The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1920-03-04
KELLY SILVER MINE
At RANDSBURG, CAL.
REMARKABLE DISCOVERY THAT
BROUGHT QUICK WEALTH
TO LUCKY OWNERS.

A mine that paid $4,000 in divi-
dends from the sage brush roots, that
to so feet depth had no dump. every
thing mined being shipped to the
smelters and yielding $4,000 in divi-
dends to the owners, is "a discovery
of interest to the mining industry.
This unusual development occurs in a
district noted for its gold production
from 1895 to 1915 and for its output
of tungsten from 1915 to 1918, and
now probably destined to become
known for its silver production, writes
Jay A. Carpenter in Engineering and
Mining Journal.
The Kelly silver mine is situated
one and one-half miles east and south
of Randsburg, Cal. Though Rands-
burg is in Kern county, and the prin-
cipal owners of the mine are from
Bakersfield, the county seat, the mine
itself is just over the line in San Ber-
nardinO county. branch line of the
Sante Fe railroad runs past the mine
to its terminal at Johannesburg.
which is only a mile to the northwest.
The station of Searles. on the South
ern Pacific railroad, from which a
branch goes to the potash fields at
Trona, is only u miles away and con-
nected by a good auto road Not only
is the rich Kelly mine fortunate as to
its location near railroads, but its
proximity to other advantages makes
it like unto the mine upon which the
prospector builds his fairy castles of
sudden wealth, and like the mine that
the engineer travels necessarily to
find but seldom sees.
Half Mile From Paved Road.
where, since the days of 40, the rich,
horn silver ore of the Kelly mine has
been tramped over but lay unnoticed,
the Santa Fe road put in a sidins
years ago; and half mile away the
Sierras Power company strung its
high tension line from the Sierras to
Los Angeles An eighth of a mile
away the water company that supplies
Randsburg had laid its pipe line Lead
ing from the pumps at Squaw Springs
Kern county had brought its paved
roads around Randsburg to within a
half mile of this spot. Two miles
away by road is Randsburg, with /
abundant labor to work a mine and
stores at which to supply materials. /
Though the region is a mountainous 4
sage brush covered country of 300 .
feet elevation, less than 200 miles I
away by quick train service or good /
auto road are the orange groves and .
Los Angeles, the promised land of the
successful southern California pros
pectors. /
Chance Discovery.
At this spot, about the first of April
of last year. two prospectors, Hamp
Williams and John NOsser, sat down
to rest on their way back to Rands-
burg, little thinking how soon they or
their hackers J. w. Kelly and Miss
Edith Coons, would reap the rewards
of two years patient search for
mine A chance piece of rock broken
off 10y one of them led to a discussion
as to whether it contained anthony
or silver Two samples of the crop
pings were mailed to Mr. Kelly at
The returns showed $50
in gold and 436 ounces silver in one {
and $50 in gold and 1926 ounces silver
per ton in the second. AS the crop
ping proved to be on the end of an old (
claim worked years before because Of
a gold vein on it, but on which ex-
emption of labor had been filed dur
ing the war years. Mr.. Kelly obtained
an option to buy the claim known as {
The Juanita for S5OOO and Williams
and Nosser located all the open I
ground available. giving them over S
lOzen claims. To make the first ship S
nents Williams and Nosser each sold 7
a half of his quarter interest to com {
Sensate for his share of the expense. I
Alfred Harold, editor of the Bakers
field Californian, was one Of the for {