F 777 .3 -Aa -K^:^^^- '^^ Cripple Creek Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.Qrg/details/crifDplecreekOOatchrich Cripple Creek Illustrated t5* t^^ t^^ . i^^'^T^*^'* .f*-- ■ ■ ■ ■ DUMPING AN ORE CAR From 1891 the district may be said to have a place in mining history, but not until 1892 was the output sufficient to be recorded. Then it amounted to S6oo,000. Following is a showing of the output for four years: 1892 1893 i&n FIRST YEAR'S GOLD OUTPUT, $600,000. SECOND YEAR'S GOLD OUTPUT, $2,100,000. THIRD YEAR'S GOLD OUTPUT, $3,000,000. t895 FOURTH YEAR'S GOLD OUTPUT, $8,000,000. That diagram is a pictorial history of Cripple Creek. Its details would make a book. The history of one of the score of hills in the district — an area six miles by ten in extent — is the history of all the hills. It is a story of pluck and luck and providence. Here is a typical tale told of the Portland mine — one of the most valuable in Colorado — as it was written by a staff correspondent of the Chicago Trib- une. It is a story to make your blood tingle: "Another of the pitiful stories of the camp that Partakes of the nature of a romance is that of the ortland group. It is a tale of a minimum of luck mixed with a ma.ximum of pluck and perseverance in the face of moneyed odds. Here we have three 1 ■ .^, JU- mi m ti M mm^' ^■-JU - - j»; 'Si' •4 ■ W ^ ^^ j ft- r"^ ? m PC ":-*c--j. , ■'J-_^. ENTRANCE TO A TUNNEL young men, James Burns, James Doyle and John Harnan, all poor and living at Colorado Springs. Burns was probably the most fortunate of the trio because he had learned the plumbers' trade, and he had had some experience in working about mines in Leadville and other places. By means of grubstakes and a little money earned at odd times they had spent some time in prospecting. "One day they came across rich ore in the Port- land, so called because two of them came from that Maine city, and they saw fortunes ahead. But they had only a fraction of a claim — less than one-sixth of an acre — and they realized that they must get more ground if they were to be genuine bonanza kings. The ore developed unexpected richness and they determined to secretly take out enough to buy out their neighbors. Above all they must not excite the suspicions of the wary prospectors who surrounded them. The story of how they packed the rich stuff out of their mine at night on their backs has often been told. They toiled incessantly, but the weary climb up the steep hill tired them after a time, and they decided to try the experiment of getting a wagon to haul away the mineral that was bringing in such handsome returns, even though they were taking it out in such small quantities. On the first trip the wagon broke down within a short distance of the shaft, and in the morning the early prospectors were astonished at the sight of it perched high on the side of Butte Mountain, where there was no road. Curiosity excited, it was not long before they had satisfied themselves where the ore came from. To trace the wheel tracks to the Portland dump was easy. "Then ensued a scramble for locations that lapped and overlapped the poor little Portland fraction to a discouraging degree. But the trio did not lose heart. They knew that with time they could get enough money out of their mine to make the legal fights that came down like an avalanche. So they industriously worked away with forty-seven law suits hanging over their heads. Some they fought to a successful finish, others they compromised, and it all ended in their getting possession of 130 acres of patented land immediately PUMPINQ STATION — 310 FEET BELOW SURFACE surrounding their original location. And the money with which to prosecute these expensive suits, with the best Colorado legal talent employed on both sides, came out of the hole of which it was sought to deprive them. "Arrayed against them were such men as D. H. Moffatt, with the influence of millions in his hands, and other enormously rich persons. Throughout the long fights in the courts discouraging obstacles not originally counted upon were thrown in their way. One of these was the great strike of '93, and it came near making dough of their cake. They had agreed to buy one of the