The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1915-04-24

Oil OA'iNN w hOuSC blS iCOOiuog hS
deposited all Instruments for record in
the inside pocket of a waterproof
overcoat. Jacob Stitzel, who was admin
istrator for the Kingsley estate, in
marshaling the assets discovered
that deeds, mortgages and mining To-
cations, supposed to have been lost,
that had been given to the deceased
auditor for record in his lifetime, in
great numbers had slipped through a
hole in his pocket and found safe lodg-
ing in the tail of the garment under
the lining, among them the notice of
location of the Old Dominion mine.
The papers were recorded by the ad-
ministrator and filled a considerable
part of large volume.
In the meantime, Benoist and Kear-
ney had gone to Spokane to draw upon
the eXchequer of their financial backer
who was living economically upon 800
per month displaying calico to the near
rich of Spokane Falls, skimping for
enough to keep bacon and sour-dough
bread before his grubstaked partners.
The partners assembled at the counter
where Pat measured the cloth, and by
constantly polishing up jovial dis
position, priding himself in the belief
that he was an invaluable magnet for
customers of the store, looking pat
ronizingly upon his high booted and
bewhiskered partners. Benoist Uttered
the counter with smutty specimens of
carbonates, and talked so assuringly
that people came in from the streets to
learn the cause. An assay gave $1,000
in silver to the ton and there were
thousands of tons of it to be shoveled
up, according to their report-but no
money to move pound of it to market.
Spokane Falls, as the city was then
called, was the nearest railway station.
The nearest available smelter was the
Shelby works in San Francisco. The
ore must be hauled by wagon 95 miles
over bad roads from the mine to Spo-
kane at a cost of approximately $25 per
ton (and this must be CASH, thence by
cars, to Portland and transferred to
ship for San Francisco. 1t was esti-
mated that the cost of mining, trans
portation and treatment charges would
run well over $50 per ton, or $500 for
a 30-ton car. The rich prospectors
paled under the formidable embargo
of expense. They would rather be
prospectors and live on Pats salary of
800 per month. They talked to many
business men of the city, but no en-
couragement came. Some wanted
controlling interest to finance the p1o-
ject. They were advised to go to the
banks, and they did, with like results
in response to their quest. At the
First National Bank they were treated
courteously but told to wait until the
return of the president. Frank K.
Moore was president of the First
National Bank, and when he returned
to the city from a trip into the interior,
he found the boys waiting for him.
Who should present the matter? That
was the question among the boys.
Each had been turned down so often
he did not want to take another wetting,
so they finally concluded to go together
and take the usual liquidation of ridicule.
They were directed to the entrance
way where the word president" was
written in gold letters across the
glass panel of the door. Mr.. Moore
was in. He was grave in his demeanor,
stern of manner. He directed each to
chair and stood like piece of stat
uary looking them over for long min
ute, and terminated his study by asking
what he could do for them. Benoist
produced some ore samples. Pat flash
ed an assay certificate. Moore con-
templated the men, the samples and
assay certificate. They voiced desire
for some financial backing and wanted
to know what he would want to put them
in position so they could handle the
property on a shipping basis. "All we
want" said Mr.. Moore, "is your busi-
ness with a fair recompense for the
accommodation we extend. If you will
mine the ore and turn it over to our
bank we will pay all expenses of freight
and carriage, and turn over to your
account the net proceeds, less our
usual discounts"
Two days later the three prospectors
were bound for Colville with such a
supply of provisions and tools as Pats
salary would stand. They provided
themselves with burlap sacks, went to
the point of discovery and filled them
with black carbonates which they
picked and shoveled out of the vein,
loaded the ore thus sacked on wooden
sleds and dragged it three miles on a
trail down the mountains,
through the dense woods to the nearest
road where it was loaded in wagons and
sent on the way. There were no con-
tracts couched in the unspeakable pro-
visions of the law; they simply told the
teamsters that Frank r. Moore would