Show the prospector and his burro 11 A wildcat wild cat is not always a wildcat wild cat said the prospector to his burro although the original intention was to foster the animal for the purpose of bleeding bleeden the public and I 1 have known more than one hole in the ground inhabited by wildcats wild cats to develop into big mines after they had passed into the hands of experienced and reputable mining 0 men and it was then that the investor if he had stayed by his hand held aces high and began to realize on the coin of that realm that was represented in the stack of chips before him it is a long road that has no turning t continued the prospector although it is not always the original investor that eventually reaches the turning none whatever and it often happens that the rankest fraud is only the covering of a proposition of genuine merit which develops into a bonanza ion long after it has been a bait for suckers and such instances are not rare in the annals annah of a mining country you ask what I 1 hn know ow in the premises and thereby prove to me that you are not as dull as you look and also that you are of the feminine persuasion and to satisfy your curiosity will relate an incident that came under my notice several years ago this was a fake game and was played on a party of french capitalists in one of the most popular camps in utah the property in question was owned by two wo men who were then well known in mining circles these men had a mine of some value and some ore was in sight in the workings of the property to further enhance the value and merit of the P proposition position ro in the eyes of the public and to make an impression on prospective buyers a smelter was built and when the plant was in operation the victims were taken to the mine all was activity there and the smelter was in full blast great scott but the plant was turning out the bullion and the pressure was so 2 great reat that ni night t lit runs run s were being made to add to the inter interest est of the scene several teams were employed in freighting oft off the bullion and in tile the dead of night the glare of the furnaces and tile the excitement of drawing off tile the molten metal had the desired effect upon the prospective buyers every once ance in a while someone would cry out there she goes again and ule the owners and vis visitors would rush out to witness another run into the a bars and every halt half hour or so the bars of bullion would be hauled off by waiting t teams this actual demonstration of the value and merit ot of the property was a clincher and belore before morning the deal was closed and the owners cleaned up a mint of money in the transaction A good buy you say S so 0 it was lor for the sellers but when the new owners took hold it was soon demonstrated that there was but a small amount of ore in tile the mine ana ALen siri woric caned to develop but little more A year later the french company abandoned the property and could never see how it was that it had been bilked until long after when the story leaked out that the former owners in the night 0 operation of the furnace sent its te teams ams loaded with bullion to the back of the plant where the bars were again consigned to the furnace this operation being repeated time after time until it was no wonder that the frenchmen regarded the proposition as a bonanza and were eager and anxious to close tile the deal for the property the grand finale came however when new people took hold of this silver silve lead mine and after extensive development gave to the world one of the greatest copper propositions of the present age 1 I want to tell you old long ears some men engaged in mining operations get into as much trouble as if they were tied up with an irritable mother in law they are damned if they do and damned if they dont and this is pretty much the history of the mining industry if they quit they lose and if they stay in they also lose and yet great fortunes are yearly made in mining despite the grafter and the wildcatter wild catter As lor you and me we are going to stay in and if honest endeavor and hard and intelligent work will win out we will soon de up to our ears in the wealth that comes from the genuine mines of the country 0 |