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Show FAMOUS MINING STRIKES By THOMAS E. STEWARD WW WWW O WW W WW The Comstock Lode WHEN John C. Fremont, afterwards after-wards the first candidate for president of the youthful Republican party, passed overland through the Sierras to California his guide was the redoubtable Kit Carson. Carson was one of the mcst famous of all the old frontiersmen, and it was in his honor that the Carson valley of Nevada Ne-vada was named. In this valley soon after I-'reemont's trip there came to light one of the richest strikes of mineral min-eral treasure the world has ever known. It was the famous Comstock lode, which produced millions in wealth and established the fortune of many families still prominent. Fremont made bis trip in 1S44. It was five years Inter, in 1S-49, that the : great rush to California's newly dls-i dls-i covered gold fields began, and it was j the pull of the California gold that j caused the first discoverer of the great Carson valley treasure to leave it for what he hoped would be better In the Golden state. This man was William Prouse, a young Mormon, who stopped in the Carson valley on bis way West. He used a milk pan to wash out what looked like promising "pay dirt," and the results were far from discouraging. But he gave up the reality for hopes of richer strikes farther on. Y'et news of this strike spread. Next year a party of Mexicans Mexi-cans put in an appearance and spent several months washing gold until their supplies gave out. By then the place had been named Gold canyon, but there was no realization reali-zation that it was to reveal an almost Incredible wealth, partly In gold, but chiefly in silver. One day a miner, by the name of James Finney uncovered a more profitable profit-able claim than usual. Soon after a wandering Canadian by the name of Henry Comstock took a claim neai Finney's. In May, lSf9, Patrick O'Loughlitr and Peter O'Riley staked a claim neaf those of Finney and Comstock and Immediately realized that they bad made their fortunes. A black and crumbly kind of ore with which neither neith-er of them was familiar crumbled into gold in their hands and their crude rocker-type washers showed heavy deposits de-posits of precious metal after every load had been washed. They had made the big strike. But" no sooner had they gone to work in dead earnest than Comstock reappeared and on the flimsiest basis demanded a share in their claim on a technicality having to do with the claim he had staked out. This they granted. In this way It came about that Comstock's name went down into history as that of the famous Comstock lode, though be did not discover it and was let Into the final strike on a basis that looked extremely ex-tremely flimsy, more because the discoverers dis-coverers feared to lose all of such n rich claim and yielded without argument. argu-ment. . When the crumbly black gold was taken to San Francisco for n scientific analysis It was proved to have a yield of $3,000 a ton of ore In silver and $STG In gold, something never matched elsewhere. All who staked claims along the famous lode became wealthy In Jig-time except those who sold out at relatively low prices to pocket a quick profit. The Gold of Japan T P TO relatively modern days gold U was n rnrily In Japan. Considerable Consid-erable supplies were obtained from river gravels, and some from quartz deposits that were crushed nnd panned out In the way placer gold would be washed from sand, but the country's needs for monetary purposes pur-poses and for royalty made It necessary neces-sary to restrict the use of gold by private pri-vate persons. The old-fashioned mining operations opera-tions In Japan were paid for In a remarkable re-markable manner. Laborers cm- I ployed to wash the grovel did not receive re-ceive any pay at all, on the theory that enough gold would adhere to their clothes to repay them for their i effort. And seemingly this was true. i At any rate the mining continued and ! the lack of payment persisted for j many, many years. j In the early days after the opening of Japan to westerners there was a belief that tremendous amounts of I gold were to be found in that land. This fallacy had Its roots In the fact i that in Japan there were many i "golden" ornaments in temples and palaces which were not. however, true gold, but copper covered with ! gold by nn extremely clover process j originated by the Japanese and still In use in that country. The Japanese "plating" process was really one of a nial L'a uia t ion rat'ir-r than of actual platinc as It Is don.-i don.-i today. The copper base was- liea'ed j after bnvir.2 lien immersed in pi'tm j vim-jar io i-ler.n it thoro:;::iiiy. V'he-n :i;c eoa; or was s;;i moreary was r'aei a! in it. f i ; ti cr a;i amaliramat-'d snaf ie, 'or,! P-af wa- li :i p'aew ovrr tlio pvrenry, and t'le w'',:o ob- ; -el l.a:e.i to a ti'l hi.-'.er J o':.t lo ! g"t rid of Ho- ira-reary. The t-'o -I taej; r-r.iaiiaa! in a r.-.rher tl.orot;r't oi'x-t'lre oi'x-t'lre v.'ili the snrfiee of tb royp-T. I'iating of tias kir.d !s said to Pave faa n e:-;' :". r ly d'iraMe. M'-ay statues stat-ues so co..:.-d '."rah ' r.f years ago ti: y.'' in nN-ut as good f-.n-liih-rt as when 'ley werv -vc. Cc; ;SJ7. Wcso-rn Ncit.,pbp r Cr.:cn |