Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-02-10

| missed several chances to make for
tune on account of not being able to
analyze the dirt he took out of his
holes. He was not even ordinarily
| educated. On one occasion he took a
specimen of ore to a chemist for an
assay and was told that there was no
gold In IL. A few days later a man
came along and offered Ainswortb
500 for his claim. Toms wife was III
at the time. and his boy. Charley, was
without a decent suit of clothes. The
offer was accepted and deed to the
| property passed. 1t turned out that
the chemist had found some gold In
the specimen he had assayed and had
bought the property through another.
The mine turned out bonanza.
This is specimen of the way Tom
J Ainsworth got swindled. Neverthe-
| less most of the time he kept his son
| at school, and when the boy came to
! be seventeen years old his father de-
! termiued to send him to college. Char
| lie had not shown much proficiency in
! his studies, but had manifested a fan
| cy for science. He was fond of hunt
| ing and climbing and all out Of door
| sports, besides constantly wondering
why some rocks lay fiat and others
stood up on end. His father thought
he saw In this the material for max
ing mining engineer, and with son
to advise him on his digging opera
lions he might yet strike and hold on
to a bonanza.
So Charlie went away to college.
His father feared that his taste for
out OF door sports would overtop his
desire to learn and during his sons
college course kept himself informed
as TO what Charlie was doing. The
first news of an honor conferred on his
boy was disappointing. Instead of
being given for an essay on some
chemical subject, it was an appoint
ment as pitcher Of the university base
ball team.
Charley spent most Of his time for
two years in college attending TO ath-
letics and neglecting his studies. Then,
being two years older than when he
entered, he grew ashamed of himself.
He was practical chap at bottom and
began to look at the subject practi- |
cally.
His main object was to set him |
self right with his father. What was |
the surest way? He decided to leave |
the academical department Of the uni
versity and enter a school of mines. |
To mining engineering he devoted him |
self as exclusively as he had to athlst-
les and after taking his degree return
ed to his home. ready for an applica-
ton of what he had learned.
AZ forgive you. Charley" said his ia
Their. "for the time wasted in pitchin'
balls. considerin' what you done in
larnin' about mines"
"You can't tell, father" replied Char
ley, whats going to be most useful to
a fellow in this world. During those
two years 1 was practicing those
curves 1 was laying the foundation for
good health, though I'll admit that 1t
was the scientific reasons for the
curves that interested me more than |
the physical exercise"
Reckon that was it, Charley. You T
was always wonderin' why things was
So"
Charley Ainsworth began to practice
his profession about the time that gold
was discovered in a new region. and
nothing would do but that the family
must pick up, bag and baggage. and |
seek its fortune in the latest opened
erritory Mrs. Ainsworth. who had
,een with her husband through sew
.ral experiences in nearby discovered
,old fields and knew that the people
n them were like a large pack of dogs
lighting for a very few bones. was
oath to go, but the men of the family |
yerruled her
Charley. whose muscles seemed to |
rave exertion, resolved to suspend
professional work for others and give
himself solely to repaying his father
or the education he had given him.
20 the two went to work with pick and
howell, and Tom Ainsworth found that
What he had always believed about
he Importance of his own assaying
ras true. Charley could form opin- {
Dns from the character of the rocks
nd the soil. the way they lay together
nd their tilt. which were very yalua-
lie. Besides, he could assay any spec
mems they suspected of being valua-
lie and get the result at once without :
DING TO an aS;ayer. who might deceive
hem. So the old man was happy. | =.
ven IL they did not discover a mine.
Whether from Charley's knowledge
minerals or from sheer luck, a very !
aluable piece of property was struck :
Y the two men. Charley one day as Z
ayed some. ore from a new opening. i,
nd it turned out very handsomely. ;
borrower. the vein from which 1t was 5
ken opened instead Of closed as they .
lg down. They kept their secret: v
ut. as Ill luck would have 1t. the par |,
es digging on the next claim struck O
continuation Of the same vein. but e
Its end. Following 1t toward the
insworth property, they found that it ii
,ened in that direction. showing that. N
Tough their own property was OF lit e,
e value. that OF their neighbors was N
able TO be a bonanza a
These neighbors were three tough.. 81
lmed Harding. Murphy and Gum.
hey resolved to drive of Tom and
harley Ainsworth. hoping to do no