Part 9

There was a picture of a crushing mill in full operation, and there was all the machinery portrayed on that parchment for running a first-class mine. A dozen of us were invited to meet the speculator the next day in a cosy little office where we could see specimens from the mines.

The speculator was there at the appointed hour. We came, we saw, and _he_ conquered: there was a fortune before us.

“Gentlemen,” said the speculator, “this is the finest mine within forty miles of Frogtown.” Frogtown was the name of the city nearest to the great mine; I believe he called it the Revenue mine—good name, that, to enterprising men who wanted to increase their revenue.

[Sidenote: A GLITTERING BAIT.]

“Gentlemen,” he continued, “before this mine was discovered a good many people around Frogtown talked of moving away, but as soon as it was opened nobody wanted to leave. The population has increased a thousand per cent. in three months, and it will continue to increase quite as fast; in a year from now we will have a population of fifty thousand, and we can employ three thousand men at least in and around the Revenue. I won’t sell the whole of it, gentlemen; you have not money enough in New York to buy the whole of this mine; but what I want is to raise money to develop it. There is a mine there worth a hundred millions of dollars, at the very least; but you see it may be worth millions of dollars, and at the same time it will want money to develop it.”

“I don’t exactly understand,” said I, “why you came all the way to New York to get money if the mine is so rich.”

“Why, the thing is very plain,” said he; “the people that came there have a use for all their money. Money is readily worth twenty-five per cent. a month at Frogtown, and it is hard to get it at that; men can do so much better there.

“I have in mind, now, a man who came there over six months ago with two thousand dollars; he has invested it in such a way that it is returning him four thousand dollars a month. Any man who knows anything about the business there, will readily put in his money where it will make him a fortune: it is the best place in the world for investing money.”

“That does not answer the question,” said another: “why can’t you get the money in some place near Frogtown, from people who know about your mine, and know how rich it is? and, any way, if you have so valuable a mine, why do you want to raise money?”

The Frogtown adventurer smiled a sarcastic smile, as if amused at the ignorance of the questioner. The smile was brief, but convincing, and gave full weight to the statement which followed it.

“Suppose now,” said he, “that you are in a house where you had a clear title to anything you discover. Going through the cellar of the house, you find an iron chest: you strike that chest, and you are sure you hear money rattle inside of it. You attempt to lift it, but find it too heavy: now what do you want to do? Plainly you want to open the chest; but it is firmly locked and is very solid. You look around for some implement with which you can break it open, but nothing of the sort can be found. There may be other men standing around, but nobody among them has any tools that will help you. You look all through the house, but not a tool can be discovered: plainly you must go out of that house to find something that will help you to get at your money.

“Now, that is exactly the fix that we are in: our mine is the money chest, Frogtown is the cellar, and Nevada is the house. To open that mine, to make the shafts and to get the machinery, we must have money. The silver is there, plenty of it; but before we can put it into the market we must dig it out and refine it, and that is exactly the position. Your money chest will be of no use to you until it is opened, neither is the mine of any use until it is at work. You might have a property worth a million of dollars and not have a shilling to buy your breakfast with.”

[Sidenote: PLAUSIBILITY OF A SWINDLER.]

He repeated that winning smile, and we were convinced.

He continued, “I will not sell the whole mine for all the money in New York, but I am ready to put it into a stock company, and sell half of it for sixty thousand dollars; and as soon as the money is paid in, we can go to work and develop the mine. It will return you, gentlemen, a hundred per cent. a month on your investment, and it will begin to pay dividends within three months, and the dividends, gentlemen, will be paid in coin, dollar for dollar.”

This was better still; gold was then at a high premium, or, what amounted to the same thing, greenbacks were at a heavy discount. Twelve hundred per cent. a year in coin was something not to be despised. We thought we ought to get more for our investment, but were willing to begin at that rate.

We made up the company, and were only allowed to put in one thousand dollars each. The speculator was a philanthropist: he wished to benefit as many as possible of his fellow-men; he would not consent that so great a blessing should be enjoyed by a few. “I want,” said he, “as many men as possible to have an interest is this matter. I want to show everybody that I am dealing fairly and honorably; and to satisfy you that everything is correct, I have plenty of references.”

[Sidenote: IN ON THE GROUND FLOOR.]

He mentioned several gentlemen more or less well known.

Among them was one who, by a lucky circumstance, was in the very building where we were assembled. He was sent for, and came to our meeting.

He confirmed all that had been said by the rosy-lipped speculator; in fact, he confirmed a great deal more than had been said by the latter. Our thoughts, as we listened to him, were like those of the Queen of Sheba when she looked at the bank account of King Solomon.

