sup
posed to have been out on the trail
all day, and therefore tired and
leg-weary. AS a matter of fact, he
is of the opinion that you would
look more life-like If your ears
hung down instead of standing SO
erect; the impression conveyed in
the picture of you, so often pub
lished in the Mining Review, being
that you were off for holiday
jaunt, or some kind of picnic, in
stead of being just ready to set Out
ON a laborious prospecting trip.
Il see," continued the prospector
that you feel considerably inflated
over the attention you have re
ceived, but your figure is not near
ly so commanding, even with thu
big feelings you have, as it was {
few years ago when you broke int
my tent during my absence ant
ate all of my dried apples, afte
which you drank heartily at tn
spring. | was fearful that l woul
lose you at that time, but yol
pulled through with careful nurs
ing. But if your pack had bee
cinched to your back them tn
same as it is now, you would hav
been cut in two in the middle, an
dried apples, tin-can tables, haI
coverings and a miscellaneous as
sortment of sagebrush, salt gras
and boot-tops would have been sea-
tered all along the trail from Was
on Wheel gap to Blackbird CAM
But, you lived through it all, onl
to receive an assortment of compl
ments and criticisms in your oil
age; all of which goes to prov
what | have just been saying, tn;
this is the day when little thinl
receive thought and care whiC
calls to mind the Importance
paying attention to small items
the mining game.
About the smallest thing in mil
development, that | know of, is Il
stringer 1t is the sign-post on Il
road to success that is often
nored by the mining operator who
visions of greater things farther
is on a par with the ideas of Il
individual who has assimilated mo
high-balls than his system can WI
take care of without putting out t
signal of distress. The stringer
a little thing, and yet it has pote
tial qualities. 1t may mean not
ing, and perhaps is merely a bl1
put out to lead you on, just as t
good hand the dealer gives t
miner who has just cashed his pa
check is merely an inducement
the miner to transfer all of
aforesaid cash over to the dea
before the close of the game.
the other hand, however, the striI
er should be given the closest
vestigation, as it may develop il
foot of high-grade ore before
has been drifted on for distal
of ten feet or more. l see Il
you are somewhat interested in
conversation, although you are
doubt as to the logic of my C.
illusions, as you say there are tho
ands of stringers scattered abb
which have never been roped
branded, and you argue that if Il
were possessed of any value t