Show the prospector and his burro J Z A cat can look at the king and even a burro may rubberneck rubber neck at a big mining magnate said the prospector to his burro but this does not worry the king any and the magnate goes on his way in his auto without so much as giving a thought to the burro or to the seedy looking prospector who is with him and the dust he stirs up in the road almost overshadows over shadows the surrounding country for in these days the r m mining ining magnate is it with a big I 1 and us little fellows amount to only a long row of ciphers unless we find something really big which we are willing to part with for a mere pittance and then the auto stops tor us and gives us a lift we are treated as if we were real live human beings and a cigar is handed to us wrapped in tin foi with the remark you never smoked anything as high priced as that before it is a fact conti continued the prospector that this is a day of big things and so tightly has the trust feeling entwined itself around the little operator that he would not think of developing and operating his prospect in which the gold is almost coined into info twenties until he had formed a company composed of big men whose high sounding names and titles would make even a burro sit back on his haunches in aw awe e and reverence you seem to think that this is the proper caper but none whatever and this shows that your better judgment is frayed at the edges and somewhat run down at the heel for it is not the strut of the magnate that counts his liberality at the bar that cuts any ice for these are the attributes of the real swell wildcatter wild catter as the prospector will find when he has given him a controlling interest in his property for the money forthcoming is usually small in amount and comes in dribs so that in the end the prospector discovers that he has virtually lost his fine little mine and for no adequate consideration whatever and a nd all because he wanted to be c assed among the big and mighty and play second fiddle faddle to a bunch of men with heaps of influence but who were short on cash you seem a little interested in this discussion and want to know what the poor prospector can do with his prospect if he cannot interest big men in his property and this shows that you still have a spark of intelligence in your gray matter this is the subject I 1 had in mind when we first began this conversation in years long ago the prospector was it with the big I 1 and he was as independent as a burro at the back end of a camp restaurant for he was self sustaining when the early day prospector found a mine he did not seek capital for capital if necessary made long stage rides into the mountains to find him and when found the cash in great wads had to be andied up before anything was doing thus instead of warming a chair in some hotel lobby for six months or a year waiting for capital to come his way the prospector went to work in the deve development of his claim he was not afraid of work and no walking delegate came along to warn him that he was putting in overtime from morning until sundown he tolled toiled he followed his ore and in due time had a little in operation and the money so gained did not go toward maintaining a big office in some eastern city or for the payment of salaries for president secretary and treasurer the gold bars were his and as they accumulated in number a small stamp mill took place of the and this growing unit by unit in time became an imposing plant of fifty stamps or more and all through the untiring and individual efforts of the prospector the evidences of these early day operations are to be found throughout this vast desert country continued the prospector just across the canyon from our c camp amp are still to be found the remains of an old of a small one stamp mill and the splendid structure further down the gulch whose constant thunder of stamps is sweet music to every mining man and prospector in the district is the ultimate outcome of this small beginning and it is a wonder to some but not to the old time mining man that this great enterprise was built up without the aid of outside capital the owner of this dividend paying mine at one time was as seedy looking as a burro with sand burs in his tail but he was a man all the same his aim was to get the long green out of his prospect and not out of the public he was content with small returns at first just as you were satisfied with sage brush for a diet until your owner was able to give you a handful of barley now and then and his mine has been growing in value and production until his bank account is as big as a tack stack of a falfa hay and he is able to sport an auto of the latest make and style 1 I want to tel you old long ears concluded the prospector the tendency of the day is to find a good prospect and then to loaf for an indefinite period while waiting tor for a lot of unbranded capital to come along and assist in its development the prospector in the long run spending more money in the endeavor to corral a few dollars for this purpose than would if he had been possessed of the good judgment of even a burro have made a producer out of his mine if he had been content to work instead of making a monkey of himself in his efforts to secure assistance when he really need it and there you are and then some 11 |