Show the prospector and his burro by will C higgins this is a good looking country we are in now said the prospector to his burro and I 1 like the looks of 0 the float that covers the bed of this narrow canyon we have been following for the last few hours and believe me I 1 will put in the whole of tomorrow in trying to find the ledge from which it has been thrown for where there is such a wealth of blossom there is sure to be a ledge somewhere within half a mile more or less and the fissure is more than likely to be mineral bearing and with development take rank as a blown in the bottle bonanza you seem to take but little interest in the fragments of white quartz scattered around so profusely and are not at all slow in expressing the opinion that the white chips on a faro table have a more genteel and elegant appearance with environments that should appeal more to mankind than the deserts and the arid places in the mountains for where there is a roulette table and white chips it is almost a that there is a thirst parlor nearby which is more than can be claimed for the section we are now in ill but none whatever and I 1 must warn you that such talk on your part places you in the ranks of the prospectors who would rather expend a grubstake at the roulette wheel or in coppering the ace than in following up the float in the canyons and it is because of this slackness that hundreds of good prospects in the mountain ranges are passed by and remain undiscovered until some man with an eye for mineral indications and who is really in love with ills his work comes along and makes a discovery that makes the thirst parlor prospector turn green with envy it is just as important continued the prospector to follow the float and find where it comes from as it is to perform work of a more permanent character later on and to neglect this important work is often fatal to success in mining operation as it is often the case that extensive and costly mining is begun without first making a careful study of surface conditions with the result that shafts and tunnels are sunk or run hundreds of feet away from ore occurrences and often in the wrong direction so that although a million were spent in sinking or driving there would be no more chance of making a paying mine out of the venture than there would be of roosevelt playing neutral in the progressive re publican democratic mix up which all goes to show that the prospector should attend strictly to business if he hopes to win out along ills his special line of endeavor which statement applies just as forcibly to the mine manager and superintendent for if they make mistakes in mine development they might as well take up some other line of business for the unsuccessful mine manager or superintendent is not much of a liero hero in in any mining camp any more than is a certain man who had charge of the development of a prospect over in the huckelberry range that I 1 know of this man continued the prospector had managed in some way or other to enter the employ of a wealthy corporation that was just beginning the development of a prospect that had been favorably passed upon by its field man and lie he set about his work with as much gusto and flourish as an eight dollar a week clerk coming down main street with a sport shirt on and while lie he talked very learnedly of formations fissures dips spurs and angles lle he really had no more idea of systematic and intelligent mine development than an eastern college graduate has of what a real mine looks like and the way lie he fell down would make one think that a tenton ten ton cage had broken away in a thousand foot shaft for a year or more lie he ran a tunnel on a rather well de fined vein and followed it into the moah mountain for av distance of over feet but the fissure was a small one and never disclosed an ore showing of more than three inches in width by this time the company was short of funds and becoming discouraged cou raged finally quit in disgust and its property was practically abandoned for keeps finally however in the course of two or three years afterwards an experienced prospector happened along and this man was much interested in ill the appearance of the abandoned property he saw at a glance that the company manager had followed nothing more than a blind lead and so lie he commenced prospecting around for indications of mineral existence the first spot attracting ills his attention being a big blowout in full view from the former managers office and but feet from the portal of the main working tunnel on the property upon examination this blowout presented some evidence of containing mineral content and so a small shaft was started in its exploitation the result was that a blind vein was exposed at a depth of only fifteen feet and a little more work revealed the f existence of a splendid ore body and a true fissure vein that paralleled the little lode that the company had so fruitlessly follower follow eO 1 for such a long distance and with ditl 4 barren results the prospector then relocated the property taking in all improvements made by its former owners and after a few months spent in further exploratory work was able to sell the mine for it was a real mine then to a syndicate of philadelphia lawyers and who since its purchase have succeeded in placing the property upon a producing and dividend paying basis 1 I want vant to tell you old long ears concluded the prospector if you are out on a prospecting expedition you want to forget all about roulette wheels bar rooms and hop joints and get down to actual work which means that every evidence of mineral existence must be noted that float must come in for recognition as well as formations and that a little thorough prospecting in the beginning means as much as care careful u management later on and there you are and then some |