By ELMO SCOTT WATSON HROUGHOUT THE WEST ONCD of ). more is ringing that thrilling, that electrifying, that magical word-— “Gold” ! It's all because of the "New Deal.” For ever since the lloose- velt administration began bidding up the price of this precious metal, the gold fever has been coursing through the veins of Americans once more, Thousands of men and women—yes, even children!-—are * washing and sluleing the sands of western streams, “panning for pay dirt” just as the placer miners did In the golden days of 40, Old shafts are being re-explored and grass-covered dumps are being worked over again, “Thar's gold in them thar hills” has be- come again something more than a convention- al literary joke. In the old time gold camps of California, Mon- tana, Colorado, South Dakota and Nevada, either dead or sleeping these many years, there Is re- newed activity, “Ghost towns” are coming to life again. Old shacks are being patched up and once more smoke rises from their chimneys, Buildings along deserted streets are being ren- ovated, repainted and repaired In preparation for the opening up of new business enterprises, Among these rejuvenated mining camps Is Vir- ginia City, Nev., and the activity there recalls once more the romantic story of the Comstock Lode. And since President Roosevelt issued his order for remonetization of silver, thus stimulat- ing the mining of this metal again, there is all the more reason for recalling the Comstock Lode. For even though it was the search for gold which led to its discovery, it was the silver in that lode which made Virginia City the “greatest mining town upon the continent” and set the stage for a series of dramatic events, echoes of which are heard to this day, even though the discovery of the Comstock Lode took place three-quarters of a century ago. The story of the Comstock Lode has been told and retold many times but seldom, if ever, has it been told more interestingly, in all its rami- fications than in two books by C. B. Glasscock -—“*The Big Bonanza-—the St tory of the Comstock Lode,” and “Lucky Baldwin-—the Story of an Un- conventional Success.” “ho in recent months by the Bobbs-Merrill company. The scene of this modern fairy tale was a valley lo. Storey county, Nevada, a few miles southeast of Reno, and more particularly a mushroom mining camp which had sprung up in Gold Canyon late in the fifties, Among those who eked out 8 bare existence there were men whose names were destined for future fame. “There was Henry Thomas Paige Comstock, f lanky, loud voiced, boastful b ing prospector with a short chin beard shaven upper lip which gave him a sant vail ous air entirely out of keeping with his real character, He was known familiarly as ‘tld Pancake,’ because he subsisted chiefly upon flap- jacks, insisting he was alwass too busy to make the sour dough bread of the miners, here was James Finney or Fennimore, a drunken, irresponsible teamster otherwise known as ‘Old Virginia," for his habit of boasting of his native state, who had drifted into the region with the Mormon expedition of 1851 and re. mained to become as famong asx he was biha lous, There were Peter O'Riley, Patrick Me- Laughlin, Manny Penrod, Jack Bishop, Joe Wia- ters and a few other Avice spirits with some ciaim to fame.” One January day in 1X50 a group of these Johntown prospectors took samples from the slope on the upper east side of the canyon and washed the dirt in & tiny spring uearchy., Each pan of dirt showed from eight to fifteen cents worth of gold This wasn't ‘a rich strike, of course, but it was sufficiently encouraging so that they set up tents and brush huts and es- tablished a new settlement to which they gave the name of Gold HIilL After several weeks, pay dirt of sufficient rich- ness to reward them with £215 or $20 a day for their work was found, “That was enough fur the Johntowners, who were earning an average of £4. Johntown moved to Gold Hill, The slopes swarmed with prospectors, But the rich ground was limited. There was not enough to provide profitable claims for the 70 or 80 men who made up the settlement. They scattered, searching for more. Prospecting Interest centered for a time pear the head of Six-Mile canyon, “There In the spring of 1850 Peter O'Riley and Patrick McLaughlin, who had been mining in the district for several years, opened a trench from which they took a wage of $1.50 to $2 » day. It was poor pay. The Irishmen were dis couraged, They wanted to get away to a new placer strike on Walker river, of