JOHN SUTCLIFFE. 163 



he simply said as quietly as ever, " Don't make d d 



fools of yourselves. I have the money and have put it 

 where it will stay put. What do you think I am liv- 

 ing here for anyway ? Now take my advice ; you are in 

 it, and the only way to get out is to keep the matter 

 quiet and unload on others." This was the only way 

 left to get anything out of their speculation, so they re- 

 turned to New York wiser, and if possible worse men 

 than they were before, and they put their wits to work to 

 sell out and in a short time had arrangraents nearly com- 

 pleted with parties who were willing to purchase their 

 half interest in the rich mine ; bat about that time busi- 

 ness called the simple old man again to New York, and 

 he got acquainted with the parties who were arranging 

 to buy out his partners, and felt so disappointed and 

 angry at the action of his partners in selling out, that he 

 offered his half interest at a less price than his partners 

 were selling for — and of course it was worth just as 

 much — and secured the deal, got the money and return- 

 ed to his valuable shaft, which he used for a well ever 

 afterwards for watering his stock, for he secured a large 

 tract of land surrounding his mining claim and now en- 

 joys his well earned wealth, and lives over and over 

 again his smart business trick by telling the story to all 

 strangers who fall into his company, and fully ex- 

 plains the method used for producing mineral from the 

 barren rock in the shaft. He had gotten a liberal sup- 

 ply of good mineral and vein matter from a good mine 

 and had it conveyed into his shaft when all was ready, 

 and then by aid of a double barreled gun could easily 

 fire off a couple of blasts in the shaft, and send up a cor- 

 responding sample of mineral from the supply on hand. 

 This is a well known business method among miners 

 with many variations, and is called salting a mine. I 

 have had cases of salting in my own experience as an 

 expert and even in this very country, but so far have 



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