March 24, 1971 (8 pages)

me 7 HERN MINES nund Kinyonnt times by B, L, Lemarque. G, D. Robwho never succeeded in making it yield failing to pay at all, Fricot & Co. became shaft was sunk on the ledge to a perpensight feet in the winter of 1862-63. This 20 feet below the tunnel. Here the ledge defined, tory of Grass Valley Township (1865) : of the Eureka-Idaho-Maryland lode, a of the mysteries of Nature's gold caches ther extended haltings, probably excels n California, But the Eureka mine, itself, ly short life, Fricot, Rupert and Pralus ‘ol to the Eureka Company for $400,000. idends regularly until the year 1873, At mining was revealed, The lode was lost. nade then and later for a west extension, h extension has been found and qualified convinced that the Eureka development to the western terminal of the lode, The i in 1877 and abandoned. turned out, the Eureka lode was merely t lost, As early as 1863 search was being giver, in the claim which adjoined on the \ perpendicular shaft cut the vein at 120 e discovery turned to doubt when the fore barren, For eighteen months the Idaho closed and written-off mine. resourceful Coleman brothers, John C, lizing comfortably from the Morning Star Hill and trying out various of the Grass mines, bought the Idaho and formed the fining company. It was officered by John C. Miles P, O'Conner, who mixed mining istice of the Peace, secretary; Thomas surer; Edward Coleman, general manager. recovered in the course of the sinking of axplore the gound to a depth of 600 feet. shaft was met by assessments on the stock . amount of nearly $400,000, But the great y three decades of monthly dividends which ax bill, ; 2man brothers constituted a unique business 1 the lid of the expense accounts, Edward the lunch buckets of his miners and snorted und candles where he had expected to find cimens, They became leaders of the civic, _ life of the community, When the building . railroad was being financed they. joined in They took a leading part in the rebuilding Church and endowed the congregation, It o shadow of disagreement, save one, that” 2» between them. Whether by choice or deublican, the other a Democrat, Nor were e denatured sort which prevails in these nn C. promoted a torchlight parade or an party, Edward strove to go him one better came, or vice versa, The tradition of the he annals of Grass Valley. e century the Idaho under the. management produced fifteen million dollars in gold and lion in the form of those gladsome monthly prothers, moderately aging, were giving ility of retiring with their fortunes, Moreorem » —— as nearing the end-line of the Idaho. To the Sn TEEN SS east and adjoining lay the Maryland claim. Years before, Samuel _P, Dorsey, the town's express agent, who indulged the hobby of botany, had secured the claim on the strength of his studies. of the flora of the region, It seemed to him that he could detect the course of the noted lode inthe surface growths. He formed the Maryland Mining company with himself as president. Then it was that the Colemans, believing their once great mine had become little better than an empty shell, proposed . selling the property to the Maryland company. The price asked ~ was moderate and the payment easy. Between the supposedly exhausted workings and.the end line remained a block of valuable ore, It was to be worked out by the Maryland under the direction of Eugene Creller, a trusted executive of the Idaho company, and the proceeds used to liquidate the purchase price. -It was an advantageous bargain for the Maryland and in due course the two mines were consolidated under the Dorsey management, At that point Fate stepped in. The Idaho ledge did not hold for more than a limited distance beyond the imaginary line separating the two claims. Soon the ominous report spread that the consolidated company had a shaft, and a mill, but-no certain gold-bearing vein. Was the lode ended, or faulted, or lost? That was the question which the Dorseys and some later bondees sought vainly to determine. ‘ Victor Dorsey, a son of the owner who had acquired mining skills, was accidently killed in the workings, Samuel P, Dorsey, by then elderly, never descended into the depths of his property. Limited operations, largely exploratory, went on for several years, Then the great Idaho filled with water and the fine surface plant became the habitat of bats, _ It was during the early part of the 1920s decade that the Idaho-Maryland was purchased outright by the Harry Payne Whitney interests of New York. The group, amply financed, sought recovery of the missing lode and complete rehabilitation of the old producer. John A, Fulton, a highly learned mining engineer who had achieved numerous successes in Nevada, was appointed to have charge of the project. Fulton proceeded to explore every. portion of both the Idaho and the longdormant Eureka. In addition he probed for the eastern extension of the famed lode, The old mill was repaired and placed in parttime operation, Ore for the stamps came from a few stulls left by the earlier miners for supports and small amounts of fringe ore found here and there. The production total was