We hastened to pay our money and secure our shares of the greatest silver mine of this or any other age. In a few days we obtained the certificates of our stock. They were beautiful specimens of the lithographer’s art, and nearly as large as a first-class morning newspaper. Of course there could be no doubt of the genuineness of an undertaking that was set forth on certificates like these.

Time passed on; that is to say, a few weeks passed on. We visited the office of the company every day or two, and heard nothing but the most glowing accounts. We heard daily of unfortunate and grief-stricken individuals who had been left out in the cold, who were seeking frantically to obtain some of the Revenue stock, but found, to their sorrow, that none was to be had. Each of us had invested his one thousand dollars, and was not allowed to invest more. Those miserable beings who had not been in on the ground floor, and were anxious to buy, were offering,—so we were told,—a hundred per cent. advance for shares, but none of us would sell. We scorned to double our money when we should soon begin to receive every month an amount equal to our investment. Never did a bull-dog cling with more tenacity to the under jaw of another bull-dog than we clung to the stock of the Revenue.

[Sidenote: MORE MONEY.]

But soon our picture of coming wealth began to lose its brightness. Our first dividend was an Irish one. As soon as the sixty thousand dollars were paid in, we were told that the sixty thousand dollars had gone for the purchase of the mine; that is to say, our half interest in it. Thirty thousand dollars were now needed for the purchase of a mill. Of what use would be a mine without a mill?

We admitted the force of this reasoning, and, not without much grumbling, we raised the money to purchase the mill. With the innocence of toothless and milk-imbibing infants we supposed that the purchase of a mill would put our mine in a paying condition.

The mill was bought, and then we were told that money was required for transporting it from San Francisco to Frogtown. About that time I began to see a hole through the ladder, and concluded there was a large-sized cat in that beautiful meal tub. I determined to send no more good money after bad money, and refused to pay any more assessments.

Some of my friends, however, who had gone into the enterprise, determined to stick to it. They paid the money on their share, or as much as was required for the transportation of the mill. When this was done, there was a call for more money to purchase a steam engine. Then the confounded engine had to be transported from San Francisco to Frogtown. More money. Then a mill site had to be purchased. More money. Then the mill site must be prepared for setting up the mill and machinery. More money. Next, the mill must be set up. More money. Next, a wood ranche must be bought; you could not run a mill without fuel. More money. Next, a shaft must be opened. More money. Next, a road must be built from the mine to the mill. More money. Next, chemicals must be bought for extracting the silver from the crushed ore. More money. And so it went on.

One after another my friends dropped out of the enterprise, and if they had not dropped out, I believe that every month would have brought forth some new device for tapping their pockets. Every one of them who stuck to the speculation longer than I did, became as financially dry as the middle of the Desert of Sahara.

“I’ll tell you what it is,” said one of them; “I have speculated in this silver mine all summer, and now I must wear nankeen pants and gaiter shoes all winter. A sitting of draw poker with one of those Mississippi fellows, who ‘does not know anything about the game,’ but somehow cleans you out before you leave the table, is nothing compared to speculating in a silver mine.”

I fancy that a great many men could tell a story very much like this. The game was cautiously and carefully played. We were baited with that very gaudy fly which only allowed us to put in a thousand dollars each. We did not see the point at first, but we saw it afterwards.

When a man has invested a small sum of money he is more likely to let the swindler go unprosecuted that if his investment is a large one. Had we invested five, ten, or twenty thousand each in the enterprise, according to our financial condition, we should have devoted time, and trouble, and money to the prosecution of the speculator and his fellow-conspirators; but as our investment was comparatively small, we allowed the matter to drop. And then we were more readily deluded than if a larger sum had been demanded.

Swindling in mining speculations has become an exact science, and to carry on a swindle successfully requires a good knowledge of human nature, and of the expense of lawsuits.

[Sidenote: COLLAPSE OF THE REVENUE.]

The Revenue silver mine never paid a dollar to anybody, except to the man who sold it. A small quantity of machinery, and a steam engine, of about four dog power, were transported to Frogtown and set up; but they were seized afterwards, and held for a claim of the San Francisco iron merchant.

A shaft was sunk—that is, a hole was dug—about six feet deep, where there was no more prospect of finding silver than in the back yard of a Fourth Ward boarding-house. The deepest and most profitable shaft of the Revenue silver mine was sunk in the pockets of those who bought it.

As for the speculator, I believe he subsequently died in Nevada. As John Phœnix would say, “He was one day addressing a large audience, and when his speech was concluded, he dropped from the end of the wagon where he was standing, and the rope which fastened him to the tree being too short, he fell, and broke his neck.” At any rate, I saw his name one day in a paragraph from a territorial newspaper, which read about as follows:—

[Sidenote: A NECK-TIE SOCIABLE.]

“John Smith, equine abductor, was treated to a neck-tie sociable yesterday morning at sunrise, under the largest tree that could be found in the vicinity. The boys got up a nice surprise party for him.”

