JOHN SUTCLIFFE. 153 



large sums of money upon permanent improvements, 

 before actually exploring and developing the mine, for 

 with all the skill and experience the best mining experts 

 possess, it is impossible, at the present time, to deter- 

 mine, definitely and surely, vrhat is contained beneath 

 any part of the crust of this earth before piercing it, and 

 actually seeing it. It can be estimated with more or 

 less confidence by the intelligent and experienced min- 

 ing engineer, but the only safe and sure way is to open 

 up the ground by uncovering to the solid rock, by sink- 

 ing shafts and driving tunnels, or in some cases by using 

 the diamond drill. 



Even with all these necessary precautions it is best to 

 proceed with care and use the old proverb : " Time is 

 money," as the Mexicans understand it — which, like a 

 great many other things one finds in Mexico, is diametri- 

 cally opposite to our ideas ; the proverb as understood 

 in Spanish is that by taking plenty of time, money is 

 made or saved, and really means " waiting is money." 

 The mining business turns a great many of our old pro- 

 verbs upside down. 



Thus we say ' ' Get a cage before a bird ' ' ; but in mining 

 the great thing to be secured is the bird, the cage can 

 be got at any time ; and one of the great causes for 

 mining companies' failures lies in getting great cages be- 

 fore having anything to put into them. 



A few hundred dollars judiciously expended and a 

 few weeks waiting for results would save both time and 

 money under the best conditions and often save the en- 

 terprise itself, for very many really valuable little mines 

 that could be worked at a nice profit in a small way, are 

 swamped by excessive expenses occasioned by too large 

 a plan of operations, and sometimes large mines are 

 worked at a loss, and finally abandoned by not having a 

 plan of operations large enough to develop and utilize 

 their large resources. Some actual mining operations 



109 