Moffatt adverse claims and had $285,000 to pay in a few weeks. The strike was declared in opposition to a demand made by certain mine owners that the miners work nine hours a day instead of eight. The conflict, with its dynamite and militia episodes, continued for months, but through the bull-dog determination of 'Jimmie' Burns the Portland continued to take out ore. "The miners were given everything they wanted and more too — in fact, anything to keep the hoisters going. When the day of settlement came Mr. Moffatt and his friends were given a check for the quarter of a million or more, and every cent of it had been taken out of the ground in dispute. It was one of the most remarkable transactions known to mining. "After that progress was easy, though before all ■"^mr the troubles of the trio were over J. R. McKinnie and Stratton, of the Independence, found their way into the company and gave it strength. All the fights, however, were not in the courts. Burns and Uoyle, who kept guard over the property with their own eyes, were often obliged to sally out with shotguns and rifles and drive away would-be jumpers and con- testants who thought 'possession was nine points in law,' and tried to gain that coigne of vantage by force. "Not fifty feet from the main ofiice of the Port- land, on the mountain, Burns one night drove away six armed men who had started to sink a shaft. There were profane words and many threats, but the intruders finally withdrew with the promise of com- ing again. The gaping mouth of Burns' weapon accelerated their movements down the hill. When it was all over Burns discovered his rifle was not PROSPECTORS STARTING OUT FROM CRIPPLE CREEK I MATTS •- loaded. He felt much like the fainting woman who collapses when the danger is over. His hair has silvered in four years. Yet 'Jimmie' Burns is a young man." (2^ <^^ <^^ (5^ The early records of the camp are full of similar episodes; that was before the railroad brought in civilization. The great strike of 1894, with its for- tification on Bull Hill, its intrigues, and its threat- ened rebellion against the state troops, is an incident in national history. They show you now "where the battle was fought." They point to the place where the deputies marshalled their forces, where the Governor took his position, where the embattled miners stood and fired the shots that came very nearly precipitating a civil war in the Rockies. That was in the "old days." It seems strange to hear people speak of the year 1894 as "an early day," yet that is the way they talk in Cripple Creek. Where events move rapidly history writes a book every day. The early history, the story of the prehistoric period — say, in the "eighties" — is now almost forgotten. Greater events are now upon the boards. The world has its eye upon Cripple Creek as it is. The cry of "a million a month" is a slogan that will not permit ancient history to do much business. That slogan is providing work for thousands of miners. Three eight-hour shifts make midnight in the mine as busy as noon. Electric lights in the depths make work as safe as it is above ground. Wages for miners are three dollars for eight hours. The Union rules everything. Business is too brisk to permit a quarrel. Mechanics earn four dollars a day, and carpenters and masons find plenty to do at wages in keeping with the times. The cost of FIRST HOTEL IN CRIPPLE CREEK 10 living is reasonable. Flour sells at $i.io to ;gi.25, and meat at Missouri River prices. Vegetables are plenty. Rent only is high. That may be avoided by owning a home, as taxes are reasonably low, and outside the business part of town building lots may be purchased on excellent terms. ^^ ti5^ *^* *5^ It is proper to state that a speculative boom is under way in Cripple Creek mining stocks. No one pretends that this boom will last forever, but the success of Cripple Creek does not depend upon the market price of its stocks. The existence of a phenomenal deposit of gold has been conclusively established. The fact that there may be worthless Cripple Creek stocks in eastern markets has no bearing on the actual and permanent values of the numerous rich strikes. