DISCOVERIES
BY ACCIDENT
How Intelligent Curiosity Has Led
to Fortunes in the Rarer
Minerals.
In no business is there so targe an
element of chance as in mining, anil the
story of the lucky accidents and pecu
liar circumstances which have led to the
discovery of bonanza mines or the find
ing of valuable minerals in unsuspected
places would make a volume of romance
as fascinating as any fairy tale. In
Percy F. Martin’s book, “Through Five
Republics of South America,’’ is related
tiie story of the discovery of the monazite
sands of Brazil. One John Gordon, an
Englishman, with some general knowl
edge of economic minerals, was walking
disconsolately one day upon tlie sands
at Bahia while waiting for a boat to
take him to the steamer. He noticed
that the sand was exceedingly heavy
and apparently not of the ordinary kind.
Curiosity as well as foresight led him to
till his pookets with the material, which
he took home with him and upon analy
sis found found it contained monazite,
the source of thorium, which is used in
making incandescent gas-light mantels
and is valuable. Mr. Gordon succeeded
in making a substantial fortune out of
his discovery and started an important
industry, which has added not inconsid
erably to the wealth of Brazil. In this
connection it should he mentioned also
that the material was exported, free of
duty, and was a source of great’prolit to
the operators, hut recently the Brazilian
government has imposed a comparative
ly high export duty on monazite, there
by curtailing individual profits.
This incident in the romance of min
ing is not dissimilar to the story of the
discovery of tungsten in Boulder county,
Colorado. The wolframite had been fa
miliar to the early gold miners in this
section, who supposed that it was, as
they called it, “heavy iron.” About six
years ago a couple ol observing mining
men, who liail seen this ore oi tungsten
in Arizona, investigated the Colorado
“heavy iron" deposits and started an
industry which now produces nearly
$AOt>,000 annually of what was originally
ignorniniously east aside. Recently an
other similar story was developed in
connection with a Mexican mine. A
property in Coahuila, which had lieen a
source of supply of lead ore for one of
the smelters, had been abandoned as
exhausted. A pros|iector secured a lease
at very easy terms on it and at once
proceeded to mine many tons of line
silicate from the alxtndoned workings.
This product had been entirely over
looked by tin* former ojierators.
Th**se incidents serve to show the
necessity of intelligent and thorough in
vestigation in connection with every os
currence of mineral, particularly at this
time when there i. a market at high
prices for many minerals not ordinarily
mined ami with which mining mm gen
erally an t often trained engineer* are
unfamiliar. The aggregate prishict of
the rare mineral* in western I mted
states amounts to several million dol
lar* annually and many of the now
proiituUe ,)epomts have lain idle f»*r
yew** until watte intelligently titratt*
matt utilised thetu. —'lining World
IMPROBABLE STORY
OF ALASKAN TRIBE
Of White Race and Giants in Stature.
Memories of a Pioneer Priest
Are Recalled.
From the New York World.
Chicago, April 7.—The Kev. Francis
Harnum, S. at present in Chicago,
says he has discovered a race of white
giants in northern Alaska. They are of
unadulterated Caucasian Mood, im
mense fn stature and muscular develop
ment, members of one tribe found be
yond the settlements of the Alaskan
Indians, north of what is known as the
Indian line. During a stay of more
than eihgt years among these people the
priest did not find a single tribesman
who was not much larger and taller
than the average American.
Several years before the discovery of
gold at Nome Father Harnum was sent
as a missionary to Alaska. Preaching
from village to village among the Alas
kan Indians, but journeying northward
always, he finally passed the Indian
line, beyond which the population be
comes strictly Kskimo.
Finally he came upon not the band of
hardy hunters he had expected, but a
race of purely white men of gigantic
stature, lie says they are without the
faintest strain of Mongolian or Indian
ancestry. He was with them long
enough to master their language.
Father Harnum, the alleged authority
for the above remarkable story, was
well known by the early pioneers of the
lower Yukon, ('apt. A. 11. Mayo, of
Hampart, the oldest white resident of
this part of Alaska, was quite intimately
acquainted with the priest and never
heard him allude to a strange race of
men such as is spoken of in the fore
going. So thoroughly has northern and
northwestern Alaska been explored that
it is practically impossible for even a
small number of such men to exist un
known to the outside world. There
may be inhabited islands in the Arctic
ocean of which no knowledge has got
nhroiul, hut if so Father Farmim would
have been unable to reach them without
a well-e<|ui|>|>ccl ship. The story is |« r
hups the result of the over-wrought
imagination of some eorresjHUiileiit to
w hom the priest had talked.
Father Farnum is a nephew of the
late I’.T. Farnum, the famous showman.
The priest was always a companiona
ble man and he and Captain Mayo en
joyed each other’s society very much.
The captain relates an incident with
which Father Faruuiu had somewhat to
do nearly fifteen years ago.
Captain Mayo was master of the
steamer Artie and was proceeding down
the river. At Holy Cross he found
Father Farnum mat two or three other
priests, half a do/.en sisters of mercy, a
few native women nurses and a lot of
orphaned infants which the gissl sisters
laiil undertaken to care for—all anxious
to proceed to Andraefski ahourd the
A re tic The captain explained that the
Is-at was a I ready full, there was no place
to sleep, the season and the day were
Imth far ads a need and it would *>*»n la
dark ami rnid, etc., etc.; hut they de
clared they would stand It till they
got to Andreafshi, uext day, ami got
aboard.
Jack Donovan was steward. He was
the most scrupulously neat man imag
inable, both as to apparel and to the
details of the boat’s cuisine, and ordi
narily his language was as clean as his
other accessories. Among other things
pertaining to his office was a very large
bread pan, of which he was duly proud.
Father Barnum sat with tlu^captain on
Ids watch till d o’clock a. in., when they
went down to get a cup of coffee. As
they sat sipping the fragrant brew they
were suddenly startled by a jierfeet
tempest of profanity, and looking around
they beheld Steward Donovan with the
bread pan in his hands and dough pour
ing out over the sides. Buried in the
pan of dough was a wriggling, squirming
papoose. Jack had mixed a batch of
yeast and set it in a nice warm corner to
rise, and a nurse groping around in the
half darkness had found what she be
lieved was an ideal place to put the baby
to sleep. As the captain and the priest
retired the steward swore an oath,
which he called all the angels in heaven
to witness, that he would bake that
dough, and the people aboard would
eat it too.
Captain Mayo says they did.
Wanted a Flexible Religion.
Representative John Sharp Williams
tells of an encounter on a Mississippi
road one Sunday morning between an
itinerant preacher and a darkey, who
bore on his shoulder a freshly killed
’possum.
“Have you any religious feeling, un
friend?” asked the minister.
“Shore,” replied the darkey, “I’se
had religious bringin’ up.”
“Then you ought to know that it is
sinful to hunt on the Sabbath.”
“Mistah preachah,” returned the dar
key, his eyes rolling till the white shone,
shone, “does you expect any black man
in Mississippi is gwine to tie bisself to
any religion dat allows a ’possum to
walk right across de road ahead o’ him
an' git away free? No, sail! A religion
dat don't bend a little when a fat possum
heads you off couldn't be 'stahlished
'round yere by all de preachers in de
country.”
S. E. HEETER,
Freighter and Packer
Good Equipments ami
Service Unexcelled
F. M. A. L.
SMITH & COLLINS,
Proprietors
FIRST-CLASS
Wines, Liquors and
Cigars.
JULIUS RAHMSTORF,
GENERAL
MERCHANDISE
FULL LINE
Tin, Granite and Crockeryware
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