The Parker post., 1912-06-01
REASONS FOR NOT
FOLLOWING ORE,
Prospector Tells His Burro That it
is Not Necessarily Always True
That Sheer Stupidity Leads Miners
to Abandon Ore.

his burrO, THAT DurrO SnOupd 1Ol-
low a nOsebag full OF barley just
the same as the constitution should
follow the flag which is a pretty
bright thing for one OF your meek
and lowly appearance, and apparent
lack of brain power, ito say; which
Ill goes ITO show that we should mot
judge entirely by appearances, as 1T
is often that the sOur-dOugh' with
his feet wrapped i'm gunny sacks has
more of THE long green in his belt
than the promoter who sports a ten
carat diamond ON his finger Your
remark, however, should have a more
widespread application than mere
reference to the feed of barley; and
as you make some pretensions OF be-
ing i'm the mining game, you mighi
Gs we'll add that the proper caper Ills
there is anything that puts a crimp
in the mining business that lis ON a
par with the oiling of copper plates
in an amalgamatiOn miu, it is the
habit that some so-called mining men
have of running away from their ore.
Why they should do SO mo experience
ed man cam tell unless it is for ths
purpose of prolonging a job to which
a good SALARY lis attached; OF because
the mime owner lis afraid he will
suddenly become Mich and thereby be-
come the victim of holdup; or from
fear that the bunch of ore, if follow
ed, will eventually pinch out, to tins
detriment OF his reputation as a far
seeing mining man; and the loss CT
his job as we'll. There are some men,
however, who seem to think that
the MAIN object of mfning lis to run
crOss-cut tunnels, no matter in what
direction, and to sink shafts i'm ba--
rem ground; anything. i'm fact, that
will keep friendly force OF men
ury OF the company is exhausted; ;
and, if ore is really encountered, IT.
is an accident rather than the result
OF determined effort ito find it. Thu;
is not real mining, however; none
whatever, and it lis just such practic :
as this THAT results i'm keeping 4
good camp down, and im discouraging
really earnest investors and capi al
lists from keeping ON with the mininCs
game.
You seem to think it lis silly for
my mininsg man to put up his goOd
hare cash, and that of his mcles, hi;
nieces, his Cousins and his aunts an
the andeavor to uncover an orebody,
and then run away from 1T when he
has foun it; and that as for you, If
/Ou "ere fortunate enough to find
yourself in intimate companiOnshi1
with a sack of barley, you would stay
with IL until there was nothing more
to it than last years bird-nest; and
that you might eventually eat the
nest. All of which shows your in
teligence. which, if put to test by
the lire assay. would at least show
a trace OF GDol sense, which is a
great deal more than can be said CT
some nNaling men / know i'm these
diggmgs.
speaking o. following your ore
reminds he ol an incident that came
Under my notice a few years ago,
when was cut ON the Queemah
rang looking f0 one of the lost
mlnes we hear so much about, but
which ere rarely fOLni again | had
for rearly Two weeks when | happen
ed % I'm into the camp of a couple
of nalt-l reed NlHi- ans who were dey-
elUplnS group oi claims for Phil
adelphia syndicate " mich had more
nrOliey than good sense, and which
vas having the development OF it
ground :arlied ON under contract For
five years the syndicate had heem
putting up the dough- and for five
years these greasers had been pu
Ling in their time and drawing down
good pay. Although Indications were
mO5- promising, ii seemed as if pay
ore would never be found, and the
3yndicate was getting a little weary
us we'll as a little leaTy; for, the da.}
after my arrival, a representative cf
tie company appeared ON the scene,
and : was not hong before he was On
good terms with me. One might, {
my camp, he asked my opinion Of
the proposition, and l told him that
had made up my mind that there
was something rotten somewhere, az,
since my arrival in that locality I had
become convinced that the greaScrJ
were not doing Justice ito tJheh EN-
plOyers, as ] had examined the out
&rops and was convinced that a lii
lie intelligent development would