JOLY 1, 1880,] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



433 



season haa witnessed an enormous influx of men who 

 conic to engage in that work. In the spring thearrivala 

 of such men in Denver daily ran from 500 to 1,000. The 

 streets of the town were full of them. The hotels were 

 crowded, and the large overflow was taken up hy the 

 hundreds of persons who rented furnished rooms to the 

 strangers. All these men were on their way to the 

 mouutains. They came from all over the_ country, and 

 many from Canada, Some days the Kansas Pacific 

 trains came in in sections, so great was the load. Some 

 idea of the extent of the immigration may he got from 

 what happened to the price of real estate in Denver. 

 Denver is nothing if not a depot for supplying the wants 

 of the men in the mountains. Its population, directly 

 or indirectly, lives on that. Just as Denver thrives or 

 flags, it is a sure indication that the number of men in 

 the mountains and the work being done there is increas- 

 ing, or that the mining industry is drooping ; and nothing 

 is a surer test of the prosperity of Denver, than the price 

 of its real estate. Well, there was a general advance in 

 its price all over the city, and a great advance ; and the 

 quiet citizens of the East may open their eyes, perhaps, 

 when I say that in some quarters of the city the ad- 

 vance through the winter was from 300 to 400 per cent. 

 Scores of new buildings are going up everywhere. Some 

 of them would do credit to the handsomest streets in 

 New York. Hotel accomodations have been greatly ex- 

 tended, and are still inadequate. 



The new arrivals of the spring did not stay long in 

 Denver. The snow still lay deep on the mountains ; and 

 very, almost unprecedented^, deep in the regions beyond 

 the main divide. That was an insuperable obstacle to 



E respecting. But the new corners, eager for their silver 

 unting, could not bear to defer long their start for ttie 

 mountains. Every now and then there passed through 

 the streets some canvas-topped wagon, drawn by its two 

 mules, bound for the Gunnison or BreckenridgeJ or what 

 not. The untanned faces of the uninitiated prospector 

 could be seen under the canvas, the wagon was brand 

 new, and the shovels and axes that could be seen sticking 

 out had plainly never been used. Less frequently could 

 be seen the little " jack?," two or three together, with 

 packs of great size on their backs — all bound for the 

 mountains. So, in a few weeks, most of the thousands 

 of prospectors had gone. I have no idea that they will 

 all get rich. There are but few prospectors who ever 

 have got rich. But those to whom they will sell their 

 prospects will get rich, for there is not the slightest 

 doubt in the world that they will find prospects to sell. 

 There is no humbug about Colorado as a place where 

 there are large mineral deposits. There are plenty to be 

 found. They have to be uncovered ; they have then to 

 be developed. After that capital is to be put into them 

 at their true value ; then they are to be worked — not 

 mismanaged, and not to be stolen from, and they will, 

 and the State will, yield riches to an enormous extent. 

 But many times there will bo suro to be errors of judg- 

 ment. What I mean to say is, that the New York 

 mining market is not a true indicator of the character of 

 mining interests here; that there are good mines here, 

 each of which has its proper price ; and that, despite the 

 depression in New York, the mineral richness of this 

 State is being rapidly developed. 



The business of silver mining in Colorado has a system 

 about it which is probably unknown to persons in the 

 Bast who have not, by a visit to these regions, been an 

 eye-witness to it. By silver mining I do not mean the 

 mere working of a mine which has been ascertained to be 

 good, has been developed, and which contributes its 

 regular monthly quota to the United States Mints. That, 

 to be sure, is real mining, but what I mean by silver 

 mining at large is not only the ultimate working of a 

 mine, but its previous discovery, development and sale to 

 the persons who do ultimately work it. All these are 

 regular stages in the growth of a mine ; they are the 

 successive chapters of its history. A word about this 

 regular growth will throw some light which will perhaps 

 be desirable to some of your readers on the subject of 

 acquiring a paying mine. 



In the first place, as to the discovery of mines, one who 

 was not familiar with this corner of the earth would be 

 surprised to see the number of prospect holes, or " holes," 

 as they are here called, which show, or are expected to 

 show, mineral. When a person stands in a mining camp 

 and looks about him he will see the mountain sides on 

 every hand plentifully dotted with heaps of fresh, 

 yellowish earth. They each indicate a ''hole" ten feet 

 deep or more, and about flv9 feet in diameter, and look, 

 at a distance, more like scattered rifle pits than anything 

 else. These prospect holes will extend for miles about 

 the camp. When it is taken into consideration how many 

 mining camps, large and small, there are in this State, 

 one can get a faint idea of the number of holes there are 

 for sale. It is not every hole which, at ten feet, can 

 show mineral. Someof them do, but with the majority of 

 them greater development is necessary to strike ore. 