The day of mining speculation of this sort has not passed away, but the capitalists of New York and other eastern cities have had their eyes opened, and are not so easily taken in as they were of old.

Some of the enterprising speculators have transferred the scene of their operations to Europe, and are making very profitable shafts and tunnels in the money bags of the capitalists of the old world. I know some of them who have gone there with mining claims, which they have represented to be worth millions of dollars, though not really worth ten cents, and they have returned to America with a goodly amount of capital.

I once heard one of these gentlemen tell his experience with a heavy capitalist in London. “The old fellow,” said he, “was very cautious. I had a talk with him two or three times, and finally brought him some magnificent specimens. He looked at them very quietly, and then asked,—

“‘How much of this stuff is there?’

“‘O,’ said I, carelessly, “any quantity of it. There are five or six thousand tons of it in sight—right on the surface of the ground. The vein is ten feet wide. We have a claim five hundred yards long, and we think it is at least two thousand feet deep, and the farther down you go, the richer it gets.’

“The old fellow took the specimens once more, and I saw his eyes glisten. I knew then that I had him. The next day I sold him the mine, and got the money. Once I had got it, you bet I took a train for Paris; and I have not been in London since.”

VIII.

MINES AND MINING ENTERPRISES OF NORTH AFRICA.

MINING AMONG THE MOORS, BERBERS, AND ARABS—THE FRENCH CONQUEST—GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS—MINERAL WEALTH OF ALGERIA—A WONDERFUL IRON MINE—_MOKTU-EL-HADID_—HOW THE MINE IS WORKED—VISIT TO A MOUNTAIN OF SALT—A REMARKABLE FORMATION—ARTESIAN WELLS IN THE DESERT—SCENE AT THE OPENING OF ONE—EFFECTS ON THE PALM TREE—A PROPOSED INLAND SEA—THE SUEZ CANAL AND ITS HISTORY—HOW IT WAS MADE—ADVANTAGES TO THE WORLD’S COMMERCE.

Northern Africa is a country of great mineral wealth, but it has been only slightly developed. The Moors, Berbers, Arabs, and other inhabitants of that region have never been famous for their mining industry. They have very little knowledge of geology, and understand the working of only a few metals. Most of the gold and silver which they make into filigree and other jewelry comes from Europe; in fact, they have no mines of these metals that are worth mentioning, and when their supply from Europe has been cut off by war or for other reasons, they were obliged to bring it by a long journey from Timbuctoo and other points to the South. The Moors that occupied Spain took back with them, at the time of their expulsion, a knowledge of mining, but they seem to have lost it almost completely in the course of two or three generations.

Among the native people of Northern Africa, the Kabyles, in Algeria, seem to possess more mining knowledge than any other tribe. They have been quite industrious in working the iron mines which abound in their country, and many of their processes display considerable ingenuity. They are excellent workers in iron and steel, and some of their knives, sword-blades, and other tools and weapons, are of a fine quality, and admit of a high polish and finish. Their gun-barrels have long been famous throughout Africa, and the terrible execution of which they are capable has been practically demonstrated on many battle-fields.

Down to 1830, with the exception of an occasional brief period, no part of Northern Africa had been occupied by any European power. Spain had several times occupied small portions of Morocco and Algeria, and the English and French had shown their force by descents upon the coast, but none of these changes had more than a few years’ duration. But in 1830, a new state of affairs began.

[Sidenote: FRENCH ARMIES INVADE EGYPT.]

France was exasperated by the depredations of Algerine pirates and the perfidy of the Bey of Algiers. She sent an expedition, which landed a few miles from Algiers, and in less than a fortnight the Bey was a prisoner on his way into exile, and his city, with an immense accumulation of treasure, fell into the hands of the invaders.

The French went to Algeria to stay, and they have carried out their intention. They sent their armies to overrun and occupy the country, and for years kept up an energetic warfare, until the Arabs were conquered. There have been occasional insurrections, some of them of considerable magnitude, but all have been unsuccessful, and there is at present no power in Algeria which can drive out the French. They have created harbors, have opened railways, have made hundreds of miles of wagon-roads, have introduced new modes of agriculture, planted forests, and taken many other means necessary to a permanent occupation. The country is progressing rapidly, and at present few of the wealthy and prosperous Arabs would be willing to exchange the new state of affairs for the old. There are many natives who would like to see the French expelled, but they are not among the most influential classes.

One of the first things which attracted the attention of the French, was the question of mining. In the very first year of their occupation, a geological survey of the country was ordered, and a corps of engineers was sent from France for that purpose.