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of outside capital are being sent to Colorado to be used in almost indiscriminate mining-stock speculation, and the price of nearly every stock on the market has steadily and rapidly risen. Of course a day will come when the wheat will be sifted from the chaff, but at present every stock that represents an actual property in the district is regarded as possible wheat. At the present writing there are 980 mining companies incorporated in the Cripple Creek district. Less than fifty of these have been listed on the Colorado Stock Exchange. Some are regarded as so valuable by the original owners that none of the stock is offered, but the greater number represent properties either of unknown or undeveloped value. Only seventy of these stocks, out of nearly one thousand, are "on call" in the Exchange at Cripple Creek. FIRST NEWSPAPER OFFICE IN CRIPPLE CREEK, 1892 11 STEAM HOIST IN SHAFT HOUSE The moral is, not that the unlisted stocks are worthless, although some are undoubtedly "wildcat," but that the wise investor will personally visit the camp before investing his money. Of course the producing mines are known. Their stocks can generally be purchased, but the price is much higher and the speculative range nat- urally less than is possible with less developed mines. To the reader who is not familiar with modern mining methods, a glance at the amount of machin- ery used in lifting the gold-bearing rock to the surface will be of interest. The best equipped mine in the district is the "Independence." Over this mine is a large shaft house filled with machinery. A dynamo, provides illumination under ground. The system of signals is electrical. Steam pumps bring up water by the thousand gallons. Steel cables hoist the cages in the shaft, and the foreman, sitting by an electric keyboard, with a lever in his hand, directs the work that brings millions of dol- lars worth of ore to the world. It is a triumph of mechanics. Danger of loss of life is minimized. A PROSPECT — SOON TO BE A MINE 12 labor is saved and the miracle of producing wealth goes on day and night. Shaft houses similar to that of the " Indepen- dence" are dotted all over the group of hills that comprise the district. Every week a new shaft house goes up. ^^ O^ tl^ t^* There are now over two hundred mines that are lifting ore in paying quantities. Most of these are owned by private parties or by close corporations. Here is a list of the Cripple Creek mines that have HOME, SWEET HOME" IN GOLD FIELDS shipped ore in paying quantities or have it in sight. This list is agreed upon by the Cripple Creek Times, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Denver News and the Republican, and most of the mining journals in this country and England: LIST OF PRODUCERS. Abe Lincoln Alice Alsa R. American Eagle i American Eagle 2 American Eagle 3 Anaconda Anchor Anchor No. I Anna Lee Badger Boy Beacon Ben Harrison Bertha B. Big Banta Bison I Black Belle Black Diamond A TYPICAL MINER'S BOARpiNQ HOUSE 13 VIEWS IN WEST CREEK DISTRICT LIST OF PRODUCERS-Continued. Blue Bell Blue Bird Blue Jay Blue Stocking Bobtail Bodie Bogart Bonanza Chief. Brooklyn Buena Vista Burns Caledonia Captain Chance Chesapeake Chief Christmas City View Climax Climax No. i Climax No. 2 C.O.D. Colorado Boss No. Colorado City Colorado City No. Colorado King Comet Comstock Dante Dead Pine Deerhorn Delmonico Devil's Own Doctor Dolly Varden Doubtful Eclipse Eclipse No. i Elkton Elkton No. 2 • El Paso El Reno Excelsior Favorite Galena Garfield-Grouse Geneva Gladstone Globe Gloriana Gold Coin Gold Dollar Gold King 3 Grace Greenwood Grand View I Granite Gregory Grouse Half Moon Hidden Treasure Hidden Treasure 2 Hillside Home Run Homestake Hoosier Ida B. Ida Belle No. i Ida Belle No. 2 Independence Independence 2 Ingham Ironclad Jack G. Jennie Sample Joe Dandy John A. Logan Jolly Tar Katharine Keystone King of Diamonds Kismet Kittie M. La Belle Lady Locelia Lady Stith Lafayette Last Dollar Lee Lillian Leland Lincoln Little May Londonderry Lone Star No. 2 Longfellow No. i Longfellow No. 2 Los Angeles Lottie Lucky Belle Lucky Gus Mabel M. Maid of Erin Mary McKinney Mattie D. Mattie L. May Queen Midget Mineral Rock Minnehaha Minnie S. M. K. & T. Mollie