Show MINING MEN VS prospectors it is a fact worthy of note that out of the many mining engineers and assayers to be found in all the mining districts of the country but very few have ever struck it rich the reason for this it is impossible to give it would naturally seem as though with their higher education and their familiarity with rock they ought to have th the P inside track on the prospector and that many of them should have made large fortunes but they just the same take the case of the camp bird at ouray colorado which has made tom walsh both rich and famous one of the owners of the property was an assayer of lecog ability he had been an owner in the property for a long timp time and much work had been done on it from time to time so much so that some 0 of the claims were patented and the workings were quite extensive tom walsh came along and picked up some rock off the dump it had been so long exposed to the surface that it had become oxidized and he saw what he thought was free gold others thought it was pyrites of if iron upon crushing and panning it his theory proved to be correct the result was he obtained a bond on the property and the owners were paid a few thousand dollars each for their interests while lie he made several millions out of it when jim butler discovered the mizpah at tonopah To he took some of the droppings crop pings and gave them to an assayer to have tested agreeing to give him an interest in the property if it proved any ny good after butler benl away the assayer threw the ore sample out of the window without testing it persistency on the part of butler and the firm belief that he had something of value caused him to give another piece to another assayer with the result that the now famous district was born which together with its neighboring districts will cast their millions of wealth broadcast and make fortunes for some and bring competency to many others once in a while there is an exception however in 1890 when hall and his indian half breeds from the colville reservation went up into british columbia and located the silver king mine he brought back with him some droppings crop pings which he gave an assayer in colville he gave him a thirteenth interest in the locations for making the test the property proved a valuable one and was sold to an english syndicate for 1 out of which the assayer received for doing about an hours work |