Their report was of the most favorable character. They found copper, lead, silver, zinc, mercury—bath cinnabar, and sulphide—and in several places they discovered gold, but not in paying quantities. Many concessions for working these mines have been granted; some of them have been profitable, while others have been the reverse, owing chiefly to the lack of means of transportation. The steady increase in the number of railways and wagon-roads is doing much toward the development of these mines, and rendering profitable the working of those which have thus far been managed at a loss.

[Sidenote: EXPLORATIONS OF THE IRON MINES.]

But the greatest mineral wealth of Algeria is in its iron mines, which abound all along the coast, and so near to it that the matter of transportation is of no great consequence. The ore is of a remarkably good quality, as it contains very little sulphur, arsenic, and phosphorus, which frequently render otherwise valuable material almost worthless. Much of it contains a great deal of manganese, which is very useful in smelting and reducing the metal, and renders it unnecessary to supply that article in making the flux. The ore is so rich that it pays to transport it to England, even though it comes in competition with the iron ores of that country.

The principal use of this Algerian iron is for manufacture into Bessemer steel, and it is said to be vastly superior to all other iron for this purpose. The advance in iron and steel in the past few years has been greatly to the advantage of the iron miners in Algeria, and the most of them are making their fortunes with great rapidity.

One of the richest mines in the country is near Bone, in the Province of Constantine. During a journey through Algeria, I paid a visit to that place, and embraced the opportunity to investigate the iron question.

The mine is nothing more or less than a mountain of iron. It is known in Arabic as _Moktu-el-Hadid_, and was worked very slightly by the Kabyles, previous to the French occupation. The place is nineteen miles from Bone, and a railway connects the mine with the harbor. It is so arranged that the ore, which is piled into the cars at the mine, can be dumped into the holds of the ships in the harbor.

At first glance, you would not suppose this mountain to be of any special value. It looks not unlike the famous Iron Mountain of Missouri, but is more irregular, and is not covered in the same way with trees and bushes. But as you examine closer, you see that the mountain is no common affair.

[Sidenote: DESCRIPTION OF THE VALUE OF THE MINES.]

In some places, the mineral crops up above the surface of the ground, and all that is necessary is to blast it away and cart it off. In other places, it appears in veins which are always very thick, and in a slanting position; they rest upon beds of mica-schist, and are covered with a layer of indurated clay, mingled with nodules of iron ore. The ore contains sixty-four per cent. of pure iron; the annual exportation is about half a million tons, and sometimes exceeds that amount. The profit, clear and clean after deducting every thing, is about half a million dollars, or one dollar on each ton of ore taken out. The owners of the mine have a valuable property, and are not inclined to sell it, or to take in partners.

There are other iron mines in Algeria, but none of them are so large or so profitable as the one I have just described. The labor is performed partly by Arab workmen, and partly by Frenchmen. The Arabs are very largely employed, and are quite industrious and reliable. The Kabyles are considered the best and can generally command a trifle more wages than the men of the other tribes for the same work. They come to the cities in search of employment, and after accumulating a certain sum of money, return home contented. Their wants are few, and they live very cheaply.

While I was in Algeria, I made a journey south to the Desert of Sahara. In the desert proper no mines of iron, gold, or silver are to be found, but there are some curious mines of salt, which have been known to the Arabs for thousands of years.

One day the guide called the attention of my companion and myself to a mountain of a peculiar bluish appearance, unlike those that surrounded it. Like all the other mountains in the desert, it had not a particle of vegetation upon it, and we could see no difference between that and the rest, except in its color. I asked what it was.

“It is the famous mountain of salt,” said the guide.

[Sidenote: HOW THE ARABS OBTAIN THEIR SALT.]

This information caused us to look again, and more intently. Herodotus, the Greek historian, who flourished more than two thousand years ago, traveled through this country, and describes five mountains of salt. This which was before us was one of the five.

As we came nearer, we could see that it presented a rough and broken surface, and had evidently been thrown up by some violent convulsion of the earth. That it is the result of an upheaval, is shown by the presence, at the top, of certain layers of sand and marine shells which are found lower down in the plain.

The salt stands in pillars and columns, and in great masses many tons in weight. Salt enough to pickle all the beef in the world could be obtained from this mountain, and then there would be enough left for the preservation of the mutton, pork, and other meats that need the aid of strong brine to keep them properly, and even then there would be a great deal of salt to spare.

During the winter, the rain loosens the blocks and causes crevices to form in the mass of salt rock. The Arabs go there in the spring and break away these blocks by the aid of iron bars; then they knock them to pieces with large hammers, and thus get them into proper shape for transportation. For thousands of years, they have thus been at work on this mountain, taking all they want, but the supply is not by any means exhausted. The quarries are not constantly worked, as the demand for the salt is not very great. The mountain is so far from the coast that it does not pay to carry the salt there, and consequently the demand is purely local.