Evening star., 1933-05-14
Capital Sidelights
BY WILL p. KENNEDY.

xnaC tnere ID Soil romance IN tne
open reaches of the Far West, that the
earth Is still q rich storeho,lse Of buried
treasure. that sturdy hearted prospectors
are devoting a lifetime of toll with un-
faltering faith In their quest to drill
their way to gold and other precious
metals and minerals hidden for CEN
turies, was brought to the attention OF
Congress during the past week by Rep
reSentative Compton ]. White Of Idaho.
Discussing q resolution for suspen-
sion OF annual assessment work on
mining claims held by location in the
United States and Alaska, Representa-
tive White gave two illustrations pic
turing the hardy fortitude and per-
sistency of these pioneers:
By death of T. B. McWilliams, S.
year-Old, one ARMED miner at the Par
nell Hospital at Standpoint, Idaho has
lost as resolute prospector as ever took
up pick and shovel to wrest a fortune
from its rugged hills
Undeterred by the loss of his right
hand in premature blast while driving
a prospect tunnel on Scotchman Peak
l6 years ago, he continued working his
claims. lengthening his tunnels day by
day. In his work he used an ingenious
device. fitted to the stub OF his arm by
the blacksmith here. 1t permitted his
holding and turning drill steel or hook
ing onto the handle Of wheelbarrow
to take out the broken rock.
known to the sourdoughs and the
youths of the region as "Uncle Tommy
he carried on. Summer suns passing
and Winter SHOWS. piling high on his
lonely cabin roof, found Uncle Tommy
hammering away at the hard, steel
defying quartzite, boring his way to ma =
lures mineral wealth, which has bafled
and discouraged many more able bodied
and better equipped men. Not one tun-
mel, but four. yawn at the foot OF Goat
Mountain as monuments to his un-
daunted courage and tireless labor.
Uncle Tommy" lived to see his
cream OF a mining camp in this district
realized. His 40 years Of faith and
work have been an inspiration to those
who in recent years have caused the
surrounding hills to yield up silver and
lead in paying quantities.
Picturing how hope springs eternal
IN the human breast" Representative
White assured his colleagues that:
Hope springs eternal In the human
breast. In no breast does 1t re-
side with more permanency than In
the breast OF our grtzzled prospectors
Fortune awaits just 10 feet ahead In
the solid rock In the minds Of the old
Spectors. Never daunted, always
oyant. and sure that fortune will
me day smile upon his efforts. the
prospector pounds away at the clinking
driis slowly opening the way to the
bonanza that lies few feet ahead in
the vein that he is following"
he recounted an event in the his
tory OF mining in Montana, an episode
told In mining camps wherever beans
prospector's camp fire. Years ago a
stout-hearted little Irishman by the
name Of Tommy Cruise formed an idea
That In the hills surrounding the great
placer diggings In the Helena dis
trict somewhere there must be deep
bedded veins Of gold He staked his
claim high on the mountainside in the
MarySville district and resolutely drilled
and blasted his way into the solid rock
Months and years rolled around as
Tommy pounded away in driving his
tunnel, leaving anon to 90 forth and
earn grubstake that he might con-
tinue his work. Some miner once wrote
on his mine door. "Cruse's folly" but
Tommy persevered single-handed and
alone and drove l 300 feet through the
rock to open the great gold ore body
known as the Drom Lummond Mine
Tom Carter Of Helena was his lawyer
Tommy's ambition had always been
to own million dollars. So when the
sale was made and Tommy was secure
in his million. Lawyer Carter saw to
1t that he retained one-sixteenth inter-
est in the mine. This produced many
times Cruse's original million, and may
have been one of the major reasons for
giving us Senator Tom Carter of
Montana. Tommy opened a bank in
Helena for carrying out one OF his
cherished ambitions When the great
depression Of 1893 closed in on Helena
and bank after bank closed and eager
depositors made a run on Tommy s
bank. he simply opened his vaults and
piled high in the teller's cages his
golden store within sight of every one
where eager depositors could be paid as
fast as they came. This ended the run
financial history In the State of Mon
tana. The romance of mining is not
dead in the West; many opportunities
await stout-hearted prospectors that
roam the Western hills seeking for an
other Drom Lummond.
4 y
Here is the prize tribute to mother by
l4-year-old Brooklyn school girl,
named Esther Elwofsky. youngest of a
family of eight children. who won q
Nationwide contest conducted by the
Mothers Day Committee of the Golden
Rule Foundation. 1t was presented to
Congress for Nation wide circulation in
the Congressional Record by Represent
ative Thomas H. Collen Of New York:
"Mofher,s nav
Zone day in the year set aside for
mothers-hOw strange a custom! Like
setting one day aside to grasp the
beauty of the sun. the moon, the stars
all the lovely. natural things that bring
warmth. light. comfort.
Many times I have longed to set my
thoughts down upon paper. Not in the
flowery language of greeting cards, but
In the simple language of love. I write
the words, Dear Mother'-lovely tender
vords-and grow silent beneath the
weight of thoughts and memories that,
lying buried like precious jewels be-
meath the dust of years, arise clear and
glowing in my mind.
Impossible to describe the homely
beauty Of these thoughts: Warm kitchen
filled with the scent of bread; sunlight
dappling a clean white cloth. touching
the rosy apples IN their copper p0Wl.
tender memories of loving acts and
dreary tasks done smilingly while the
sun shone and the years marched
swiftly past. and youth. perhaps Sc
cretly mourned. passed with It,
How describe the broad, deep-bos-
omed earth. symbol Of maternity
awakening in the Spring of the year,
lying fruitful beneath the Summer sun,
resting from its laborS in the Autumn
and dreaming peacefully wrapt in
snowy mantle? Dwelling upon these
thoughts we hear borne strong on the
wind the galloping hoofs Of Time astride
the ceaseless cycles Of the years, draw
ing nearer and nearer. Then. caught
by q vague fear, we say or we think or
We write, Dear Mother"
new tariffs quotas and special import
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