not impressive. After three or four years of search at the reputed expense of several million dollars to the Whitney company the time came when abandonment of the project was seriously considered. In a mining district, such as the Nevada County gold quartz field, with its deep shafts and immense subterranean chambers, thephrase, “pulling the pumps," rings out as a dirge to blasted hopes and community misfortune. The. version is that the manager in charge for the Whitney group (Fulton had resigned in discouragment several months previously) was under orders to take that drastic step. But at the proverbial last minute anew element was to enter. Errol MacBoyle, a mining engineer of note and varied experience, appeared on the scene and as the owner of a few shares of the stock of the company asked for ingress intothe mine, His was not to be an elaborate inspection requiring many days to.complete, rather a cursory survey. His conclusion was that abandonment would be premature. The upshot was that he induced the Whitney ownership to grant him a bond (option) and lease, His financial resources were small, but he managed to keep the Idaho-Maryland free of water pending more complete explorations. MacBoyle called to his aid Albert’ Crase, a mine manager — linking the old and the new schools of geological thought and who had been engaged at seeking the illusive gold veins of the veh lige Dy district from his’ sixteeth year. Within a few weeks the'fabulous a » Idaho-Maryland vein again stood revealed. But the MacBoyle-Crase management were inclined to discount any unusual mineralogic perception on their part. They said that they merely went a little further. It was disclosed that the Dorsey managment had penetrated to within a few feet of the faulted lode. The Fulton management had actually cut into its’ wall at one point, but failed to recognize its importance. The Idaho-Maryland lode, under the propriety interest of MacBoyle and Crase was to yield other and much greater fortunes than those realized by the Colemans. The Brunswick and some other adjacent mines were added and developed into ' producers, Modern and large capacity works were installed. For fifteen years the payroll carried the names of a thousand men, Up to the time when operations were slowed by war con-* ditions the shafts of the Idaho-Maryland group were delivering ‘more than one thousand tons of ore daily to the mills, Thus is exemplified the old saying of miners: "After firing your last round of shots -fire another round!" RAIN OF GOLDEN TWENTIES The greater number of the narratives of this book were written of necessity from versions told me by old residents, printed accounts or references gathe from a variety of sources. As to one notable incident, however, I missed being on the scene by the margin only two or three minutes, It was the lone wolf robbery of the Nevada County Bank in Grass Valley on May 17, 1912. Had I exercised a little more haste between the Grass Valley postoffice, then at the present Bret Harte Hotel site, 3 and the Main'and Mill streets junction, I might have observed ~ a stranger, pockets abulge and asag, emerge from the bank,located at 110 Mill street, sprawl clumsily upon a waiting = horse and ride south with what of forced dissimulation he could muster. Instead I was engulfed in a street rush, but did manage to glimpse the cavalry outfit, by then gathering speed, as it swung into Neal street. At 12 o'clock a lone horseman. had halted in front of the Nevada County Bank and dismounted. Without haste, he tied his mount loosely at the curb, glanced around casually and sauntered through the bank door, The president of the bank, William D,. Harris, was on duty at one of the wickers, Albert H. Mooser, the cashier, and Miss Alta Clemo, secretary, were at their desks. The lobby was devoid of customers, The stranger, a youngish man of compact build, approached the wicker and presented a silver dollar, requesting currency in exchange, One dollar bills were not as plentiful then ‘as now, and it took the acting teller a minute or two to extract'the required currency from a labeled package and make the necessary notation, Harris, on looking up, was surprised to find his window vacant. The customer had disappeared, But he was soon located -atop the counter, two guns swinging, scowling horribly. "Hands up!" The secretary was too frightened to comply, ‘but the robber did not insist, Instead, he dropped-lightly . ehh allt. Ree 2 %: cS tothe counting room floor. Shifting one gun to his shirt front, = he helped himself liberally from the stacks of golden "fives," "tens" and "twenties" within easy reach, ‘. : Things were going so well.with him that the robber apparently decided upon a larger haul. To that end he ordered the staff to walk-backwards into the vault, the-door of which was ajar. To emphasize his order the two fearsome guns came into play. He closed the vault door and turned the combination, The three were locked in. 2 (CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.) <= ——— Rights reserved by the — Soe _Nevada County Publishing Company ——=—=_ == — — 7 Pores og et pe oc thy 3) LARA A Pt cs eS a . “*

