The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1920-02-27

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lessness Of mining litigation than the
now famous case of the Raymoad- Ely
Mining Company against the Hsrmes
Mining Company. Both were 8an
Francisco incorporations: both were
In the hands OF shrewd. wealthy and
experienced men. The vein In dispute
had already yielded millions Of dollars
and was supposed to be still capable
OF producing enormous sums. There
was arrayed on either side the very
hover OF the Pacific mining bar and Il
was well understood that the nghl
would be contest OF giants. intellec-
tuai and financial Experts were sum-
moned from far and near to theorixs
against one another and witnesses
were hunted up from the inner circles
Of mormondom.
AZ usual In such cases. the town Of
Pioche. where the property lay and the
suit was tried. was rocked to it's CEN
ter, and men openly or covetly linked
themselves with the fortunes Of one or
the other party.
The jury. a. Is customary In trials Of
unusual importance. were locked up
In the court house, from whence they
emerged only to take their meals and
then only with q posse of deputy sher-
tns. In front. behind and on either side.
Strong-arm patrols. in the pay Of each
party. watched the court house during
the entire night in order to prevent
any approach to the ill-fated twelve,
who for six weary weeks listened. pa
tiently. It must be admitted. and per-
haps tried to unravel the tangled web
OF testimony and the spscious plead
ings of the distinguished advocates.
The money which this suit cost in
the way Of court fees. attorneys fees
Witnesses fees. together with board
lodging and travelling expenses Of
the last named; also the sums unneces-
sarily expended in ditching. digging,
delving. assaying. etc. would have
paid numerous dividends to the stock
holders of either company. It has
been estimated that the direct and in
direct losses and expenditures prior t.
and incidental to this suit amounted.
for both parties. to about q half-mil-
lion dollars. All this money was worse
than wasted. and II to this sum In
added the shrinkage In value Of the
stock of the respective companies an
actual loss Of fully 33.0O0.0OO can be
figured up. Worse even, perhaps, than
the money loss was the malice. hatred
and bitternss stirred up between the
partisans Of the respective combat
ants.
So serious, indeed. at one time
seemed the pitch Of excitement To
which an overwrought zeaf had car.
ried the litigants that some Of the
more timid. 1t may be. expected a gen
eral melee In the court house itself.
and In country where many 20 fully
armed such an encounter would hav,
made the floor run streams of blood
The older and cooler heads, however
governed and the suit fortunately ter
minated without any actual blood.
letting.
Night and day the excitement con-
tinued: night and day the leechers
sucked their full at the money bars
and after the Hermes company had
triumphantly won, the Raymond Elv
purchased majority Of the stock Of
the former corporation and ended anv
rurther appeals to the law by bodily
swallowing their antagonists.
In order to fully understand the pre.
else nature Of the controversy between
the Raymond-Ely and Hermes mining
companies 1t will be necessary to 20
back to the original discovery Of ore
In this territory.
Far down In what was formerly
supposed to be the desert portion Of
tho territory Of Utah. now forming a
part OF Lincoln county, state of Ne.
vada. and early in the year 1854 there
camped party of prospectors from
Great Salt Lake City. three hundred
miles to the northeast. These men
round upon the ground two persons. to
whom groupings of ore had been point
Cd out by the Indians. They had done
some little digging and had called
their claim Panaca, after the native
WORD for metal. The newcomers
brought with them q copy Of mining
regulations such as were then in use
IN other portions of Utah. The whole
party accepted the proposed laws.
posted their notices and set their
stakes. Their description of the dis
trict - written was ambiguous, and IL
taken literally would only mean two
mathematical lines intersectinR one
another and enclosing no superficial
area. The chief business seemed
merely to have been the location Of
claims. for they located and recorded,
1T this time and during the ensuing
spring, the modest amount Of over
100000 feet Of mining ground. The
original party on their first visit did
several hours work and then immedi-
ately set out upon their return to Salt
Lake. at which place the recorder
elect procured q book and inserted the
notices Of location In form Of certif-
icates. The certificates were loosely
written and entirely inadequate to de-
.tsrmine the locus of the claims with
out parol testimony. particularly after
the stakes set had fallen down.
In the early part Of June the follow
ing ysar--1Se6-the Salt Lake party
returned and did considerable work ON
the Panaca location. A portion Of them
agreed to consolidate their segregated
claims and continued the work ON .
single claim which had not Joined the
consolidation. but which was after
ward either wholly or In part bought
IN by one Of the company.
The laws originally adopted re-
Quirsd At least one faithful days work
on each claim during each month ana