Mineral Kingdom. (Lawton, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 8, 1905 Page: 2 of 8
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MINERAL KINGDOM
June 8, 1905
DeBarr, the Changeable Professor
.. Brief History of How He Found Values a.nd
Said There Was Nothing ™ *he Wichita. Mountains
Copied from our issue of March 9. 11505
Then I
ntains \
Edwin DeBarr, the well-known Professor of Chemistry and Pharmacy
in the University of Oklahoma, is a visitor in our city, called here as an
expert witness in a criminal case now on trial in our district court. This
professional gentleman is well known not only throughout Oklahoma but
in other parts of the United States far beyond the confines of this terri-
tory. He has held the position of Professor in
the Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy
in the Territorial University at Norman for the
last thirteen years - ever since its organization
and stands high in his profession.
Among the various duties that the Professor is
called upon to perform in his services to the col-
lege is that of assaying and of teaching the stu-
dents in his department the art of resolving the
various minerals into their component parts, and
is presumed to be able to determine exactly what
the mineral contains, the weight and character of
every particle of metal, and in the case of gold
and silver, its value, if any is found, and to be able
to state just what ore will yield in gold and silver
per ton of ore.
About a year ago the Professor made a tour of
investigation through the Wichita Mountains with
a view of ascertaining whether the precious met-
als really were to be found in quantities sufficient
to warrant mining operations. He visited a great
many places where it was claimed that pay ore
had been found and made hundreds of assays for
the miners and for persons interested in th 3 Wich-
ita district. A great many certificates of assay
were given by him, some of them showing high
now reports that he is unable to secure any values out of the ores from
this same district. He now claims that he never did get values only in
cases where the ore was sent to him, and that out of some 60 or 70
samples that he gathered himself he could not find even a trace, only in
one or two instances, and that only very slight.
We ask, why this sudden change? We ask, why is the gentleman
silent as to the instances above mentioned? Why does he so abruptly
change his mind? Can it be that the famous report of the Bain of
Hitchcock has caused the Professor to think that he was mistaken when
he found gold and silver in the ores he collected himself? Can it be that
the whirlwind tour of the Bain of Hitchcock, in which he failed to find
even a trace of anything in the Wichita Mountains, so impressed this
Professor that he decided that what he once thought he knew was only
a shadow, and that the gold and silver he saw as the results of his assay
of these ores was only a mirage? Or was he caught between the devil
and the deep, deep sea, and either compelled to
take back all he had said and done and forswear
himself or feel the vengeance of the Grand Duke
of the Interior Department for daring to stand at
variance with the Bain of Hitchcock?
V
MOLYBDENITE
SO SAYS THE U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Copied from our Issue of Februrary IB, 1005
The following letter is the result obtained from
a sample of ore sent by W. D. Earl to Senator
Allison, of Iowa, with a request that he submit
the same to the Geological Survey, without their
knowledge as to its habitat, for their determina-
tion of the kind of metal the sample contained
and the value of the same:
Department of the Interior,
United States Geological Survey,
Washington, D. C., Jan. 24, 1905.
Hon. W. B. Allison, U S. S..
United States Senate,
Washington, D. C.
Dear Sir: The specimens sent with your letter
of January 20 have been examined by Mr. Hille-
brand. who reports the dark metallic mineral to
be molybdenite. This mineral is the source of
- hv him *nmp ot tnem snowina nmn molybdenum, which is used in producing special
values, and in hundreds of instances values were found by him and cer- j grades of unc\S^ cteS
tified to. running from $5 to $96 per ton of ore. , mjnera] woukJ sell for approximately $200 per ton in New York.
In one instance the'Professor sent one of his trusted students, a young Trusting that this information may be of service, I am,
man from Norman, out to the mines with instructions to take a fair aver- Very respectfully,
age of the ore from a certain group of mines near Wildman. This was Ghas. D Walcott, Director,
done without the knowledge of the miners and at the instance of a party The sample was taken from Mr. Earl s property near Gamp oss, n
who was a defendant in a mineral contest in the U. S. land office at while development has not been extensively made thus far, there is a
Lawton. The samples were secured from five different shafts, taken to large body of the ore in sight, and the future of the property is certainly
^^lTncfoffice'atlfaw^on'takT^at thatTi^e^tn which LTrofJsor1 Tensor AlLn is a personal friend of Mr. Earl, having known him in
swears that he performed the analysis himself and that the assay showed Iowa, and also being aware of the " - J«h as been J, ^
PROSPECTING IN THE WICHITAS
values ranging from $3.50 to $8 per
ton of ore in gold and silver.
In at least one instance the Profes-
visited a mine near Wildman in
sor
ticed against this district, took this
plan of getting an expression from the
Geological Survey as to the character
of the metal.
While this is not one of the very val-
uable metals, it is valuable enough that
with the body of the same that is in
sight, it will pay to mine, and will open
another industry in the Wichitas.
Work to be Resumed on Big Four
From Horace Southard we learn that
work will be resumed on the famous
Big Four property the first of next
week, and it is proposed to do sufficient
work to determine the extent of the
ore body. Several of the parties inter-
ested in this property have failed to
contribute their proportion of the
Sian a^uLn^peop^made a^peech in which he said that he had | expense incident to the development of the property and those who are
carefully instigated the mineral d,strict around Roosevelt and Wild-1 going ahead with the will exP-t to get he u
person and in company with several
other persons, and went down into the
mine himself and took the samples out
of the wall of ore with a pick, selecting
only an average of the vein matter.
This sample he carried with him to
Norman and made the assay himself
in his own laboratory and made a cer-
tificate that the ore yielded $1.75 in
gold and 5 ounces in silver, equal to a
total value of $3.50 per ton.
The Professor attended a meeting
of the Miners' Association, assembled
at Mountain Park, in Kiowa County,
A PROSPECT HOLE IN THE WICHITAS
man and could assure them that in his opinion the near future would
show a mineral district as rich as any in the United States. He referred
to the fact that he had made a great number of assays of ore taken from
that locality and had found values ranging all the way up from $5 to
$96 per ton in gold and silver.
therefrom. This company is not offering stock for sale to the public at
any price.
From samples taken from this property and roasted, quite large specks
of free gold have been obtained, and the owners expect to be able after
sinking the shaft to the 150-foot level to be able to show a body of ore
\
S- /
yo per ion in guiu ciuu oiivci . i ...... , • i.-
A great change has come over this learned gentleman since then. He | that will satisfy anyon e who investigates.
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Davis, Frank C. Mineral Kingdom. (Lawton, Okla.), Vol. 2, No. 31, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 8, 1905, newspaper, June 8, 1905; Lawton, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc227107/m1/2/: accessed March 19, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.