The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1913-03-21

4h'SSIueAG was OilIy oooo,OOo-T4OpO-
sition to Name High School After
Man Who Developed Wonderful Min
eral Deposits.
Honor, although belated, is proposed
for a wealthy. but unassuming son of
Brattleboro, John f. Anderson of Phil
adelphia, whom the TonOpah Daily Bon
ANA of Tonopah, Nevada, says is re-
sponsible for the worldwide recogni-
ton which that locality has received
through the development of its rich
silver deposits. In its issue of March
the Bonanza devoted a page to the
story of Tonopah, publishing a two
column halftone picture of Mr.. Ander-
son, an interesting sketch of his career,
which occupied over two columns, and
a long story about proposition to
recognize him by naming after him the
new Tonopah high school.
The chronology of Tonopah is given
as follows: May, 1900, ore found by
| Jim Butler; August, 1900, locations re
corded; December, 1900, crowds begin
to arrive; January, 1901, population so;
June, 1901, arrival of John F. Ander-
son; July, 1901, first payment of $50
900 on the present Tonopah Mining
| company; August, 1901, Anderson re-
turns to Philadelphia. Production of
southern Nevada to date as the result
of Anderson 5 report on TonOpah, $780,
! 600, 600. Dividends derived from the
investment of $336,00O in 10 years, $1O,-
| 10000 The proposition to honor Mr..
Anderson is then stated in part, as fol
| lows:
Tonopah has shamefully neglected the
| 81 ho 70 -bp, al, tod
| for world wide recognition. So com
pletely has the deed and recollection
of this man been snuffed out that teach
ers and school children engaged in the
study of local history are wOefullv ig-
norant of the fact of his connection
with the camp.
Twelve years ago the name of John
F. Anderson was on the tongue of every
man in Tonopah. The future of the
camp rested on his verdict, and nod or
shake of his head would have carried
with it the making or the breaking of
the silver camp which was beginning
to spread radiance over southern Neva-
da.
John F. Anderson was the financial
father of Tonopah, the godfather and
the ancestor of the wonderful mineral
development of the section that gave
|
vaults in the course of 10 spectacular
years. Skeptics may sheer at the
statement, but the exploiting of the
name of John F. Anderson as the man
who made TonOpah is outside the realms
of controversy. jim Butler is authority
for the credit which should have gone
to Mr.. Anderson, but which has aureol
| ed others less deserving of credit than
the iackass which kicked up the first
values on the slopes of Mount Oddie;
Anderson is the man who bought
the mine from me, who cOnsummateG
the purchase and whose o. K, after
having made a personal examination OF
the ground, resulted in Tonopah going
to Philadelphia.
This was the carefully studied re
mark of Jim Butler, the grandaddy OF
TOnOpah, the other evening to a selec
coterie of OId-time chums in the lobby
of the Mizpah hotel.
The Bonanza then speaks of the re
liability of Jim Butler, and of the fac
that ~ years ago Mr.. Anderson and hi
, only son and Rev. Father Butler bull
a stone monument eight feet high OIL
what was afterwards christened a
| Mount Anderson. and continues:
Today not a building, street, allie
| or topogra phical bench mark bears tn
. name of the man who blazed the wa
i for millions of dollars to come to Tone
, pah. The rising generation should no
be kept in ignorance of the potentia
force of John F. Anderson 5 character
and the Bonanza herewith suggests tina
the John F. Anderson High School
would be an acceptable appellatiOn fo
what is destined to be the most perfec
- ly appointed and handsomest seat c
learning in Nevada. Such action, Will
it might be a tardy recognition of til
- man whom Jim Butler says was ii
real father of Tonopah, would prove a
acceptable tribute from the people.
ne A medallion over the entrance or
- statue of Anderson inside the Vestibu
Of would have an educational value f.
d, every boy and girl sharing the adva
tages of a public school education
nc this camp. Then it would not be ami
u if the Pioneers society of TOnopt
id held another reunion of the old BIO
59 and desert rats who trailed throu.
of the sickening dust from SOdaville. L
tie them have for a guest Mr.. John f. a
.nt derson, who although on the shady 81
he of life, is hale and hearty and capat
t. of telling the story of the accouchme
"7 of the silver camp. He will con
ted Moreover he will esteem the invitati
10, an honor, notwithstanding the fact tn
,d IN such a courtesy is long overdue. q
err of his closest business associates wi
to whom the writer has conversed on
~ subject vouches for the prompt acce
eks ance of the invitation and cheerful
or pledges $25 toward making the eve
III grand success.
ST. ST. --
d. NJ p Tufts of 'Far,ninCton Ne