 Ten feet is the minimum depth to which holes are sunk, 

 in the first instance ; not that there is any particular 

 virtue in ten feet of depth, only that is supposed to repre- 

 sent work worth a hundred dollars, which amount of 

 work is needed annually to keep the title to the claim 

 good. A ten foot hole, indeed, does not of iteslf entitle 

 the digger to locate and record his claim so asjto make it 

 his. By law, he has first to make a discovery of mineral. 

 But the* law is generally disregarded in this respect ; and 

 claims are often staked off and recorded on a mere 

 digging, without the discovery. The disadvantage of 

 this method to the locator is that, by law, it permits 

 another to come and prospect on his claim. The law is 

 at the back of the intruder ; and, so far, he is secure. 

 But the sentiment of the mining camps is against him ; 

 and his procedure is called claim-jumping. The likeli- 

 hood is that if he persists in it he will either be shot or 

 hangsd, or "runout" of town. The mining camp is 

 probably right and humane (regarding the locator) in its 

 feeling, yet it is no good to a young camp to have all the 

 country about it, while as yet Eastern capital has not 

 came in to develop the discovery holes. The people at 

 camp who engage in mining have, perhaps, spent all 

 their money in digging the shallow holes. New coming 

 prospectors can find no place to dig. The camp has not 

 yet attained celebrity enough to attract capitalists, and 

 there it lies stagnant for months, to the detriment of its 

 inhabitants — although it may be a very deserving camp 

 —until the capitalists come in; whereas, if the claims on 

 which no actual discovery had been made, but on which 



the owner had sunk his last dollar, wore open to be pros- 

 pected on by fresh prospectors who had money, the camp 

 would develop more rapidly, 



This brings us to the second stage — of sales by prospec- 

 tors. Thesa men seldom get rich. One reason is, that if 

 one of them ever gets money ho almost immediately 

 squanders it ; but the fact is that they seldom get much. 

 They make a. discovery or sink several ton-foot holes. The. 

 operation— the hunting for and selecting a spot, and the 

 work— takes lime, When it is tli rough, or goon after, 

 the prospector has reached the end of his purse. He then 

 wants to sell his property. But Eastern buyers are not 

 yet in the camp. If there are any buyers at all they are 

 Western men, who have conic prepared to pay only low 

 prices. A sale perhaps is made for a few hundred, or a 

 thousand or two dollars. The prospector takes the cash 

 and goes off for the new fields, the well-known "biggest 

 thing yet," which is as shifting as the pot of gold at the 

 base of the rainbow. In the new fields he goes through 

 the process over again. So h is life is spent. Occasionally 

 there is one who keeps cool, has luck, and prospers ; but 

 most of them rove and gather no moss, and love the 

 change, excitement, hope and independence. In this way 

 the mines get into the hands of the cheap buyers. 



We now come to the third stage— the period of partial 

 and preliminary development of the mine. The cheap 

 buyer has to pay something lor his cheap purchase. One 

 great reason why he has been able to buy cheap is be- 

 cause the property is wholly or comparatively unde- 

 veloped. It may be that the hole he has bought already 

 shows mineral. ' It may be that it shows none at all, but 

 shows indications that mineral will be reached a little 

 lower down, or is in the near neighborhood of some hole 

 that does show good ore. The cheap buyer, in short, 

 takes his chances. He buys an uncertainty. Maybe the 

 hole will prove absolutely worthless ; maybe it will 

 prove a second " Robert D. Leo," and maybe he will be 

 able to sell it again at not more than If 500 advance. At 

 all events, when ho has bought, he generally goes to work 

 on a moderate scale to develop the purchase. He sinks 

 deeper, or runs in a tunnel. If he finds encouragement, 

 and especially if he takes out some ore which will pay as 

 it comes out, for the development that produces it, he 

 will develop his property pretty thoroughly. If the 

 purchase turns out badly he may abandon it entirely 

 (and some man a year after may take it up and strike rich 

 ore in twenty-four hours) ; or he may, as I have said, 

 sell out at a slight advance ; but if the development is 

 quite favorable the mine then reaches its fourth stage- 

 that is, it is put on the market to Eastern purchasers. 



Of mines at this stage I need not speak at length. I 

 wrote something about them in my last letter. It is 

 undeniable that they have been made the subject of 

 swindling operations. Rarely they have been sold above 

 their true value ; oftener they have been sold at or below 

 tlier true value to men who have then stocked them at 

 far more than the mines could bear, and sold the stock 

 for more than it was worth. That business has probably 

 seen its best days— fortunately for the East and West 

 both. But mauy, many sales have been made to discreet, 

 prudent, investigating Eastern men, of mines at, and 

 generally below, their real value; and these purchasers 

 work the mine to their profit. 



