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University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Libraries

GOLDFIELDReception to Chas. M. Schwab by the Members of the Montezuma Club, October 4, 1905, Goldfield, Nev.THE MONTEZUMA CLUB is in every way the most representative club in the State of Nevada. Several of the great "Captains of Industry" were among those who were entertained by the members during the past year. Its officers are: H. E. Bragdon, president; L. L. Patrick, vice-president; Gus Eisen, secretary; John S. Cook, treasurer. John Sweeney, Dr. D. A. Turner,A. H. Mayne, H. B. Lind, directors.OLDFIELD today, a mere baby town the most precocious youngster ever born to great riches has a history so wonderful that the gifted pen of Jules Verne might well be employed in tracing out the magic of its future. It is difficult for citizens of staid cities of small population, and even more so for inhabitants of a great metropolis, to realize the wonderful growth of this city of the desert.Most mining towns at some period of their growth enjoy their "boom." While it lasts, they are in the public eye. "Hack" writers and pamphleteers seize the occasion to indulge in airy hyperbole and strong metaphor in depicting the certainty of "present opportunities" and the vastness of future "possibilities."To a remarkably slight degree has this been true of Goldfield. In its beginning, Goldfield was overshadowed by its nearness to Tonopah. Capitalists were chary of its "finds" and "strikes," and the little camp had to struggle along and make way without aid from without. Three successive "booms" excited the small desert camp and, ebbing, left it sick and dispirited in its solitude beforeGthe "boom that counted" finally came and stayed. The strike on the January claim, uncovered within two feet of the surface, was the real birth of Goldfield.This occurred in the month of January, 1904. With great leaps and bounds the district attained a position of eminence among the mining districts of the country in the year that followed. Gradually the suspicions of the mining experts who had been puzzled by the peculiar formation of the Goldfield ground gave way before the significant figures of ore production. Confidence succeeded, then enthusiasm, and at last in the great "boom" of 1905, the very men who a year previous had "turned down" some of the best properties, at the advice of their engineers, came flocking into the district ready to pay any price for a slice of the ground they had spurned.Such names as Schwab, Clark and Newhouse suddenly appeared on the rosters of new companies. Sprang up on all sides formidable hoists, derricks, power houses and mills. In came the railroad, ribbing the mines with spurs and making the hot, annoying journey across the desert one of Pullman luxury and comfort. Up sprang buildings of note, solid and pretensious, on Goldfield's main street; back on its hills comfortable, handsome residences replaced the tents and adobe huts. Electricity came in from Bishop, 120 miles away, its power equal to that of 4,000 horses.Candles and lamps disappeared. Goldfield's main street at night blazed with incandescent lights. Goldfield's mines doubled and trebled their power and their output. More banks opened their doors and newly erected restaurants and hotels offered real, solid comfort to visitors and residents alike. A representative club the Montezuma was established, a town council assumed charge of the town business,