The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-09-07

and $4,000 was to be paid at the end
/ of the year. Stratton accepted He
couldn't lose either way. He had the
laugh on the jolSers who had been talk
ing SO much about him. The 5000 real
money and the possibility of getting
$4,000 more made him feel almost plu-
tocratic.
Parish and his associates got cold
feet in short order. The body of the
ore they had been so much impressed
by dribbled out to nothing. They
were fully satisfied their $1,000 was lost.
They were fully satisfied, too, that
the mine was bad property. They
did some inconsequential work for
the full 12 months. but the further
they went in extending tho mine, the
poorer was the return in ore.
| Back to Stratton went the title OF
| the mine when the year was up. Once
more the jokers had an inning. They
used to sing a song in Cripple Creek
that was parody on The cat Came
Back" 1t wasn't Sunday school
hymn by any means.
That mine had been pretty good to
Stratton. 1t had brought s5S5D In real
money There was no telling how
much more might come his way. It's
no wonder, therefore, that he went
back to it. He switched, however, in
regard to his operation. He had been
he went back he began working the
George Washington. He made some
money out of this. not enough to thrill
him, but enough to pay expenses for
season. Then the ore ran poor again.
The following year he decided the
George Washington wasn't OF much
account SO he returned to the lndepen
dence.
He plugged away all season at the
Independence occasionally running on
little vein of good, profitab BILE ore
and then having 1t lose itself on him
He Just about made expenses. He had
his eyes open all the time for a pur-
chaser. The purchasers were rather
shy. however. Too many had been
stung. The independence and the
George Washington had bad names
If Stratton had offered TO sell the two
properties outright for $4,000 it's doubt
full whether he could have found a pur-
chaser.
That was the condition when stratton
suddenly came on the trunk Of that
tree. 1t was very rich ore Within
a few days the strike was known
throughout America. Stratton no long
er was joke. He had no trouble In
getting money. lie could take it right
out of the ground. The more devel-
opment he made. the richer became the
prospects. Day after day the trunk
over the world came to see the proper
ty. All sorts of propositions were
made to Stratton for the purchase of his
holdings He was' pretty shrewd He
carried his development along until
he had eight or ten million dollars In
ore In sight. Then he sold out for
$15,000,000. There was no string tied
to this amount. He had to get the mon
ey and he got 1t. He had been seven
years selling that mine and he had
got rid of 1t three times before he IL
nally sold 1t for good and for ALL
That $4,000, 900 made Stratton one of
the great millionaires of the west His
home at Colorado Springs became q
how place Of Colorado. The Indepen-
dence mine Is one of the richest the
CRIPPLE Creek region has known. STRAIT
ton has been dead some years and he
Will go down In history as a miner.
his name linked with the Independence
Nine men out of ten who knew him
intimately will declare he was better
carpenter than a miner. and that his
case was simply an instance of a mans
inability to avoid a fortune when 1t is
his destiny to have one come TO him.