The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1920-05-07
FAIRVIEW TO
COME BACK AGAIN

Now what do you know about this?
There is a prospect of interest being
revived in the old Fairview mining
camp. a few miles north of Oroville, in
British Columbia. and work started on
a large scale Who knows, who knows
but that the Fairview district may
come back after suffering under the
curse of black eye for quarter of
a century. during which time hardly
days work has been done in a mining
way. All of us old residents of this To-
cality remember the time when Fair
view was a hustling mining camp,
with large population and number
Of properties employing small army
of men. Thousands upon thousands of
dollars were expended in exploitation
and a number of extensively equipped
mills were installed, never to turn
wheel with any hope of profit. Why,
only few weeks ago the machinery
of one of those old mills was hauled
through Oroville to be shipped to Spo-
kane as scrap iron. Much of the eX-
perience around Fairview in the mat
ter of opening mines was similar to
that noticeable in northern Okanogan
county about the same period Inca
pacity and ignorance of management
and the criminal wasting of money
marked the ventures set on foot in
both districts, while the shrewd wild
cater feathered his nest upon the
credulity of the eastern investor. We
have in years past heard some weird
stories of how scheming claim owners
around Fairview worked unsuspecting
investors by the old, old process of
sailing" We We're told how in one
instance a claim owner managed to
induce prospective investors to sample
his claim and the investigators were
so careful that he was at loss as to
how to ''sweeten" the samples. But he
was a wise old guinea and from eX-
perience knew a trick or two that
would hOodwink the best of experts.
1t seems that the investigators would
not permit the owner either to take out
the samples or convey them from the
prospect to town. But the keen seller
secured some gold in solution and
while walking behind the man carry
ing the sacks of samples on his back,
deftly gave the sacks a hyperdemic
treatment. The samples assayed so
well that the claims were sold for a
very substantial figure, and the re-
cipient of the payment lost no time in
striking out for California and never
returned. But that is trick of the
trade and is merely mentioned as
showing as how the public instead of
the ground was worked during the
Fairview mining BOOM We most sim
cerely trust that Fairview will come
back, for if success follows honest
mining efforts at Fairview, northern
Okanogan county will absorb some of
the benefit that would be created by
a revival of mining. The Penticton
Herald mentions the prospect of re-
newed activity at the Fairview camp.
as follows:
Twenty-Five years ago two bright
young graduates of Toronto Univer-
sity engineers and metalurgsts, Geo.
and Harry A. Guess, located in an old
camp of Fairview where they formed
connection with the Strathyre mine.
Later, they secured the Susie on their
own account.
Camp Fairview fell upon evil days
not because of lack of values in the
cres, nor because of lack of bodies of
ore. Probably no other camp in Amer
lea has as fine a collection of monu-
ments of mining mismanagement as
has Fairview camp. One by one the
properties fell by the wayside-money
uselessly squandered or absorbed by
commission brokens in Toronto, where
most of the flotations were made.
The Guess boys in due course of time
drifted out of the camp. They went to
Greenwood, where they were highly
successful, and built block which is
known by their name to this day.
Afterwards they operated in camps
from Mexico to Alaska, always sue
cessfully.
In recent years George has BEEN
professor of mining and metallurgy in
the Toronto School of Mines, while
Harry mas Deen consulting engineer
for the Guggenheims for many years.
Some years ago Prof George Guess
was called to Anyox to solve the flux-
ing problem of the Hidden Creek ores
and was successful.
During all these years the Guess
brothers have never lost their faith in
Fairview nor in the Susie, which they
still own They have now come back
to their early love and the Susie is be.
Ing unwatered for a close examination
with view of resuming development
work
There are many mining men in this
province who still believe in the old
camp which got Knockout through
the operations of wi1d-catters and get