Kathleen Monument Moose Morning Glory i Morning Glory 2 Morning Glory 4 Morning Star Morning Stars Mountain Monarcl Necessity Nellie Nellie V. New Moon New Zealand Nightingale North Star Ocean Wave Ocean Wave No. i Omega Orpha May No. i Orpha May No. 2 Orphan No. i Orphan No. 2 Pharmacist Phoenix Pike's Peak Pinto Plymouth Rock No. 2 Poorman Portland Prince Albert Princess E. Puffer Queen of the Hills Ramona Raven Red Umbrella Republic Rhinocerous Rigi Rose Maud Ruble Sacramento Santa Rita Scranton Sheriff Smuggler Snide Snowy Range Specimen Spicer Squaw Mt. Tunnel St. L. & C. C. T. Strong Superior Theresa Tom Bigbee Tornado Trail Twin Sisters Vanadium Victor Vindicator Viola Volcano Walter Washington Whip-poor-will White House Wichita Wide Awake Wilson World's Fair Yellow Jacket Zenobia 15 A CRIPPLE CREEK STAGE— THE OLD WAY It has already been stated that most of the produc- ing mines are in the hands of private owners. There is good reason for this. Good mining stock is valuable. It is taken up rapidly in Colorado. A mining company on an established paying basis soon becomes practically a close corporation. It is the best investment in the world. t^* t^*" ^^ f2^ Here is a list of the stocks called on the Cripple Creek board. The capitalization is given with the price per share. The last column gives the value of the mining property as estimated by the stockholders in their daily dealings: Name Alamo Anaconda Anchoria-Leland . . Aola Atlanta Bankers' Ben Hur Blue Bell Bob Lee Boston, Colo Brother Jonathan . Buckhorn C. C. & M C. K. & N Columbine Columbine Victor . Copper Mountain . Creede & C. C • . . . Cripple Creek Con Croesus Currency Elkton Enterprise Favorite Franklin : . . . . Garfield-Grouse . . . Golden Age Golden Dale Golden Eagle Gold Globe Gold King Gold Rock Gold Standard . . . . Goldstone Capital Shares Price OF Stock Value §1,250,000 $0.09}^ $ 118,750 1,000,000 .69 690,000 600,000 3.05 1,800,000 1,000,000 •04?8 43,750 1,000,000 .01 10,000 1.250,000 •23J^ 293,750 iKX),00(J • lOM 92,250 500,001) ■ la^ 67,500 1,200,000 •03?| 45,000 300,000 • .02 26.000 1,000.000 .031-4 35,500 5KX),000 .07-4: 65,250 2,000,000 .07% 155,000 1,250,000 .02 25,000 1,000,000 .055^ 56,250 2,000,000 .07M 145,000 1,000,000 .03 30,000 800,000 •07M .24?1 58,000 2,000,000 437,500 1,000,000 .03 30.000 1,250,000 .10 125,000 500,000 .65 325.000 800,000 .241^ 194,000 1,200,000 •13f^ 162,000 1,000,000 .0214 22,500 1,200,000 .061^ 78,000 1,000,000 .04^ 45,000 2,000,000 ■011^ 10,000 1,000,000 .031^ 35,000 750,000 .25^ 191,250 100,000 .70 700.000 100,000 .011^ 15,000 1,000.000 •13^ 135.000 1.250,000 .021^ 31,250 16 Name Gould Granite Hill Grotto Hallett & Hamburg Ironclad Isabella Jack Pot Jefferson Keystone Lodessa Lottie Gibson Magna Cliarta Matoa . Mohawk Bell Mount Rosa Nugget Ophir Pappoose Pharmacist Portland Ramona Raven Tunnul Reno Sacramento Silver State Squaw Mountain . . St. Louis, C. C. T. . . Summit Temonj T. F. T Union Virginia M Work World Capital Shares Price OF Stock Value $1,000,000 $0.19 $ 190,000 720,000 .02 14,400 1,500,000 .03M 52,50) 200,0(X) .34 (58,000 i,oa),ooo .09 90,(XX) 2,250,000 .44 990,(X)0 1,250,000 •12J^ 156,250 1,100,000 .16 176,000 1,500,000 .10 1.50,000 1,000,000 •02^ 22,50(3 1.000,000 .031^ 31,230 1,000.000 .031^ 31,250 i,oa),ooo .24 240,000 i,ooo,aio .04 40.000 1,000,(XX) .20 200,000 i,ooo,a)o .15 150,000 750,000 •lOM 71,750 2.000,000 .08M 165,000 1,200,000 .16 192,000 3,000.000 1.96M 5,887,500 l,000,fX)0 .06 ()0,000 1,500,000 .051^ 82,500 1,000,000 .10 100,000 I,000,(X)0 ■091.8 91,250 700,000 .03 21,000 2,000,000 .11 220,000 1,000,000 .04»^ 45,000 1,000,000 ■243-^ 245,000 1,000.000 .16 160,000 500,000 .0314 15,625 1.250,000 •35}8 439,062 1,0.4 19J^ 22 2% •i% 13M 14 Total Number OF Shares 155,121 36,850 109,801 767,740 319,780 1,052,850 1,176,591 1,906,325 2,087,040 l,371,i)09 988,150 263,525 3,039,400 627,833 28,325 2,056,988 533,910 812,971 1,437,300 1.235.158 Name of Stock Keystone Magna Charta. . . Mollie Gibson. . . Mount Rosa Mutual Nugget Ophir Orphan Belle. . . . Pharmacist Portland Sacramento Santa Fe Silver State Star of West . . . . Summit Union Union Leas'g Virginia M Work World Quotation May 15, 1895 Bid 0075 98 4^ 4 68 3 