Show biography of leading mining men NUMBER SIX X BY WILL C HIGGINS B E S chafey the subject of this sketch was born on a farm in bleeding kansas he had no choice in this matter and yet he has regretted the fact all of his life as his instincts have all been radically west western elm and in his infancy he yearned for the mountains canyons and cliffs of th this s intermountain region from the time he had learned the alphabet and could spell such words as cat and dog with fluency he read all of the literature appearing in the courier el ed greer editor which was published at winfield the county seat of cowley county and was particularly struck with the graphic description of mining operations appearing in its columns from which he was led to Z 1 v E S chafey believe that in certain portions of the great west gold nuggets were to be found in the ground like potatoes in a hill and his fancy was struck by recitals of instances where gold blossom was a sure indication of the existence of an ore deposit much the same as a gorgeous rose on a bush bristling with thorns was prima facia evidence that below were roots penetrating deep into mother earth darth on attaining his majority therefore and thus obtaining emancipation from paternal roof and rod mr chafey took his course towards the setting sun his blood tingle a with anticipation and a big carpetbag in each hand with which to bring back the bushel or two of gold nuggets he imagined he was going to find within a very brief period if not sooner this was in the year 1896 the exact day and month does not matter in this biography as space must be economized in order to dwell on the really great achievements which have crowned mr chafens Cha feys efforts in the mining field it matters not nat that he did not find whole acres of gold blossom in the mountain ranges and passes with gold nuggets smiling a glad welcome and of a size ranging from a pigeon egg up to the full grown production of a proud and happy 1 appy ostrich for the search was a dismal failure although he made a hotfoot hot foot chase through the mining camps of colorado arizona and new mexico it was then that the realization came to him indeed the fact was rudely forced upon him that in reality re aliby he was nothing more than a tenderfoot dating from that hour he took up mining as a serious occupation and clipping the wings of his imagination he settled down to learn the first rudiments of the mining business to begin with he sought an intimate a acquaintance with hammer and drill and in his leisure moments began to study rock formations he was interested more than ordinary men in seams and stringers and he would sit up whole days and nights to pry into the mysteries of faults and displacements As a matter of act a fault in a mine had such a charm for him that tha t his friends and acquaintances began to call him the big fault this however did not disturb his serenity and the knowledge ot 0 stringers seams faults and displacements thus acquired was a most valuable asset when it came to the discovery of a really good thing a bonanza which others having eyes but seeing not stumbled over for years until mr chafey happened along and claimed it by right of discovery but of this more anon or words to that effect mr chafens Cha feys first mining experience in his own behalf came to him in nevada after rather trying adventures in making his entry into the battle born bom state this was not a triumphal entry viewed from any standpoint for he rode into tonopah in a car loaded with hay from tonopah he walked into rhyolite carrying his blankets on his back and the next day he landed in beatty with but ten bucks in his inside pocket before twilight came this had been spent in giving the boys a good time and that night he bunked out in the sagebrush with the centipedes and tarantulas after making an elaborate toilet the next morning and turning his socks inside out so as to make the holes come on the other foot mr chafey succeeded in getting t a 10 grubstake which he had hauled to blackbird springs he camped here for the night under his own vine and fig tree as it were and felt as happy and as puff puffed ed up as a kid with his first pair of boots for he was now really starting out in life on his own hook after mature deliberation mr chafey decided that water was vas almost as valuable as gold in a desert country and oftentimes the most desirable of the two so he located the spring of which he drank long and hearty for it was free even if rather thin inside of a week he found a purchaser for the spring the purchase price was 1250 with down and this was all that ever came down up or out of the transaction but it was a nest egg all the same and it kept mr chafey in the necessaries of life while he located and performed the state work on sixty odd claims this world he did himself walking eight miles to and from his claims with the thermometer registering degrees le grees in the shade with no shade nearer than reno or las vegas his camp was later on christened transvaal and the transvaal mining company was formed with chafey as its head and center things seemed good g to mr chafey at this time and it looked as if he held a winning hand with a heavy jackpot to draw to as an eastern syndicate had taken an option on 51 per cent of the capital stock of his company for which at an early date they were to deposit cartwheels to his credit in the bank but the san francisco earthquake monopolized the attention of the whole e country at about the time the money was to have been paid and the eastern syndicate fearing that the crevasse might extend to transvaal declared the whole transaction as being null and void still nothing daunted mr chafey cleaned up something like through the sale of other claims in that re region Ion when he came to the conclusion that it was 23 for him this led him to the new camp of skidoo across the nevada california line and here he blew in his money without receiving in return any tangible results greenwater Green water next attracted his attention here he paid fifty cents for a gallon of water and for the use of an automobile for a period of four days after the expiration of the four days he purchased another gallon of water and his business affairs terminated so favorably that inside of a month he had cleaned up fifteen thousand in the coin of the realm from greenwater Green water with his wad of the long green concealed about abou t his person he made a beeline bee line to the northern portion of nevada where he found water more plentiful and also opportunities for unprofitable investments he tried his hands at one thing and then another his dollars seemed slippery and the whole herd stampeded although he tried his best to round them up again and corrall them finally he got a job from california parties and installed the plant of machinery for the rabbit hole mine completing this work he went to lovelock where he was to receive his money this was to como come by express but a mistake was evidently made and the consignment sign ment was being made by slow freight at this time the sole cash resources of mr chafey and his wife amounted to 22 after careful consideration it was decided to play 2 on the roulette wheel the little white ball skipped and gamboled gam around like a lamb while chafey held his breath for a moment it wavered over the nine hole and then fell into the ten when mr chafey cashed in he had 64 to his credit next morning he hired an auto and went up to the old camp of dun glen here he examined a number of old mines and they looked good to him returning to lovelock he obtained bonds on dun glen property to the extent of all on the strength of his 64 including the old dun glen mine now known as the Black hole going to san francisco mr chafey arranged with W M sims to guarantee the first months payroll then he began mine development and it was here that his knowledge of stringers seams faults and displacements came into play and made him a fortune As a matter of fact former operators in working the mine had followed a small body of ore until it was cut off by what seemed to be a fault chafey knew at a glance that this was no fault at all it was not even a forty seventh cousin to the genuine article but it had fooled all of the mining men before him and was beginning to believe that it really was a fault armed with a six pound hammer and a good piece of steel mr chafey soon had a hole in this supposed fault A stick of powder was put in the hole and fired and to the amazement of everybody but chafey a splendid body of high grade gold ore was disclosed the apparent fault was nothing more than the foot wall of a mammoth vein chafey knew this and for this reason he obtained a bond and option on the property within three weeks he was shipping hundred dol dollar ar ore to the salt lake smelters shelters sm elters in four m months he had taken up his bond and option and within a year he had shipped ore and gold bullion to the value of over while the mine is now in shape so that hundreds of thousands more can be broken down and shipped and milled within the next few years mr chafey still wears the same size of hat that he did two years ago although his headgear head gear is of a little better quality he has given to the world another wealth producer he is the daddy of the pretty little town of chafey he has equipped the mine with machinery and has put in a first class mill and yet he is as approachable as when he first set out on his search for gold nuggets and no one has heard even a whisper that he aspires to the united states senate or that he ultimately hopes to become the governor of nevada still if he deeds his head there is no telling where he may yet land as far as high honors are concerned for he is young talented ambitious and as frisky as a kitten |