| Show history of the cam cenap P bird ov by X R i nothing is more fascinating than the history of the discovery of famous mines and in many instances accident has played an important part in their location occasionally sio nally an animal is instrumental in finding them as was the case with the strayed burro which kicked off the outcropping cropping out of the bunker hill and sullivan mine in the coeur calenes dA lenes which made dutch jake and harry baer rich beyond their dreams of wealth and bequeathed to the world one of the most famous mineral districts on the globe the discovery of the great silver king mine in british columbia in 1890 was due to some horses in the party which had got lost and which two boys beys were hunting after halls party consisting of twelve men had spent an unprofitable summer in prospecting in that then unknown country and were preparing to leave in the fall while hunting for the horses the boys found some float which lead to the discovery of this bonanza 4 nick creedes dog while trying 1 to dig out a woodchuck scratched out the wonderfully rich galena which resulted in making a poor prospector who had no money no credit and no friends a millionaire lio it is not often though that a man finds a mine already partially developed for him purchases it from the owners for a song just because they were too careless to find out what they had and then sells it for several millions yet thomas F walsh did this very thing with the now famous camp bird mine at ouray in what is known as the san juan country colorado walsh had had quite a checkered career up to the time of this discovery in 1880 he was one of the proprietors of the grand hotel on chestnut street in leadville he also tried mining and made and lost money in it and found himself quite frequently in the language of the day up against it somehow a few years ago he drifted down to ouray where mining had been going on for more than a quarter of a century while prospecting on OA tho the mountain side he came across some old workings and upon examining some ore on the dump which had laid there until the elements had treated it thought he discovered gold upon crushing and panning it he be found sure enough that here was a rich gold gold mine it was not difficult to find the owners one of whom strange to say was an all assayer who had overlooked an important bet when he failed to make the proper test of his ore he secured a bond on the property opened it up shipped as toni rich ore from it and then on the report of john hays hammond sold it to a london company for career is still fresh in the public mind how he went to paris and gave swell dinners and hob bobbed with the king of belgium is a matter of history he isi ia living at present in washington D C where he has just completed a million dollar office building and a residence which cost half a million he is enjoying his wealth and entertaining haut ton in a dazzling manner the camp bird is a world beater A report dated may 24 prepared by R J frenchville Frech ville C E is worth glancing at it shows that during the present year 24 per cent has been paid on the capital stock it also states that the chief vein has a known thickness of 2000 feet below the present lowest workings in round figures up to april 30 1904 the mine has yielded gross value adding to this the value of the reserves it is shown that each feet in depth above the third level contained gross value the mine is being systematically worked and is not being gutted fifty five per cent of the ore is allowed to remain in the mine as a reserve which can be drawn off as required and of which the value is well known since the overflow of 45 per cent has already been milled the value of the present reserves are estimated by the engineer ores broken and blocked out to be taking the treatment of the ore already mined as a basis the cost of treating the amount above mentioned will be leaving as net profit at the present rate of mill work the reserves in sight will last three ane one quarter years since may 1 1902 the london denver company has paid in dividends there are shares on the market with a par value of 5 each the latest london quotation is one pound seven shillings and sixpence per share in addition to the amount above mentioned as being in sight there are still unexplored portions of the camp bird vein yet retained by mr walsh but under bond to the 1 english n company estimated at from to the story seems almost incredible and sounds more like a tale from the arabian nights than a cold solid fact demonstrated by the best engineering skill obtainable verily the history of some of our famous mines is more intensely interesting te than the tales told by menchau sen |
