Show WONDER THE NEW ELDORADO of the WEST BY T C PARKER SPECIAL representative wonder nevada may 8 since tom stroud wandered into the hills north of fairview a little more than a year ago and discovered what is now the wonder mining district a transformation has taken place through ugh which the bleak and barren hills have presented scenes of life and activity with a vividness and rapidity that is marvelous and unusual even in nevada A special representative of the salt lake mining review recently visited wonderland Won wonder derand and was much surprised at the advanced stage no less than per month is being spent in development of a population of about 1200 over are miners employed A percentage that admits of but few drones and is self evi dent of the substantial effort that is being directed to the making of mines the wonder district is situated in churchill county about fifty seven miles a little south of east from the town of fallon falion the county seat and nearest railroad point and about seventeen miles north of of supremacy and confidence the mental attitude that prevails is one of calm assurance rather than feverish expectancy no one seems to be in doubt as to the districts great future but look upon it as something already assured this confidence is taking form and is being manifested in all sorts of activity aside from the development of the mines attesting to this in the town of wonder alone are half a dozen general stores two banks several hotels two lumber yards which ae gm R vw panoramic view of wonder nevada of development of a number of the properties inspected considering the very few months that wonder has been on the map the constant boom of giant powder heard night and day the huge dumps seen at mou mouth th of tunnel and top of shaft together with the stacks of ore sacked ready for shipment all tell the story of the districts progress it is stated that nearly three million dollars have been invested in properties in the district since its discovery and conservative serva tive estimates ar are e to the effect that fairview wonder the principal town of the district is located in what is known as badger flat at an elevation of jeet feet here substantial buildings are taking the place of the myriads myri ads of tents which served as the habitations of the pioneers many of whom in their eagerness to secure portions of the valuable ground were content even without these and slept in the open air sheltered only by the canopy of the heavens supremacy and confidence wonder conveys to the visitor an im cannot begin to supply demand un building material and any number of saloons restaurants and supply houses and almost every line of business represented in any prosperous town of this size and catering to the needs of a mining community history of wonder it was in march 1906 that the re doubtable tom stroud first left fairview and became attracted on a prospecting trip to the hills located to the north con from the entire surrounding coun try for their vivid and made a location which he named the lost claim a part of which is now embraced in the stray horse group and the remain eer being included in the horn spoon hojohn hoi aings gs after making this location stroud returned to fairview fair view and interested the on foot among those first upon the ground were C C higgins harry morris frank lamb scott groo J B cobb and a number of others many of whom have disposed of their interests for handsome sums it is stated that more fortunes have been acquired in a given time by the ori fr wib A 4 A 7 al 74 44 lease of the nevada wonder 51 al company on the spider wasp darcy brothers in the rich samples he had brought back with him and they equipped him with supplies for a second trip this trip was destined to be the climax of his crowning achievement for it was then that he located the now famous jack pot the exact date of this location was april ath 1906 A few weeks later stroud made a third trip accompanied by R L darcy they made several more locations and on their way out were met by another party consisting of frank R L smith et a al these last named parties made several locations and were later joined by william mays L A savage and murray scott while prospecting the hill now known as wonder mountain mays broke a piece of rock from the outcrop of a ledge though he had been prospecting but a few weeks his unskilled eye detected the presence of mineral and upon showing the rock to scott and savage his opinion was verified by their more experienced judgment greatly elated by their find these men immediately began taking up the rounding surrounding su ground locating the last chance and hidden treasure mays soon after this returned to fairview and their hearts were all made glad by the returns from the assays essays from the samples of rock secured from their find which showed values of 1200 in gold and silver in some manner the news of the strike became public and saddle horses burros single rigs double rigs and every other means of transportation available were hastily brought into service and the stampede was on many who were unable to procure even a burro burio struck out ginal locators in wonder than in any other district in nevada sales follow discovery in september following the discovery of the wonder district the claims located by mays on which the rich strike was made were secured under an option by J B daniels who interested some philadelphia hands of large companies who are active developing their holdings geological conditions the wonder district has probably the largest mineralized area of any known ter in nevada today at this time the district has been proven from the stray horse on the east to the spider wasp on the west and from the black rock or on va tie south to the vulture on the north an all east and west length of about five miles and a north and south width of at least three miles inside this area ore of shipping value has been found in no less that than awen twenty ty five or thirty different places while on the outside of these boundaries a large number of splendid prospects exist many I 1 of which have well defined ledges c carrying a crying good values the formation of the district which is in nature shows early an andesite de in many places intersected by large rhyolite dykes the higher hills which bound the district on the north and east are covered with a lava flow basalt for a considerable depth the porphyry being exposed only along the sides of the numerous 0 U s deep gulches where the later flow has been scored away the western portion of the district has been eroded to a much greater depth and here the porphyry is plainly exposed over a large area tho the harder portions of the formation le ie the quartz ledges and dykes of highly sili clous rhyolite have resisted the erosion to a great extent and are to be seen cropping out boldly in numerous instances 10 v the roslyn mine at wonder capitalists with him among whom were some of the directors