005 005 0055 6 n% 62 1 ^% ■2H Asked 2 008 100 41^ S% 3 4M 69 007 0055 006 13Jg 65 IM 2 3 Quotation Dec 15, 1895 Bid 8 3 40 17 7 15M 9% 13 14 1821^ 1 2^4 25M 32?4 31 3% 18J-8 Asked 9 3% 42 19 8 10 143^ mi 187 9 m 33 35 3^' 19 Total Number of Shares 603,000 792,500 51,875 328,()(X) 484,788 313,151 294,400 294,480 1,878,900 285,743 1,800,370 545,550 1,093,493 1,435,700 394,729 799,530 33,140 935,433 314,425 149,333 The story of the hills could not be more graphically told than it is told in the records just quoted. Is it a wonder that the gambling rooms in the saloons of the district go begging and the miners and laboring men 35 TOWN OF PEMBERTON— WEST CREEK DrSTRIOT buy mining stock instead of red and blue and white chips on the green cloth? Is it a wonder that even the newsboys speculate? Is it a wonder that the Colorado exchanges are crowded day and night, and that the constant buying has forced stocks up, up, up, until there seems no limit to the fascinating game? ^ tJ^ *i3^ ^r* t^^ Cripple Creek is the poor man's camp. None of the big strikes of mineral have been made by rich men. It has been developed by the gold that has been taken out of it. Foreign capital has done a very small proportion of the work. The man with a pick and pluck has been the most successful man in the camp. Mr. Stratton, the most successful opera- tor, was a job carpenter in Colorado Springs when the camp opened. The man who located the " Phar- macist" was a drug clerk before he came to Cripple Creek. Four years ago thirty-five men came up to Cripple Creek in a party. To-day, thirty of them are worth $10,000, sixteen of them can clean up $100,000, and four of them are worth $1,000,000. EPISCOPALIAN CHURCH AND FREE READING ROOM — CRIPPLE CREEK 37 PORTLAND GROUP OF MINES ON BATTLE MOUNTAIN One, Mr. W. S. Stratton, is probably worth $i 5,000,000. There was not money enough in the party, when they landed, to buy a burro. The opportunities which these men found were extraordinary. Yet every day sees men finding and improving similar opportunities. But the gold has not all been located yet, even though every foot of land within four miles of Cripple Creek is under patent or in contest. There are hundreds of claims still unworked. There are scores of holes that may be had at a nominal figure, but every day sees the number of these purchasable claims shrinking. "Three hun- dred people are going into the town every day," says the Chicago Times- Herald. The man who goes there with a few hun- dred dollars finds three business opportunities before him — mining, real estate and storekeeping. The boom makes new stores a necessity. There will be twice as many people in Cripple Creek next June as there are now. These people must be fed and housed and clothed and doctored and entertained. The busi- ness of making homes for the great influx of people puts a price on real estate, and values are going up daily. As for mining, he may buy a presuma- bly worthless hole and "strike it," as dozens of others have done. He may go outside of the district where no one believes there is any gold — just as it was be- lieved last year that there was no gold where one of the best mines is now located — and stake a claim. He may lease a partially developed hole in the neighborhood of a good mine. He may take what is known as a "bond and lease," which carries an option of purchase at an agreed price within a specified time. Jf^ t^^ tf^ f2^ RIPPLE CREEK HIGH SCHOOL 39 THE GREGORY MINES ON RAVEN HILL A word as to the geographical location of Crip- ple Creek. It lies in the backyard of Pike's Peak, within a few hours' ride of Colorado Springs and Manitou and the beautiful Ute Pass summer resorts, b» way of the Midland Terminal and Colorado Mid- land Railroads. The traveler from the East, via the Santa Fe Route, may enter a sleeper at Chicago or Kansas City and go through to Colorado Springs or Denver, getting a day's rest, and then step on a sleeper and wake up in Cripple Creek. The passen- ger who is in a hurry may step from one sleeper to another on the same platform at Colorado Springs and coniplete the trip without delay. He may take his family to any of the delightful mountain resorts near Colorado Springs, spend his days in the mines and be with his family as often as he may care to snatch a few hours from business. