LUCKY STRIKE

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 91, 17 April 1923, Page 5

LUCKY STRIKE

BY A YOUNG PROSPECTOR

WORLD'S GREATEST GOLDMINE

A ROMANCE OF NORTHERN

ONTARIO,

When Benny Hollinger staked the claim that afterwards became the nucleus of the Hollinger Gold Mines in the Porcupine area in Northern Ontario he was scarcely out of his teens, and had had little previous experience as a prospector, declares the Toronto correspondent of the "Manchester Guardian." Furthermore, he was penniless. In'view of subsequent events, the story of his discovery takes its place among the foremost romances of treasure-seeking,-either real or fancied. A few weeks in the bush and a lucky stroke of the pick netted him 165,000 dollars, in itself a substantial sum, but utterly insignificant when regarded in the light of what developed later. Hollinger's stroke of the pick opened a -treasure chest whose richness far exceeds the dreams of any Midas. It is a treasure chest from which more than 50,000,000 dollars in gold has already been extracted. A million a month is the present rate of production. Roughly, half the total production is profit. So that if the profits could be passed around, the Hollinger Mine, as it is run at this moment, would be capable of producing a new millionaire every two months. Its annual profits are greater than those of any bank or financial company in Canada.

How long will the stream of gold last? Officially the management reports that some 40,000,000 dollars worth of ore., about three years' supply, has been charted out, and therefore entitled to be classed as known reserve. But that figure, which has remained the same for a long time despite current production, means little in estimating the ultimata possibilities of the mine. It merely represents the distance the management has decided to keep ahead of immediate requirements. An inkling of what is expected by General Manager Brigham (who came to Northern Ontario from the South African Band) was divulged in an address he recently delivered to the Ontario Mining Association. He auggested a valuation of 150,000 dollars a foot for 3000 feet—a total of 450,000,000 dollars, that is at the present rate of production enough to last for 35 to 40 years.

When Benny Hollinger stumbled on this half-billion dollar property he was "broke." As a youth of seventeen he had drifted into tße Cobalt Silver Camp to test out his luck. His luck was bad. The silver trail yielded fortunes to others, but nothing to Benny. But in 1909 rumours of gold discoveries in an outlandish district called Porcupine, 150 miles farther north, floated into Cobalt Camp. Erumours of new discoveries' are, of course, the stock-in-trade of ordinary conversation in a mining camp; but these Porcupine rumours were a bit more impressive than usual, a bit more persistent. j FINANCED BY A BAE-TENDER. Benny Hollinger, now agedi 24, thought he would like to go prospecting in Porcupine. It.is not on record that he had ever gone prospecting before, or at least, if he did, that he had ever found any-thing.'-He "knew -that' a- number; of experienced prospectors who had followed the'trail in Western States, in South Africa, in Alaska were already in the district, and would be likely to nail down anything that looked "worth while. Still one can never tell about prospecting, and Benny thought he would go too. He put his proposal up to his friend Jack M'Mahon. This was in the days before Prohibition, and M'Mahon was a bartender. . After some persuasion M'Mahon advanced a "grub stake" of 75 dollars (one version says it was only 55 dollars) for transportation, grub, and equipment. In' return for his 75 dollars M'Mahon was to get a half-interest in anything Benny found. Hollinger hacl scarcely departed before M'Mahon began to get "cold feet." So he made a deal with his brother-in-law, Jim Labine, under which Labine paid him 75 dollars and got half of his interest. Thus M'Mahon retained a quarter interest in Hollinger's prospective stakings and had got all his money back.

One other incident illustrates the spirit of those happy-go-lucky pioneers. Hollinger had another friend, Barney M'Enaney. To M'Enaney he made a promise, which must have had-the approval of M'Mahon, his grub-staker, that if he found anything he would also atake a claim for Barney. Hollinger kept this promise and, as events proved, thereby added another interesting chapter to the history of Porcupine Camp. Hollinger's trip was not unpleasant. It wag late summer, black flies gone, and a railway left only 35 miles of the journey to be covered by well-defined trails and canoe routes. He fell in with another young prospector, Alex. Gillies, and they remained together for company. There was at time no stampede, though there were plenty of prospectors in the bush, and whole townships, including a large part of the Porcupine field, had been staked. 1 Hollinger and Gillies roamed around looking at claims that had been staked and chatting with the owners. One o! the latter, Bill Davidson, a veteran of British Columbia mining camps, told them there was some good ground open near two or three of his claims some miles back. Where he was then working he obviously thought was better, but the locality he suggested might be worth a chance, and he actually described to them where they would find quartz veins.