of the tonopah mining company these parties formed the nevada wonder mining company and took the property over at a consideration of anda and a large block of stock from this time until the pre present sent transfers have been made almost daily until now virtually all of the territory lying close to the properties of known value has passed into the the district is pr evaded by an elaborate an intricate vein system in general the strike of these veins which are nearly all parallel is northwesterly and south th easterly occasionally an exception to this j rule is found a notable instance beings on the property of the jack pot where the main vein has a northeast and southwest strike the ores of the district dietric i t carry bot both h gold fand and silver near the surface the silver content is usually from 60 to 70 per cent of tile the total value the percentage of gold however appears to increase with depth indicating di a surface concentration of the silver alles free gold is frequently no iti ceable in id the rock while the silver occurs as a black sulphide probably and also as horn silver the gangue avat barles es throughout the district and is large ly characteristic of the property from which tl kl orp ore is taken in many instances it is 0 o finable white quartz in which the metal ii I 1 plainly visible again the ore is merely all acri myritle country rock highly 4 it 1 Do deserving serving of mention artong rn ong those who are especially r ro o 1 ii 11 1 the making of IN wonder TOnder is the firm of chas J kleeman co kleem and crotto who compose the firm have long lain undisturbed and shunned by men and known only as desolate and barren wastes in the great american desert places fraught with dangers from thirst and starvation this seems to be in harmony and keeping with all of natures Nai natures ures laws her books are pretty evenly balanced where she bestows bestons one gift she withholds another and thus it is that in the most neglected and barren spots her most priceless treasure is concealed the precious gold that true magnetic pole to which all hearts point duly north like trembling needles hence the discovery an abundant supply of water only twelve miles from wonder that can be piped into the district by gravity is a boon unexpected and undreamed of indeed for the people of wonder the lines seem to have fallen ip in plasant places this discovery is of double significance since it not only V 4 7 X W let 0 7 4 W 01 u the jack pot mine at wonder ore sacked for shipment were among 0 the pioneers first entering the district and were among 0 the first to recognize the districts great possibilities they own and control the wonder townsite and are doing a rushing bubines in the handling of lots as building is progressing as rapidly all over the camp as lumber and material can be secured making r a constant demand for building cites both for business blocks and residences real estate in this wonderful camp has proven a most profitable investment and doubtless will continue to be so for some time to come lots that originally sold for 50 can not now be bought for the wonder electric power water go co one of the greatest difficulties in the det of nevadas great mineral wealth has been the scarcity of water those districts of the state that have furnished the 0 i richest deposits of the precious metals I 1 assures tile the supply of water but makes possible the generating of electricity for lighting and power already a company has been formed water rights secured and preparations made for the erection of a power plant which will be rushed to completion with the utmost dispatch the transmission of power into the district means the erection of mills for the treatment of the low grade ores of insufficient values to ship profitably but which when treated on the ground will become sources of great revenue the im importance of this advantage alone can hardly be overestimated over estimated and the value that irwill it will be to the district is absolutely incalculable mr J D jewett an engineer of eminent ability and long experience who was employed to make an examination ex and pass upon the feasibility of the project from an engineering standpoint stated to the writer that his observations had satisfied him that the plain was practical and owing to the numerous natural advantages the engineering gi difficulties would he be comparatively small the source of the water he stated was in the stillwater range of mountains lying west of wonder and also known as the carson sink range these mountains are a series of rugged peaks which rise to a height of several thousand feet at some points above the level of the valley the snows which cover the highest points during the greater part of the year and the heavy rains that are frequent in the spring and autumn saturate the ground and furnish water courses or springs that continually find their way to the lower level of the valley and lose themselves during the dry season in the depth of sedimentary deposit that has for ages washed down from the slopes and canyons the watershed water shed that has been appropriated comprises two canyons which have been named for two of the members of the company who first discovered them one bein being called bevis canyon and the other anderson canyon the mountains have been explored carefully by mr jewett a and nd his chief assistant engineer G H bichai richardson adson and they have made a series of levels and triangulations selected sites for water dams and reservoirs and have made surveys for same the two canyons he describes as being approximately parallel and at the time of examination the inflow of water in bevis canyon was found to be about 2000 gallons per minute the amount in anderson canyon was somewhat less but the two could be connected by a Y pipe line which would add considerable pressure and by building reservoirs an immense amount of water that would otherwise go to waste could be held in reserve mr jewett has been retained as chief engineer and will have entire char charge chare e of the construction and installation of the plant having Z 1 made an enviable record in the colstr construction action department of the southern pacific railroad with which he was connected for a number of years there is every reason to believe the undertaking is given into able and efficient hands the company is incorporated under the name of the wonder electric power and water company with its main offices at wonder the president is F B weir of the well known brokerage firm of W weir air bros of new york the writer is informed that a block of tile the stock of the company which was placed on the market was eagerly subscribed to in wonder the stock in a company of this kind certainly offers an op port unity for investment worthy of investigation ti I 1 am not advised as to whether r or not liot any of the stock Is now being offe offered reLi but those interested can obtain any information desired by writing the company |