The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1914-02-12
(Goodwin's Weekly

.Jackling have stirred up more discus
sion in local mining circles than any
utterance since Thomas w. Lawson
suspended his activities as mining
oracle The words were:
Il believe the days of the oid-time
prospector are gone"
The sentence appeared in Colonel
Jacklng's contribution to a symposium
in the Scientific & Mining Press on the
subject. What Is the Matter With
Prospecting?' 1t touched the chord of
sentiment and the chord Of practical
business. The accuracy of the state
ment has been questioned from both
the sentimental and the practical sides.
The sentimentalist starts with the err
roneous assumption that Colonel
lacking was making himself an ac
icessory after the fact to the oblitera-
ton of the prospector by expressing a
candid opinion.
Il don't believe for minute thas
| the colonel has hog-tied the old-time
tprospector and dropped him headtirst
into shaft or even helped fill up the
shaft after the dropping. II the old
timer is missing, you'll have to look
farther than the Jackling yacht to
place the responsibility.
Making Them Tired Of Life.
MY opinion is that the old-time
prospector isn't missing, and if you'll
read Colonel Jackling's words again
you will observe that he does not say
he Is. II is the days of the old-timer
that are gone according to the colonel.
We haven't quit breeding the material
Of which the od-time prospector was
made, but it is being made up in other
forms. There is more adventure now
adays in becoming chauffeur than a
prospector and If one wants hardships
he can get more as mining broker
than as a mine seeker The old time
prospector queered his own game by
Turing the railroads into the Businesses
and the rest of us have contributed
by voting bonds and paying taxes for
county roads. The youth in whom the
spirit Of daring burns bright may load
This burros, travel for weeks through
dark canyons climb snow-clad peaks,
skirt precipices, run short of grub,
shoot deer, cook the venison over a
|camp fire-and be pinched a half hour
later by game warden for violating
the game laws while forest ranger
ir, N1,,,1y 1t, -.
leaving the fire aglow. Truly, If the
day of the old-time prospector is not
gone it is getting pretty dark"
Two Ideas on New Mines.
The practical aspect of the question
is this: If the day of the prospector
Is gone, how will new mines be found :?
Colonel lacking says: 1.-THE modern
way is to send an engineer to places
that are reported through various
channels to indicate promise of min
eral deposits. Instead of the prospec-
tor spending months travelling by
wagon or afoot, the engineer goes to
a point near his destination by train,
and in all probability travels the ball
ance Of the distance by automobile,
and if the indications justify it, he re-
Iports in definite way and the result
lis development on practical scale;
the whole thing requiring weeks or
months where it used to require
months or years"
The reverse of this picture was
drawn before the Mining Exchange
last Saturday by w. w. Armstrong
who declared that the near future
would find the prospectors back in the
hills and that they would be finding
more mines in so years and in 100
Years than they are today,
Colonel Jaclling. having his atten-
Ition focused on milling propositions,
Thought of prospecting in terms Of
tonnage. Mr.. Armstrong. having in
mind the vast loneliness Of the noun
Itains, almost in rifle-shot of the cities,
|spoke Of the bonanza streak. The
truth of the matter probably lies be-
tween these extremes. 1t must be ad-
United that poor mans camps" are
found only at long intervals and the
results attained by the scientific miner