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway (Santa Fe Route), in connection with the Colorado Midland and Midland Terminal, forms the only standard gauge line into the Cripple Creek district. j^* (3^ t^^ t^^ THE BOOART MINE 40 What Prominent Publications Say About Cripple Creek. t^*" e^* t^* t^* There are at present over 200 shipping mines in the Cripple Creek gold district, which now is about twelve to fifteen miles long, with a width of from eight to ten miles. In fact, gold is being discovered in paying quantities in every direction around Cripple Creek, and it is the opinion of experts that gold-mining in this district is still in its infancy. Besides the 200 shipping mines, there are over 3,000 prospects m which new discoveries of gold are being made daily. In fact, the entire country around Cripple Creek for miles seems to be mineralizedj and there is no saying where gold may not be discovered. Not infrequently gold-bearing rock is discovered cropping out on the surface of the hills, varying in richness from two to hundreds of dollars per ton. Experi- ence, however, has demonstrated that as the mines are developed deeper the per cent, of gold increases, promising beyond controversy that gold in this remarkable district will be continued to be mined by "generations yet unborn." Cripple Creek, the chief city in the great gold district, is situated in an undulating gulch or basin, about half a mile wide and about the same length, at an altitude of 9,300 feet above the sea-level, and about thirty miles west of Colorado Springs by wagon road and sixty miles by rail, at the termi- nus of the Midland Terminal Railroad. The city has several churches, school house, a water system, electric light system, two good hotels — the Portland and Palace — which are always THE "JACK O"— ON RAVEN HILL 41 crowded to overflow, a number of second-class hotels and a great many rooming-houses and restaurants. While the two principal hotels charge from S3 to $4 per day, a comfortable room for a mining town can be obtained for from $4 to $6 per week, payable in advance, at a private residence, which consists of three or four rooms, kitchen included, constructed in the most expeditious style, with weather-boards on the exterior and paper used on the inside as a sub- stitute for plaster. A room in one of these modern constructed houses, with a common stove and a large scuttle of coal, can be kept quite comfortable during sleeping hours. One of these residences generally can be erected in about two days at an expenditure of say g200, and as a rule is rented before completed for from S20 to S40 per month, according to location. Outside of rooms and hotel accommodation, living, generally speaking, is very reasonable; a can be had for from 25 to 50 cents at the restaurants. — The Illustrated World, January, i8g6. SPECIMEN AND AMERICAN EAGLE MINES — BULL HILL fair fc?* t5* O^ <^^ Cripple Creek, during the year, has certainly made a remarkable record in everyway; a record of which not even its most enthusiastic admirers ever dreamed; a record that has had no equal in the West since the days of Leadville. The population has nearly doubled, the number of producing mines has increased nearly one-hundred-fold. The postoffice is now third in the state, the telephone is the busiest in the United States, and the rail- road companies have all the freight they can handle. — Engineering and Miidng Journal, Jataiary 4, iSg6. 42 Such discoveries tend to confirm a statement made some time ago in your paper, namely, that the producing area of Cripple Creek, which is four miles from north to south, and three miles from east to west, is but one tithe prospected. — E?igi?ieermg and Milting Journal, Dec. 14, iSgj. <^* ^s"* t^^ t^^ FREIGHTING ORE IN WINTER West Creek becomes a permanent mining camp for sylvanite. The ore, which made Cripple Creek, has at length been discovered in the seventy-foot shaft of the Hoosier claim in that camp. It is asserted that a central vein has been traced across the country, from Tyler through Pemberton, West Creek and Woodland Park, almost to the town of Cripple Creek. This would give a continuous ore field where mines may be located for more than forty miles through the mountains. A coal dealer living in this city was compelled, several years ago, to take a deed for 160 acres of land in payment of a debt of $150. This week he had an offer of $25,000 for forty acres of this land, which he accepted. After the sale he was told that the forty acres lie in the heart of the West Creek district. — New York Stuujan. 