me 7 HERN MINES nund Kinyonnt times by B, L, Lemarque. G, D. Robwho never succeeded in making it yield failing to pay at all, Fricot & Co. became shaft was sunk on the ledge to a perpensight feet in the winter of 1862-63. This 20 feet below the tunnel. Here the ledge defined, tory of Grass Valley Township (1865) : of the Eureka-Idaho-Maryland lode, a of the mysteries of Nature's gold caches ther extended haltings, probably excels n California, But the Eureka mine, itself, ly short life, Fricot, Rupert and Pralus ‘ol to the Eureka Company for $400,000. idends regularly until the year 1873, At mining was revealed, The lode was lost. nade then and later for a west extension, h extension has been found and qualified convinced that the Eureka development to the western terminal of the lode, The i in 1877 and abandoned. turned out, the Eureka lode was merely t lost, As early as 1863 search was being giver, in the claim which adjoined on the \ perpendicular shaft cut the vein at 120 e discovery turned to doubt when the fore barren, For eighteen months the Idaho closed and written-off mine. resourceful Coleman brothers, John C, lizing comfortably from the Morning Star Hill and trying out various of the Grass mines, bought the Idaho and formed the fining company. It was officered by John C. Miles P, O'Conner, who mixed mining istice of the Peace, secretary; Thomas surer; Edward Coleman, general manager. recovered in the course of the sinking of axplore the gound to a depth of 600 feet. shaft was met by assessments on the stock . amount of nearly $400,000, But the great y three decades of monthly dividends which ax bill, ; 2man brothers constituted a unique business 1 the lid of the expense accounts, Edward the lunch buckets of his miners and snorted und candles where he had expected to find cimens, They became leaders of the civic, _ life of the community, When the building . railroad was being financed they. joined in They took a leading part in the rebuilding Church and endowed the congregation, It o shadow of disagreement, save one, that” 2» between them. Whether by choice or deublican, the other a Democrat, Nor were e denatured sort which prevails in these nn C. promoted a torchlight parade or an party, Edward strove to go him one better came, or vice versa, The tradition of the he annals of Grass Valley. e century the Idaho under the. management produced fifteen million dollars in gold and lion in the form of those gladsome monthly prothers, moderately aging, were giving ility of retiring with their fortunes, Moreorem » —— as nearing the end-line of the Idaho. To the Sn TEEN SS east and adjoining lay the Maryland claim. Years before, Samuel _P, Dorsey, the town's express agent, who indulged the hobby of botany, had secured the claim on the strength of his studies. of the flora of the region, It seemed to him that he could detect the course of the noted lode inthe surface growths. He formed the Maryland Mining company with himself as president. Then it was that the Colemans, believing their once great mine had become little better than an empty shell, proposed . selling the property to the Maryland company. The price asked ~ was moderate and the payment easy. Between the supposedly exhausted workings and.the end line remained a block of valuable ore, It was to be worked out by the Maryland under the direction of Eugene Creller, a trusted executive of the Idaho company, and the proceeds used to liquidate the purchase price. -It was an advantageous bargain for the Maryland and in due course the two mines were consolidated under the Dorsey management, At that point Fate stepped in. The Idaho ledge did not hold for more than a limited distance beyond the imaginary line separating the two claims. Soon the ominous report spread that the consolidated company had a shaft, and a mill, but-no certain gold-bearing vein. Was the lode ended, or faulted, or lost? That was the question which the Dorseys and some later bondees sought vainly to determine. ‘ Victor Dorsey, a son of the owner who had acquired mining skills, was accidently killed in the workings, Samuel P, Dorsey, by then elderly, never descended into the depths of his property. Limited operations, largely exploratory, went on for several years, Then the great Idaho filled with water and the fine surface plant became the habitat of bats, _ It was during the early part of the 1920s decade that the Idaho-Maryland was purchased outright by the Harry Payne Whitney interests of New York. The group, amply financed, sought recovery of the missing lode and complete rehabilitation of the old producer. John A, Fulton, a highly learned mining engineer who had achieved numerous successes in Nevada, was appointed to have charge of the project. Fulton proceeded to explore every. portion of both the Idaho and the longdormant Eureka. In addition he probed for the eastern extension of the famed lode, The old mill was repaired and placed in parttime operation, Ore for the

