The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1921-04-21
ONCE LEADVILLE MINER
NOW COLORADO SENATOR
INTERESTING AND INSPIRING
CAREER OF SENATOR SAM
UEL D. NICHOLSON.

paul Wooten in Engineering ano
Mining JournaD.
1t is not uncommon to find a Unit
, ed States senator who is a self made
man, but it is uncommon for one who
was once an uneducated mine laborei
to gain a seat in that body-a position
regarded by many as the most desir-
able within the gift of the people, with
the single exception of the presiden-
cy itself. Samuel d. Nicholson, who
has just taken his seat as one of Col
e-ado's senators, forty years ago
trudged into Leadville in a snow
storm. He was then twenty-five years
old He had been working in Ne
braska on a farm. He heard about
the boom in Leadville and invested
his entire capital in making the trip
to the Colorado mining camp. In fact.
twenty five cents was all he had left
on his arrival He had no overcoat
and possessed only remnants of shoes
to withstand the rigors of winter at
an altitude of 10000 feet but this did
not deter him from going Immediate
ly to work as a section hand. He ad-
mits that it took all of his grit to stay
with this job in the open during the
long Leadville winter 1t was not I'M
til spring that an opportunity came
| for him to secure work in a mine-his
objective. His first job was in the
/ Colonel Sellars mine a property Of
which he later became an owner.
Mueker and Miner Five Years.
Mr. Nicholson's term as mine la
borer was not transitory one. For
five years he polished the heads Of
drills, did mucking and anything else
that he could do in his effort to amass
enough capital to undertake operation
on his own account The accumulat-
ing process was FASTENED finally by
an increase in salary which he was
able to demand on the strength of his
experience and his ability to act as
foreman 1t was a lease on the Sell
lars mine and an adjoining property
that gave him the financial founda-
ton to become an operator.
Later Mr.. Nicholson organized the |
Nab Mining company. Success final
~ crowned this operation. after he /
iitAQ oNlalllNQ Ills circuit 10 lllt llulll III ]
an effort to carry forward the work |
Afterward he was able to extend his |
operations until they included a large |
number of properties in Colorado and /
in other states He was prominent /
among those operators responsible for /
the application of concentration meth /
DDS to Colorado ores. He assisted in |
Q no or 20
of zinc ores found in the Leadville |
district. and was the discoverer of the /
zinc ore which bears his name
nicholsonite. Senator Nicholson was /
born on Prince Edward island at that /
time a direct dependency of Great /
Britain. He emigrated to the United /
States when he was seventeen years /
old. He took up his residence at Bay /
CITY, Mich where he completed the /
garram school course. That consti- /
tuted his entire formal education /
Nevertheless, the new Colorado sena- /
tor has a reputation of being well ed |
ucated, although self taught
Wants Metals Protected.
Mining is at d lower ebb than at /
any time in his recollection, Senator |
Nicholson says. and as a consequence !
he had not been in Washington TWEEN
ty-four hours until he was urging the |
utmost haste in adopting some form .
of legislation which will close Ameri- /
can ports to the metals and ores pro-
duced abroad with cheap labor He is
an advocate of immediate, stop-gap
tariff legislation. He does not be
lieve the country can afford to let an
fording the relief which he thinks a
protective tariff will give the miners
of the United States. He says that
metal miners have suffered more than
have manufacturers or coal miners, in
that they have had no unusual profits
to spread over this lean period.
His Appeal for Support
In announcing his candidacy Sena-
tor Nicholson said: Residing in this
state since boyhood I am indebted to
Colorado and her people for whatever
success I may have enjoyed, and ap-
preciating that fact and believing I
know the needs of both, my life work
will be devoted to their interests
Having no college degree the only di-
ploma which I possess is that of mod
crate success, awarded me by the uni
'ersity of experience after many years
Of honest toll and honorable business
enterprise which had it's beginning
with a miners pick. My life among
You for forty years has been an open :
book and upon it and upon the prin-
ciples here stated. I stand as a can
iidate, with the assurance that the
party nominee, whoever he may be. 9
will receive my cordial and hearty y
support on election day"