Hollinger and Gillies took the tip thankfully. They found the quartz veins, almost lost in low-lying spruce swamps, the feature which had probably discouraged the veterans. They staked twelve claims. They were working as companions not as partners, so to decide ownership they tossed a coin. Hollinger took the six western claims and Gillies the six eastern. Eventually the Gillies claims wore incorporated in the holdings of the Hollinger Company. When fiollmger befcan to uncover aond trace some of his quartz outcropping, in accordance with the assessment requirements of the Mining Department^ he encountered a siccht which must have impressed even his none too experienced eyeß. It needed no a6say to reveal the yellow gold sticking out all over the white quartz. The big discovery was on Lot 10, 2nd Concession, Hollinger Township, and the records state that Hollinger staked it on 6th October, 1909. It is said the remains of a prospector's forge with some weed-grown workings were found on the property, showing that someone had been there years before Hollinger. Hundreds of wood sin pn had crossed the portage trail that leads over the hill, but all had missed the secret of the treasure chest. THE START OF A GOLD BUSH. When the, snow came Hollinger returned to Cobalt and ■Haileybury, taking with him, of course, all the samples he could carry. News of these samples caused the real stampede to Porcupine. Hollinger shortly encountered Alphonss

Pare, prospector and mining v engineer, a nephew of the Timmins brothers, formerly country storekeepers, who had made a moderate fortune digging silver out of Cobalt. When Pare saw Hollinger's samples he fairly dragged' the young prospector over winter trails back to Porcupine to see the place they came from. Unseasonable rains had melted the snow, and Pare saw. Then and there Pare, acting on behalf of the TimminsM'Martin Dunlap Syndic&ta. made a deal with Hollineer, 2000 dollars cash for "tho right to look in," and a total price of 330,000 _ if at the end of the brief option period they wished to close the ■deal. When they came to complete the purchase they asked Hollinger if he would like to take stock in the company they were goinc; to form as part payment of the 330,000 dollars. They were prepared to offer 50,000 shares of stock, which was a one-twelfth interest, and some cash. But Benny preferred all cash. Fifty thousand shares in the original company would be worth at to-day s prices about two and a half millions. Benny never had' any regrets or recriminations. "I suppose I could have made more," he used to say, "but they treated me square all right."

The five partners who bought Hollinger's claims were the two Timmins brothers, two M'Martin brothers (now dead), and D. A. Dunlap. They had sprung into wealth at Cobalt, "silver farming" it was derisively called by experienced miners, but they had not enoueh ready cash to develop "Hollinger. So they sold a limited block of stock at 3.50. dollars a- share. But the members: of the original syndicate or, in the case of the M'Martins, their families, still hold 70 per cent, of the_ total capitalisation, and are drawing dividends at the rate of 6000 dollars a day. A share of stock which was sold at 3.50 dollars is now worth 60.00 dollars. ' OTHER, VENTURES. What did Benny Hollinger do with, his 330,000 cold cash? The first thing was to give half of it to M'Mahon. The next thing was to look after those he loved. Benny was born at Point Alexander, a post office on the upper reaches of the Ottawa River. Pembroke, twentyfive miles away, was the nearest important town. No doubt in childhood days it represented the comforts of civilisation. To Pembroke, therefore, with his 165,000 dollars Hollinser hied himself. Hither he brought his father and mother from Point Alexander. And there he married Nellie_ Hill and established his home. He visited; Toronto and other cities-, I but. neither the'business nor the social life of cities seemed .to attract him. The lure for him was in the woods and mining camps. In Pembroke he set up a bowlinsr alley, which he conducted for some time. It helped to' pass the winter months and he enjoyed the came. But I mining continued to be Hollinger's real business, though he never repeated his one big strike. He was almoet immediately on tho prospector's trail again. A few miles from his ereat discovery he found some claims that seemed to him to have a similar formation. . So he bought them from the discoverers and organised a company of his own, which he called the Hollinger Reserve. But a quartz gold property requires a lot of money, as even the purchasers of Hollinger's first strike found out. And by the time Hollinger's personally conducted stock sales campaign fell fiat his resources were becoming depleted. Eventually the Hoilinger Reserve property was disposed of by sheriff's sale." And who bought it in? None other than Benny's old friend. Barney M'Enaney,. for whom Benny had staked a claim on his original trip. Barney had been in no hurry to sell his claim, although it was doubtful if he had much idea of its real value. It was well located, however, and Barney had many I offers. Eventually he sold. While what was'to become the world's greatest goldmine brought 330.0C0 dollars, of which Hollinger got 165,000 dollars, Barney is said to have; received 500.000 dollars for the claim "that was'a gift from Hollinger:" Someone asked'Hollinger about it. "I am as glad as Barney,"' he replied. It was.not unfitting that it should be M'Enaney that bought in from the sheriff HoLHfiger's ill-starred second venture. Shortly afterwards M'Enaney died. Later on, with two partners, HollimreT engaged in opening up_ the Barry-Hollin-ger properties, in which he held a controlling interest, at Boston Creek, a neisrhbouring camp. ' Then one morning in the fall of 1919, just after he had returned' from his annual deer hunt in the woods, Hollinger was sitting at the breakfast table in his attractive homo at Pembroke with his wife and three children. His head suddenly dropped forward and he was dead. He had had no illness, no premonition.