stamps came from a few stulls left by the earlier miners for supports and small amounts of fringe ore found here and there. The production total was not impressive. After three or four years of search at the reputed expense of several million dollars to the Whitney company the time came when abandonment of the project was seriously considered. In a mining district, such as the Nevada County gold quartz field, with its deep shafts and immense subterranean chambers, thephrase, “pulling the pumps," rings out as a dirge to blasted hopes and community misfortune. The. version is that the manager in charge for the Whitney group (Fulton had resigned in discouragment several months previously) was under orders to take that drastic step. But at the proverbial last minute anew element was to enter. Errol MacBoyle, a mining engineer of note and varied experience, appeared on the scene and as the owner of a few shares of the stock of the company asked for ingress intothe mine, His was not to be an elaborate inspection requiring many days to.complete, rather a cursory survey. His conclusion was that abandonment would be premature. The upshot was that he induced the Whitney ownership to grant him a bond (option) and lease, His financial resources were small, but he managed to keep the Idaho-Maryland free of water pending more complete explorations. MacBoyle called to his aid Albert’ Crase, a mine manager — linking the old and the new schools of geological thought and who had been engaged at seeking the illusive gold veins of the veh lige Dy district from his’ sixteeth year. Within a few weeks the'fabulous a » Idaho-Maryland vein again stood revealed. But the MacBoyle-Crase management were inclined to discount any unusual mineralogic perception on their part. They said that they merely went a little further. It was disclosed that the Dorsey managment had penetrated to within a few feet of the faulted lode. The Fulton management had actually cut into its’ wall at one point, but failed to recognize its importance. The Idaho-Maryland lode, under the propriety interest of MacBoyle and Crase was to yield other and much greater fortunes than those realized by the Colemans. The Brunswick and some other adjacent mines were added and developed into ' producers, Modern and large capacity works were installed. For fifteen years the payroll carried the names of a thousand men, Up to the time when operations were slowed by war con-* ditions the shafts of the Idaho-Maryland group were delivering ‘more than one thousand tons of ore daily to the mills, Thus is exemplified the old saying of miners: "After firing your last round of shots -fire another round!" RAIN OF GOLDEN TWENTIES The greater number of the narratives of this book were written of necessity from versions told me by old residents, printed accounts or references gathe from a variety of sources. As to one notable incident, however, I missed being on the scene by the margin only two or three minutes, It was the lone wolf robbery of the Nevada County Bank in Grass Valley on May 17, 1912. Had I exercised a little more haste between the Grass Valley postoffice, then at the present Bret Harte Hotel site, 3 and the Main'and Mill streets junction, I might have observed ~ a stranger, pockets abulge and asag, emerge from the bank,located at 110 Mill street, sprawl clumsily upon a waiting = horse and ride south with what of forced dissimulation he could muster. Instead I was engulfed in a street rush, but did manage to glimpse the cavalry outfit, by then gathering speed, as it swung into Neal street. At 12 o'clock a lone horseman. had halted in front of the Nevada County Bank and dismounted. Without haste, he tied his mount loosely at the curb, glanced around casually and sauntered through the bank door, The president of the bank, William D,. Harris, was on duty at one of the wickers, Albert H. Mooser, the cashier, and Miss Alta Clemo, secretary, were at their desks. The lobby was devoid of customers, The stranger, a youngish man of compact build, approached the wicker and presented a silver dollar, requesting currency in exchange, One dollar bills were not as plentiful then ‘as now, and it took the acting teller a minute or two to extract'the required currency from a labeled package and make the necessary notation, Harris, on looking up, was surprised to find his window vacant. The customer had disappeared, But he was soon located -atop the counter, two guns swinging, scowling horribly. "Hands up!" The secretary was too frightened to comply, ‘but the robber did not insist, Instead, he dropped-lightly . ehh allt. Ree 2 %: cS tothe counting room floor. Shifting one gun to his shirt front, = he helped himself liberally from the stacks of golden "fives," "tens" and "twenties" within easy reach, ‘. : Things were going so well.with him that the robber apparently decided upon a larger haul. To that end he ordered the staff to walk-backwards into the vault, the-door of which was ajar. To emphasize his order the two fearsome guns came into play. He closed the vault door and turned the combination, The three were locked in. 2 (CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.) <= ——— Rights reserved by the — Soe _Nevada County Publishing Company ——=—=_ == — — 7 Pores og et pe oc thy 3) LARA A Pt cs eS a . “*