2j, i8g6. ^2^ t^^ «5^ *2^ Cripple Creek keeps up a hot pace of sales, leases, strikes and the formation of new companies. It cannot be too often repeated that stock speculations should not be undertaken, until something of the 43 ONE OF THE 200 NEW BUILDINGS IN COURSE OF CONSTRUCTION, FEB. 6, 1836 cerns are hazardous at best. To select, then, those investigation. — New York Sun, Jan. 20, i8g6. condition of a company is known. When possible, the standing of the individuals composing the com- pany, their practical knowledge of mining operations, the titles of the properties owned, the debts and the locations should all be inquired into before invest- ments are made. In too many instances the new stock companies are organized expressly for the purpose of selling stock, and not with a view to developing the claims. Already some of the new stock companies organized to operate in Cripple Creek have shown unmistaka- ble evidences of fraud. The claims in Cripple Creek to-day all have a value because of the demand, but the intrinsic value of many of them will be found eventually to be nil. Stock companies cannot all expect to be successful even when honestly man- aged, and investments in stocks of prospect con- of the least hazards requires no little amount of t2r^ ^T* t^* «^^ It is impossible to believe that the example of South Africa will not be of wide effect. The develop- ment of the mines there has been accomplished with unlimited capital, and the best talent and best machinery which that capital could command. And despite the wild " Kaffir craze" and all the attendant stock-jobbing scandals, these mines have paid enormous profits. To-day their output of gold, derived from a little area perhaps three miles wide, and seventeen miles long, almost equals the entire product of the whole United States, or of all Australasia. Nor is there anything to indicate that this output has reached its limit. On the contrary, mining experts of authority predict that the product of the whole Transvaal at least will within another ten years, perhaps less, reach $100,000,000 annually. 44 It would be absurd to attempt a similar prediction as to the yield of other portions of the earth ; but certain facts remain. A very pregnant one is to be found in Colorado. For years the Centennial State talked and schemed and dreamed of little else than silver. Silver-mining was MADE AT SCHENECTADY LOCOMOTIVE WORKS FOR MIDLAND TERMINAL RY. SAMPLE OF ENGINES USED BETWEEN DIVIDE AND CRIPPLE CREEK. CYLINDERS, 21X26 IN.; WEIGHT. 97 TONS; COST, $I2,000. its chief industry. It cared little for gold. No one looked for it; it was almost impossible to obtain capital to develop a gold mine when it was foimd. This year Colorado turns from chiefly a silver state to chiefly a gold state. — Review of Reviews, Feb. i8g6. t^F* t^^ ^^ t£F^ The development in Colorado continues to go forward with unabated energy. The Cripple Creek field is increasing in area and population, and it is estimated that by the first of June that camp will contain 40,000 people, four-fifths of whom will be practical or theoretical miners. — Editorialin Kansas City Star, Jan. ig, J8g6. MIDLAND TERMINAL DEPOTS AT GILLETT AND DIVIDE 46 Santa Fe Route >»»XK{>:»»x»x»»^o:«:«exjx>:«»x>» The shortest and only through broad-gauge line from points in the East and South to Cripple Creek. Pullman Sleepers, Free Reclining Chair Cars, Harvey Eating Houses. Apply to nearest ticket agent for maps, folders and other detailed information regarding time of trains, cost of tickets, etc. 9^^ 9£r^ ^^^ <^^ t^^ J- ORE TEAMS UNLOADING AT VICTOR THE FAMOUS INDEPENDENCE MINE 47 .0**'" ,*t"^ MAP or SANTA FE ROUTE TO CKIPPLiE CREEK. Map of EASTKHS COI.OltADO PUEBLO CRIPPLE CREEK GOLD FIELDS i ^