The fifth stage is when the mine gets into the hands of 

 these ultimate owners and is systematically worked. At 

 this point there is as much need of care lis ever. Many a 

 mine, in the older days failed to pay, solely because of a 

 dishonest or incapable superintendent, while the same 

 mine, in fresh hands, has afterwards paid handsomely. 



I have tried to sketch, briefly, the general history of 

 mines, successful and unsuccessful. Of course there 

 have been and will be found exceptions to this general 

 description, but probably nine out of ten of the prospect 

 holes of Colorado follow the course I have described. 

 When one sees the great number of "holes" there are in 

 the State, one only wonders that so many are valuable. 



Lex. 

 — i » i »■ 



TRAPPING WILD PIGEONS. 



CORBY, Pa,, May \Mh. 



ON the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, ninety-five 

 miles from Erie, in the midst of a vast forest, re- 

 poses the little village of Kane. Without architectural 

 beauty, and lacking "in many of the comforts which are 

 to be found in most modern towns, Kane nevertheless 

 presents to certain classes of people attractions rare, and 

 valuable. The village is situated upon the highest point 

 of land on the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, and the 

 clear, pure air thus insured at all seasons is productive 

 of robust appetites and correspondingly perfect health. 

 This advantage alone is sufficient to draw a large number 

 of Philadelphians to Kane every summer, and with it 

 must be considered the fact before mentioned, that upon 

 every side for miles extends an unbroken forest, with its 

 innumerable charms for the lover of nature. There is 

 yet one inducement to pleasure seekers uiunentioned, 

 one which comes with regular irregularity and one whose 

 various phenomena are interesting and wonderful alike 

 to the scientist and to the unpretending student of na- 

 ture— the immense flock of wild pigeons which nests 

 about once every five years in the vicinity of Kane. 

 There are three such flocks in the United States— one. in 

 Michigan, another in Missouri and the third and largest, 

 that with which we have to deal, in Pennsylvania. 

 These flocks drift about from season to season following 

 the crop of nuts and rarelv going beyond the boundaries 

 of their own States. The woods iu the vicinity of Kane 

 are largely beech, except in the valleys or marshes where 

 hemlock prevails aud the immediate cause of the birds' 

 nesting where they have this year was an immense crop 

 of beech nuts last fall. 



I could not learn how, but certain it is that in some 

 way the birds learn the location of the richest harvest 

 and are always on hand at the right time to enjoy it. 

 Last fall a few pigeons were observed in the woods near 

 Kane, and the " old settlers," with an air of confident 

 knowledge peculiar to old settlers and editors, said that 

 with the spring would come the flock. The few stray 

 birds remained in the neighborhood all winter, and dur- 

 ing March the prophecy was verified by the appearance 

 of "countless millions of pigeons. 



The birds built their nests over a territory of about 

 twenty square miles, and began hatching April 1st, Then- 

 presence in such vast numbers soon drew together a 

 crowd.of gunners and othere bent on destruction as a 



jht 



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inquiry at 



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and at (> 



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easj rid- 





ay*. Our 





tore thafa 





olid wall 



means of enjoyment or of gaining a livelihood, and from 

 that day to this a ceaseless slaughter lias continued! 



We reached Kane at, ":30 p.ji. 

 tions at the Thompson House, w 

 yet opened its doors to summer I 

 the Kane House resulted differei, 

 there. We were up early the m 

 o'clock were on our way to the " l 

 ing carriage drawn by a team of 

 road lav through dense woods, an 

 fifteen feet wide. On each side tl 



nearly a hundred feet into the air. The grandeur of 

 that still morning scene, the invigorating air I 

 pect of a long and pleasant ride, all the surrounding cir- 

 cumstances tending to exhilaration in the highes d 



However, "it is a long lane that has no torning," and 

 after traversing twenty -one miles, the driver ch-liveicr! 

 himself of the information that me nesting ground had 

 been attained. 