which there was much talk in camp. But they were broke. They needed $100 for a grub-stake. So they re- mained and tolled and sweat, and instead of $100, received $43,500 I And this is where the fairy story of the Com- stock Lode begins. For these two Irishmen were the real discoverers of the veln of precious metal, the like of which has never been seen in the world since but it bears the name of neither of them. Instead it bears the name of that “lanky, loud-volced, boastful, bullying prospector” Hen- ry Thomas Paige Comstock, and it was thus christened “by sheer force of a loud voice and sothe cunning understanding of human nature.” The story of the discovery by O'Riley and Me- Laughlin and Comstock’s part In It is told by Glasscock as follows “It happened that upon the day when O'Riley and Mclaughlin made their first cleanup, amounting to more than $200, Comstock was searching the slopes for a horse which he had turned out to rustie for a living. He had found the horse and was riding back to Gold Hill when he came upon the Irishmen, cleaning thelr rocker for the day, “One glance was sufficient, ‘You've struck it, boys!’ he shoutad, and promptly declared himself in. *The only trouble Is that you've struck it on my land, You know I bought this spring from Old Man Caldwell. And I took up 160 acres here for a ranch’ “The Irishmen protested, as well they might. It was possible that Comstock bad posted a no tice claiming the land for agricultural purposes, Men of the time were always posting such no- tices and never having them recorded or secur. ing title. It was a fact that Comstock, with Manny Penrod and Old Virginia, had bought the water and some old slulce-boxes from a miner pamed Onldwell In the previous year, But It was VIRGINIA CITY IN THE SEVENTIES also a fact that he had never recorded title to the water rights “But Comstock nevertheless made his demand and his bluff cvnslneing. His legal rights were negligible, If Indeed they existed at all, but his character was such as perhaps might jastify the fame which came fo him in this de uistiy] manner with the naming of the Couistix ek | The news of the rich strike spre ad and “there vias sued wild activity as of ly a free Hy 1a CRIDD can inspire, Ciaims were loc 1 in nll directions, A few old prospectors hel 81 a ent experience to trace the richer outeroppings and claim valo- alle ground. But all were placer miners, “Always they cursed and threw away the heat lge-black deposit which clogged the rifles an carried away their quicksilver. No one revognlzes this black stuff as the rich sliver ore which the true wealth of the Comstock” an essential part of story of the Comstock lode real disc ing It named after them s the fairy tale overers fail to win } of fate they also source of theirs, Ar hi has to d itl he n ing of the town that sprang up there, *t} test mining town upon the co It might nnpropriatel have bon named for elth er MclLavg' lin or O Riles or even for the spurious godfather of the source of its Comstock. Then again it might have been named for another man who was soon to appear on the scene—Judge James Walsh, But that honor fell to none of them. Instead. it went to that “drunken, irresponsible teamster.,” James Finney or Fennimore, “Old Virginia” And here is how that came about: greatness Barly in the history of the new eamp, the prospectors gave it the comparatively weaning less name of Pleasant HILL Some of them called it Mount Pleasant Point until a short time Inter when a miners’ meeting decided to glve it the official name of Winnemuacea, honoring the prin. cipal chief of the Piute Indians who lived in that country, Then Finney, “Happlly drunk as he had been for weeks since money and whisky had eirculated freels, finished a night's revel by falling at the door of bis cabin and breaking his bottle, Rising te his knees, he waved the bot. tie neck and shouted ‘I baptize this ground Vir ginia Town?” The name was promptly and gen- erally accepted, though for rears the ‘town’ was generaliy Ignored and ‘city’ finally was ap pended.” In the meantime Comstock had Induced O'Riley and McLaughlin to Include the names of Manny Penrod, J. A. ("Kentuck™) Osborne and his own in the location notice which they had posted on the scene of thelr rich strike. The claims of these five men covered 1.500 feet of ground along what was to beenine known as the Comstock Lade. Within a short time they were taking out $20 worth of gold a day. Then in July, 1850, a Truckee river rancher happened to