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Show Cripple Creek Children Plan to Build a School CRIPPLE CREEK, Colo. The famous mining camps of Cripple Creek and Victor need a new school. The kids have decided they will build one. When the towns had a poulation of 60,000, there were several schools. Then the gold veins petered out and the population dirfted away. Now there are 1200 people in the two towns and the two remaining schools accommodate 375 students. The Cripple Creek school was built in 1896 and the Victor school in 1898. As one townsman explained: ex-plained: "Both are about to collapse col-lapse from sheer age and fatigue." But the kids have come up with) an idea since school district tax revenues barely cover the cost of operation and maintenance. The pupils have mailed 32,500 post cards offering to trade samples of gold ore for dollar bills. So far, more than $5,000 has been sent in toward the goal of $300,000. Requests for the gold samples have come from every state. Many are from other school children. The Cripple Creek and Victor kids send out the ore samples and a printed sketch about the fabulous mining camp to anyone who mails in a dollar. The few miners still In the towns spend their spare time mining gold ' ore that is unprofitable for milling. Other townspeople and the kids bust up the ore into small specimens speci-mens and prepare the souvenirs for mailing. |