Show EVOLUTION OF THE tenderfoot of the small army of successful mining men in this western country but very few of its members were native born the large majority being men direct from the east who arrived in the mining fields with as little real knowledge of the industry as they possessed of aerial navigation this class is designated as tenderfoot and in some circles they are held up to derision and scorn and most unjustly so the tenderfoot comes to us full of enthusiasm thusia sm and almost as helpless as a child but he brings with him the best of training a brain that is clear and active and an inheritance of brawn and intelligence that will take him from one end of the world to the other he is ignorant concerning mining affairs but he is not stupid ile he may amuse the veteran mining man and tile the unschooled native who knows as little about the east as the tenderfoot does of the west but it is not long before he has absorbed mining knowledge galore and when this is acquired and some practical experience has been gained in the mine in the mill in the canyons and in the mountains it is then that his early training his inherent qualities and his education begin to make an impression in mining circles he has followed no rut for so many years that a new principle a new idea cannot be absorbed by him and he jumps at correct conclusions a year before they can filter through the brain of the fossil who has followed mining for years and whose favorite field of operation is the street corner in summer and the hotel lobby in winter it is the tenderfoot who is the real camp builder it is the eastern man who is generally behind the many mammoth enterprises which have given to the west some of the greatest wealth producers the world has ever known this class comes here as professors teachers clerks accountants mechanics engineers knowing almost absolutely nothing of mining some of them are almost beardless boys from colleges and universities but inside of five years the majority of them will have blossomed out as successful mining operators successful promoters and successful mining men the marvelous strides des made by tonopah To goldfield bullfrog fairview wonder ramsey manhattan and round mountain are very largely due to the presence in these camps of eastern men of unbounded enthusiasm of bulldog tenacity and of of excellent foresight and it has been through their efforts to a large extent that such immense capital has been interested in mine development and operation in the west the tenderfoot begins his mining career in a most humble manner ile he realizes his deficiencies but has a strong determination to make good every now and then we hear that he has made a fortune in the hills and the next we hear of him he has purchased for himself a fine home in one of the principal cities in this intermountain region it is the successful miner whose evolution from a tenderfoot has been rapid who builds imposing business houses on the main thoroughfares of the city of his choice we find that he has become a member of some big banking institution that he is at the head of big enterprises that he has the confidence of his western associates and a wonderfully strong financial backing in the east cast and that the old timer whose prejudices were aroused when he came here is now glad to approach him with hat in hand and ask for some position at his disposal the evolution of the tenderfoot is now complete and henceforth he can hold up his head in any western camp |