visit the new gold camp. He picked up a piece of the blue-black ore which was causing the gold miners so much grief and ecar- ried it away with him to Grass Valley, a gold camp on the west slope of the Slerras, where he presented it to Judge James Walsh, a lead- ing citizen of that camp. Judge Walsh had It assayed and this revealed the astonishing fact that this bine-black ore ran $3,000 a ton in sliver and $1,000 a ton in gold Walsh did not hesitate a moment, Accompanied by Joe Woodworth, a friend, he started before daybreak for the Nevada diggings and only by driving the mule, which they had packed, and themselves to the Umit of their endurance did they reach the Washoe district ahead of the greater part of the citizenry of Grass Valley. For news of the rich strike had lenked out and the rush to the new diggings was on, Walah bought Comstock’s Interest In the claim for £11,000, Later McLanghlin sold his Interest fer $3.500. Penrod for 88.500, Oshorne for 87.500 and O'Riley, who held on ionger than any of the original locators, for $40000, And iff this connection ft might be well to tell of the Inter fortunes of these men, Mclaughlin became a HENRY THOMAS PAIGE COMSTOCK The “Old Pancake” for Whom the Comstock Lode Was Named. cook at # : died a paoper. O'iley lost his i ¢ £40000) In died In an insane asylum, died poor. “Old Virginia, was thrown from hl wk 8 man on Seg Rut to return “Casual placer mind in Nevada. gas way to y the genesis of Virginia Clits somet! far grealer opou the Washoe Law pol t} Jistrict the world To it came reporter on ti ing newspaper of perience there of the books which ha made Mark Twain famous, To It came two sturdy young Irishie v. Mackay and James Falr, and un th fortunes which they mu there wern financed great telegra lines, Other names which link Virginia historic pust with the present and with several great American fortunes were those of Darius Ogden Mills, 3. Keene, James CC. Flood, and John T Nor should there be neg. lected that “rot ettucuing figure In all the bizarre scramide for riches, the Hoosier who never shoveled a pound of ore, yet made millions from the Comstock Lode —"Lucky” Baldwin, Ax the great mines which tapped the riches of the Comstonk Lode ~the Ophir, the Crown Point, the Belcher, the Yellow Jacket, the Im. perial, the Kentucky, the Empire, the Gould and Carry, the California and the Consolidated Yirginia—came into being, Virginia City grew and flourished, More substantial houses replaced the rude shacks that were thrown up at first. A theater was bulit and on its stage appeared such world. known figures as Modjeska, Booth, Barrett and McCullough, There was an era of extravagant living and extravagant spending, for the citizens of Virginia City believed that the wealth of the Comstock Lode was inexhaustible, " They were confirmed in that belief by the repeated discoveries of “bonanmas” great poek. ots of rich ore, 10 in number, the last and great. est of which provides the title for the Intest Glasscock book--"The Big Bonanza” It was dis covered In the Consolidated Virginia in 187%, a mighty treasure vault contalning the greatest mass of precious ore ever uncovered in a single gpot, From It was taken more than $100.000.000 worth of gold and silver during the six years that the Rig Ponanza lasted, No wonder there was a wild orgy of speculation In mining stocks, but like all such orgies it came to an end at last, By 1870 the treasure chest of the Big Ronanza had been cleaned out, There had been a panie fn San Francisco where nine out of ten people had Invested In Comstock securities and thous. ands who were rich one week were poor the next. Stock that had been pelling for £500 a ghare dropped to £1.25 and thousands of specu. lators were ruined, In the gears that followed Virginia City's fortunes steadily waned. Oceasionnlly there have been flare-ups of hope that the “ghost town” which it had become might be resuscitated but few of these hopes ever materialized to any ex. tent. Under the “New Deal” It may have a re turn to a measures of prosperity but it will prob. ably never again sce a return to those dazzling diys of three-quarters of a century ago when the discovery of the Comstock Lode made min. fog Livtory for all time to come, © by Western Newspaper Union, NO “GL AD HAND’ 2 HEL D OUT HERE Westerners Not Wanted in Land of Nepal. After ten years’ wandering In un traveled regions of the Orient, ] came at last to Nepal, that country of which Perceval Landon wrote: “Of all the closed lands of