Only a few pigeons were in sight, flying from tree to 

 tree, but the trees were full of nests. In a few moments 

 a gun was fired in the immediate vicinity, and instantly 

 hundreds of birds became visible. Jt'is unlawful to 

 shoot birds within a mile of the roost, or to trap them 

 anywhere, yet the law is broken in both ways continu- 

 ally and with Impunity. The nesting ground is from 

 one and one-half to two and one-half miles wide and 

 about twelve miles long, and in this space and vicinity 

 there are several hundred gunners and about eight hun- 

 dred trappers constantly engaged in slaughtering the 

 helpless birds. One hundred ami fifty barrels, each con- 

 taining JJ50 dead birds, and as many Bratea, holairrg from. 

 six to eight dozens of live ones, are shipped every day 

 from the different towns within a day's journey of the 

 roost. Such work as this iB not only wicked, but it. is in 

 the highest degree foolish, If the trappers and liunt»rs 

 would remain outside of the roost and take the birds in 

 their frequent flights to and from home, they would be a 

 source of revenue all summer. As it is, the natural re- 

 sult of the birds' departing must come, and that in a 

 very short time. Indeed, the trappers a.dmit that the 

 birds are already beginning to leave, and Frank and I 

 were a source of suspicion to these law-break -r, 

 had no guns and exhibited no evidences of legitimate 

 business. We had expected this, however, and had 

 brought a pocket full of cheap cigars; a small number 

 of these, judiciously distributed, had the desired effect, 

 and a few only of the many trappers with whom we 

 conversed failed to become talkative under the influence 

 of the weed. 



The first requisite in the pursuance of the trapper's art 

 is a stool pigeon. A bird is selected while young and 

 and made to perch upon her owner's linger. He is then 

 raised about six feet from the ground, and the finger 

 gradually lowered. Finding his support sinking, the 

 candidate uses his wings and flutters or hovers to the 

 ground. Being again raised, he again, hovers to the 

 earth. This training is continued for weeks and some- 

 times months, and is not discontinued until the habit Of 

 hovering becomes a part of the bird's nature. A net 

 about ten by forty feet is procured and one side fastened 

 to stakes in the earth, so that it wid flop over— if you 

 will allow such an inelegant expression— like a trap door. 

 Close to the net, and where it will rest when " sprung," 

 is spread buckwheat, or other grain, and salt, for flie 

 birds are as fond of salt as a deer of a salt lick. 

 stool pigeon is then fastened to a movable platforn 

 by. The net is fastened to bent saplings in such a 

 ner that by pulling a string it will be thr 

 bait. The trappers lie concealed in a " 

 hut built of hemlock boughs, and await re 

 a flock appears, the stool pigeon is made 

 the birds, thinking he is free like tl 



The 



nan- 



::>wn over the 

 jow-house," a 

 suits. When 

 to hover, aud 

 telves, and in 



• then 

 Live 



search of edibles, light, and soon find 

 themselves and freedom. Tho prisoners are p!ac< 

 coop until a wagon load has been captured, and ar 

 taken to the nearest express office for shipment. 

 birds have been as high as |S per dozen, but are now sell- 

 ing at sixty cents to seventy-five cents. The average 

 price during the season of five weeks has been about iSl. 

 The business of trapping is therefore a lucrative one. 

 Two years ago two trappers made $5,000 in two months, 

 and Irvin Kitelinger and Lyle Dicksou have so far this 

 season trapped more than thirteen hundred dozen. A 

 large proportion of the trappers live in Ohio and follow 

 the birds wherever they roost from year to year. 



But trappers and gunners are not the onlv enemies 

 with which the birds find it necessary to eoi 

 weeks ago, just before tho "squabs," or 

 could fly, about two hundred Cornplantcr 

 their "reservation" above Warren, tuid mo 

 baggage, upon the pigeon roost, They 

 and during that time cut down tho 

 order to get the squabs. When the m 

 they left the ground blue with dead birds, luu 

 twice as many as they knew how to disposi 

 male birds are called " toms, " the females, " h 

 the young, without regard to sex, "squabs." 



id. 



Three 



• Indiana left 



oi ed, hag and 



.ained a v ( eek, 



da of trees in 



i departed. 



!:■ killei 

 ■ of. The 



•ns ; " and 



Tli 



■y 



very prolific, raising several broods in a year. But two 

 eggs are laid in a nest and the young are genei lly 

 opposite sex. Incubation requires about two id 



— now here is a point for you, Susan B. —the torn sita on 

 the nest nearly as much as the hen. Tho squahs ai le 

 to take care of themselves in ten days f 

 leave the roost for food and return at irregular interval 

 but the mature birds have their unvarying period j 

 flight. The hunters take advantage of this, and po ting 

 themselves on a lull anywhere within five or even ten 

 miles of the nesting, shoot the birds by hundred 

 lly away for food or home to feud their young. The 

 nesting is in Forest County, twenty-one mi] anoul i 

 of Kane and sixteen miles southeast of .Sheffield, To 

 those desiring to reach tho ground I would advise going 

 direct to Kane, which, although further from the nesting 

 than Sheffield, would be preferable for several reasons 

 Good hotel accommodations can be had for $] ,51 1] ' 

 and a good livery stable is located in the village, A 

 team and carriage, together with a competent guide. 

 may be procured for $5 per day. ' h .••. | ;. 



tii 



