The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1913-03-20


: prospector is not soon To become ex-
tinct. These are the times that try
mems souls" was an expression Of
Thomas Paine in the crisis of the Am
cade has been crisis for the pros
pector In Montana. 1t has been a
case Of where the prospector has need :
ed more money with which to secure
results and he has been given less.
Never before has there been so little
interest in gold quartz mining OPP
portunities to work n short while in
mines operating near his home have
become less frequent; persons having
promising prospects have had them
patented, so there has been less
chance Of getting claims to represent
in the fall: lack of confidence in the
community at large has had its effect
on the persons who usually gladly
grubstake the prospector; promising
surface prospects are not so easily
found as they were before the country
had been thoroughly gone over and all
these things together have operated to
starve out the prospector in many
sections of the state,
Prospectors themselves vary as
greatly as do men in other occupa-
lions. Some are honest and industri-
Gus. Some are not Some desire only
to understand their business and to
make q success Of it. The world is
mort apt to judge the prospector by
the pretenders in the profession than
by those who do honest work. Tne
genuine prospector Is in the hills for
months and years at a time, and pao-
pie generally have contact only with
the barroom loafer who flashes a fine
specimen and gets drink on it. or
pcrsuades some one to put up money
which he proceeds forthwith to
squander. The man seeking mining
property is steered by the whisky soak
to a showing which a moments glance
tells has nothing in it. The mining
man takes a few samples to keep the
prospector in blissful ignorance of the
fact that he really knows something,
and then goes off Disguised with pros
pectors generally, because this one
has wasted his valuable time.
Tho real prospector is found in the
mountains The places Of vice in the
city have no allurements for him. His
habits are such that he actually ex-
lists on SO to SIS month--less than
many men waste in a single day. Yet
the problem with him often is how to
get the small sum necessary TO keep
himself in the field The schemer
seems to fourishfor a time at least.
The visionary man who lis cxtrava-
dollars of other peoples money to
spend; but the careful, prudent. prac-
teal prospector, the man who would
make good use of every dollar that
man who doesn't get the money. But
when such a man finally wins success
in his chosen occupation, it is notice.
able that he still retains his manhood
and self-respect and that his success
is permanent because it is built on a
solid foundation--a character of ster-
ling worth.
The result of the situation has been
such that a number Of prOspectorS
who did not feel that they would be
using good judgment in going off and
leaving their homes and properties,
even though the homes were very
humble, and the prospects anything
but encouraging, have sought to find
some way in which they could secure
at least part Of their living aside
from dependence on the mining in
dustry. Prompted by this feeling