this world -~cloged by the deliberate will and policy of those who live in them; ¢l sed whether from plety, super- stition, jealousy, or perhaps above all from mistrust of the European— Neral Ir the only survivor.” Only 100 or so Englishmen and perhaps ten other Europeans have known the secret valley of Katman du and Nepal's eapital, “the sacred city of Katmandu.” Nepal's inac cessibility Is proverbial, Rarely has an exception been made to the rule against the admission of foreigners The self-importance and self-suffi altered by time or the proximity of conquering Europeans, The lege, far from feeling inferior to Eu a ad ther look Nepa ropeans, ro own on them Handley writes, in Asia Magazine. One morning when we were riding in Katmandu we were literally swept into the g mit a Nepalese He was escorted fantastic entour First came a small un nnd followed by Bn Cay ! troston in this valley of lovely woren, The women of Nepnl are pala ulabaster in color, with chis- eled features and perfectly shaped mouths, small teeth like pearls, large brown eyes and lashes that would make our brightest film stars en- vious, Their costume consists of a bodice and full swinging skirts or trouserg, Handsome carved anklets and rings adorn their little feet, From their waving hair hang long bright fastened with orna- ments, vells, It Needs the Icy Mitt A soft uznswer turneth away no high-pressure salesman~—~Ft, Wayne News-Sentinel, Why Liquid Laxatives are Back in Favor yy — The public is fast returning to the use of liquid laxatives. People have learned that the properly prepared liquid laxative will bring a perfect movement without any yA at the time, or after. The dose of a liquid laxative ean be varied to suit the needs of the indiy idus 11. The action can thus be regulate a. A child is easily given the right de And mild liquag laxatives do not jeTits ate the kidneys well aver forms on ting with thei sot brushing the ground Only » urgently whispered in on ke [it me I was warned results of a misplaced smil na countrs that has alwas abhorred even the Doctors are generally ares] that senna is the best laxative for every- body. Senna is a natural laxative. It does not drain the system like the cathartics that leave you so thirsty. Dr. Caldwell's Syrup Pepsin is a liquid laxative which relies on senna for its laxative action. It has the average person's bowels as regular as clockwork in a few weeks” time You can always get Dr. Caldwell" 5 Syrup Pepsin at any drugstore, ready for use. Member N, R. Drink full hours. i throat is sore, crush and dissolve 3 Baver Aspirin Tablets in a half glass of water snd pargie accords ing to directions in LOX. glass of water, The simple method pictured above is the way doctors throughout the world now treat colds. It is recognized as the QUICK- EST, safest, surest way to treat a cold. For it will check an ordi- nary cold almost as fast as you caught it, Ask your doctor about this. And when you buy, see that you get Does Not Harm the Heort the real BAYER Aspirin Tablets. They dissolve almost instantly. And thus work almost instantly when you take them. And for a gargle, Genuine BAYER Aspirin Tablets dissolve so completely, they leave no irritating par- ticles. Get a box of 12 tablets or bottle of 24 or 100 at any drug store, Indigestion, Lost Pep! Mr, Harrison T, Moorhead of Middletown, Del, sald: “When 1 had indigestion, no BR oc energy, and did sot like eating Dr, Pierce's Golden Medical Discovery soon had me feeling Bt again I felt like an entirely new man-—years younger, I ate better, slept better and had no stomach complaint ™ * Write to Dr. Pleroe’s Clinic, Buffalo, N. ¥Y, New size-tablets SOc, Hauid $1.00, Large size, tabs, or liquid, $1.35. “We De Our Pare.” 1 Ladies, Absointely Free. Beautiful Cataline Tableware Bet. Value for your money guar anteed. Rend 20e oo a en Lexington Ave. New "York, x. Write Sandhills Essences Uo, Pinebiaf, Ne rih Carolina, for making your aswn ver, cordial. Forty varieties gusranteed und + Food and Drug Act June 30, 1906. “Maule’s Seed Book Use Manie's tested, toed seeds, for ary > yiein LR and highest marked rity - Inscious Ye ejabion or Meanie’ PIMPLY SKIN soon improved and blotches cleared away by daily treatment with Resinol CHERRY-GLYCERINE os] y|olSI\e For Coughs due to Colds, Minor Bronchial and Throat irritations JAS. BAILY & SON, Baltimore, Md. FAMOUS RADIO ANNOUNCER says: ‘I'l announce to the world that THE EDISON is a great Hotel”
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers