The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1921-12-09
The Psychology of
Taking a Chance"
by r.. G.. WOOD.

toDcr, u quoted nS SnytnR:
America is full Of rcd -bloo,icd
Don't stop them. Let the public
typical Of Americas not to want "A
SURE thing. Take away from the
public tho right to take risk and
you impcril the progress Of the min
ting industry which has been built
up by men Of courage who them
selves were willing To stake all,
~ took n SG00,O0O option on a
gold mine which engineers for Mrs
Virginia Fair Vanderbilt of New
York declared was worthless; later
W. dug out $4,000. 900 In orc
John q. Inir Of California took
millions out of the ComstOck silver
mines of Nevada, lie took
chnntc.
"AlVanzS Hayward, nn Eastern
lawyer, struggled with the Eureka
niinc for years, suffering the great
est hardships before lac struck II
rich. This mine produced s22 900.
oO0 In gold before iIctty Green
bought IL.
III took another chnnre right next
to this mine. I invested $500, 900
and took out St.t25,OOO I'm clear
profit.
People who buy mining stocks
or go into uncertain mining enter
pft rs usually expect TO realize large
returns. You might say they play
for high stakes They should bc
prepared to lose as ucll ns win"
Tho progress OF the mining camps
and oil fields of America would fiu
dozens OF large volumes with de
tails far more thrilling than The
stories OF the Crusaders or the ad-
ventures OF the great explorers In
the~late SOS the Comstock lode was
discovered at Virginia city, Nevada e
that is, Virginia Ciiy Was construct
cd after this discovery of rich ore.
The COmstock mines are operated
today. but their production during
the period OF the three great bonan-
gas is said to have totaled from
3oO0, 0,VGO.OOO TO S70O.OOO.OO0
So l!mitlcss did this production OF
rich silver ore appear that the Ger
man government sent a commls-
sion to examine these mines which
included such vulumlnous produc-
ers as the Ophlr, the California and
the Yellow Jacket. After pro-
longed Investigation, the com mission
returned 20 Germany. reporting
that there were mountains OF silver
AZ Virginia city. As result. the
German government demonetizsd
silver.
These mines were operated at 81
depth Of $500 feet. and 80 intense
was the heat at this depth that the
miners, bare TO the waist, we're able
TO work In shifts of only fifteen min
utes to thirty minutes.
Adolph Sutro. after whom n san
Francisco park near she Golden
Gate is named. drove the first deep
drainage tunnel over drilled. under
the Comstock lode. The water that
was drained off through this tun-
mel often showed a temperature Of
l79 degrees T.. Mules that were
uscd for hauling the cars would
drop dead because Of the intense
heat. Some Of them would die even
when they were standing directly
beneath ventilator shafts. This tun
mel was seven miles in length. -Four
poor prospectors became multi
mllhonaries through the riches Of
this great silver deposit. They were
Mackay, Fair, Flood and O'Brien.
They were known az the four bo-
nanza kings.
In every one OF the mining camps
there were countless stories of men
who made fortunes against adverse
conditions. IL was In Leadville,
Colorado, that Tabor made orfh for
tune after another. There was a
character In Leadville known as
'Chicken joe Joe "salted" n
prospect in which he had sunk an
assessment shaft. Tabor looked the
property over and paid Chicken Joe
$4,000 for II. Equipping the mine
with a shaft house, holsting and
other machinery, Tabor sunk shntt
about 100 feet further and opened
up the Little Pittsburg mine This
property paid Tabor about 1000
600. Chicken Joe became so indig-
nant to think that he had parted
with this mine for a paltry 10000
that he threatened to sue Tabor for
damages, even though he had in
tended TO defraud the man
A eobbler operating IN Leadvillc
sold Tabor the second saltcd pros
pect hole, which also proved a mine.
paying him several million dollars
In profits. Z
Shortly after Cripple Creek was
discovered in 1892 carpenter
named Winfield Scott Stratton took
a dare late one June evening in a
saloon In Colorado city. lie had
made the remark that he would like
to discover a mine. one Of the
men said to him:
"Stratton, YOU have seen that
granite intrusion at the foot nf Bat
tic Mountain, haven't yOu?'
Stratton admitted that ne had
Wei" his friend continued
that is a mine. and | will make
bet with YOU that you don't dare
walk up TO camp and stake out .
claim"
BY airline Cripple Greek was
only l6 miles distant. but by stage
road It was so miles away. It was
mile further up In the air than
Colorado CITY, Stratton arrived I'm
camp July 4th, 1892 He staked
out two claims, naming them the
Fourth OF July and Independence.
That mine, known as the lndepen-
dence paid Strattou millions OF dol
lars and then he sold Il TO the Ven
tUre Corporation Of London for
3l1, 900. 600, paying a commission
Of 10000 10 the agent STRAIT
ton developed a number OF mines In
Cripple Greek and presented the
city Of Colorado Springs with a
pleasure ground. known as stratton
Park
when the Venture Corporation
started TO offer these shares In Lon
Ion, they ran into period OF de-
preston. They lost millions Of
dollars. About the time they had
purchased the independence mlno.
miner In Denver. whose name Was
Thomas w. Walsh, had gone broke.