(By Jack Bell.)

Rawhide, Nev., February 22, 1909. - Rawhide was presented with many good things last week. More high grade discoveries, more low grade discoveries, and another mill added to the list of seemingly interminable surprises, constitutes the bulk of the news for the past week. The Mint again came forward with another of its startling bonanza discoveries; the Little Four lease on Bethania estate was a close second, and the Victor people are ordering machinery for a mill to treat the Victor ores.

The strike in the Mint is the richest and most important strike it has ever made. This discovery was made in "milk" quartz, in the solid formation and many nuggets worth 25 and 30 cents were panned. The shoot at the 300-foot level has been found pushed about 10 feet to the west, at which point it was found to be perfectly in place. The screening, middlings and general ore now show an average of high grade ore, and dividends from this famous lease are now an immediate prospective.

The leasers on the Little Four have been breaking and sacking ore steadily for some time. Their ore-house was completed over a week ago, and now they are able to make a better separation with double screens. Sinking was commenced on the ore that was found near the mouth of the adit tunnel, and the shaft had not progressed more than five feet before ore was broken into that was alive with free-gold and many specimens the like of which the camp has never seen were extracted. Everything was dumped into the bins as it came out of the hold. No assays could be obtained on account of the famine of test fluxes now obtraining in general throughout the camp. These essentials are expected in every day, and it is expected a genuine surprise will be recorded when the result of the first assays taken on this ore is announced. The ore house is nowuncomfortably congested and a shipment will probably be made some day this week to the new Weiss mill on the flat below town, which it is expected will begin pounding on ore the middle of this week. The main drift south into the hard dike has been advanced about a foot during the past week, where, as expected the vein that showed such sensational values on the surface has commenced to come in. Beautiful stringers of quartz that pan nicely are showing through the breast of the drift, and if the values continue to increase as they have the last few feet, when the assay material arrives it is expected that figures higher than shown on the surface will be shown, which, by the way will have to be way up. If everything turns out as it is now figured the Little Four will jar the credence of the conservatives. The next week ought to disclose remarkable history in mine-making.

The Queen Bethania lease on Bethania estate is also rapidly making history. A drift has been cut some 25 feet along the vein that crops all the way to the Little Four lease. The foot of the vein has changed from an iron streak shot through with stringers of quartz into a beautiful pure quartz liberally impregnated with free gold and yields wonderful pannings. The other iron-quartz stringers through the vein are rapidly changing into the same material and it now looks as if the whole vein is fixing to make into five feet of solid quartz. This is the same vein the Little Four leasers are developing the other side of Bell hill, about 375 feet to the south and has been opened up by trenching the entire distance. The vein pans the whole way, and is the longest proven vein of the district.

Two teaming outfits are now in commission hauling ore from the Mint lease to the new Weiss mill. This will be the first ore to be treated. As soon as the present supply of this ore has been hauled, it is likely that the Little Four leasers will begin moving their ore to the mill, and hope to have the honor of having their ore treated next after the Mint's. Many other leasers are patiently, or rather impatiently waiting for the Weiss mill to begin operations. In many cases with leasers it has been a hand-to-mouth existence and a scanty bacon and bean diet for moths. They are now able to see daylight and with it quick returns from the ore they have in sight. To those not familiar with conditions here this new feature cannot be appreciated. Every one has known the scarcity of money of late and many have felt it, probably none so much as the poor leaser. In many cases he found it an utter impossibility to impart his confidence to capital, with the result that he was left entirely to his own resources. Where he had a partner the latter was frequently able to find employment with the more favored and in this way keep development going forward on the lease. Now everything will be changed. The leaser may extract his ore, load it on wagons, send it to the mill in much the same way the farmer hauls his wheat to the mill or elevator, where the ore is sampled and a check handed on the spot for 90 per cent of the value as shown in the sampling.

The King-Heisner mill, which is rapidly being constructed half a mile below the center of town, will offer the same terms to owners of ore. The road to the mill has been practically completed, and construction in all departments is going ahead with remarkable rapidity.

The Murray lease is working 19 men, breaking about 50 tons daily of ore averaging $43.00 per ton. The Murray mill has been consuming 30 tons taily almsot since it was started. This mill, while not equipped with cyanide tanks is making rhe remarkable saving of 90 per cent. The Murray people now have 30 tons of concentrates on hand that will average $310.00 per ton.

The Victor lease continues to block out an abundance of high grade milling ore in anticipation of early milling facilities. I.H. Cook, general maanger of the Victor will leave at once for Denver to complete the purchase of the necessary machinery for their mill.

Messrs. Kline and Knight, who recently purchased at sheriff's sale the old Gates mill on the flat below town, arrived in Rawhide this afternoon. They will at once commence the work of remodeling the entire plant and the installation of the machinery reuisite to an entirely different milling process.

Wagons laden with the first installment of the 50-ton shipment the Queen company is making from the Old Kearns No. 2 lease left town yesterday found for Fallon, from whence the ore will be shipped by rail to the Dayton mill. This ore will average better than $150.00 per ton. Shipments from this famous old lease will be continued without interruption from this time forward.

The Dayton-Toledo lease has broken into what is supposed to be the foot wall of the Mint vein. The rock on this wall is heavily covered with sulphides and assays ranging from 60 cents to $60.00 have been obtained.

The double compartment screen arrangement at the joint workings of the Marigold-Grutt Hill Truitt is now in working order. The Marigold is now utilizing its side of the screen and sacking of its product goes merrily ahead.

The camp in general shows marked improvement. Merchants almost without exception admit a substantial increase in business. Restaurants and hotels in many instances have doubled their receipts as compared with a month ago. Automobile lines between here and Schurz are reporting a heavy increase in travel Rawhide-ward, and where autos were sent in from Schurz light a short time back for a load on the return trip the reverse now obtains. Optimism prevails in every corner of the camp. Capital is loosening up, leasers will soon be selling their ore at the mill like wheat, every one will have money, and gradually, but surely, Rawhide is coming into its own.