Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1854-08-23
For the Tribune.

| MEssRs EDIToRs :-After reviewing the article
| handed you last week, feel il a duty owe this
mining region to substantiate the views advoca
ted by bringing TO Light those facts of interest and
importance that have hitherto slept in silence mid
thousand others of nober kind beneath the shades
of that ignorance that has long hid bright
prospects from public view. The view taken last
week, was, that these FIVE crevices would IN depth
1 approximate and in some favorable strata become
one lode; that this bunch of ore would probably
continue in this or similar form in lis downward
course, irrespective OF the strata through which
it had TO pass In this light you see ] regard it
as true mineral vein, a truth to me) fully sub
stantiated by those facts that may be obtained
from survey of the ground Admitting this to
be miner al vein, possessing those relations
| that exist between the formation and filling of
mineral veins and volcanic emanations we
should expect to find along It's course similar de-
| posts places acted upon by the same agency.
For however concentric this agency OF these for
ces may be when trasersing rocks of an igneous
origin, or rocks rendered solid compact by
pressure other agency, will doubtless become
divergent when entering this horizontal strata. 1t
/ Is True III consequence Oi lutie no
of rock and the surface covered with five ten
feet OF sod and clay these facts cannot be well
studied except where excavations have been made.
But where excavations have been made, these
facts are well developed. East from that bunch
of which engine shaft is sunk, this
lode is split into FIVE crevces, though small and
ramifed yet contain mineral ana continue TO go
Iorp And .1x-o of hon,
brought together, they invariably become produc-
tive About five hundred feet east of the engine
shaft these crevices intersected by north and
south which have brought tive of the east and
west crevices together. Here the rock is decom-
posed and mixed with decomposed iron and flint
partially decomposed form matrix containing
lead ore in small pieces, yet sufficient to render
the working of it profitable. This place is about
twelve feet in diameter, and though the rock
around it is solid and compact, within this place
it is so soft that shovel is all that needed to take
, it out.
West from the engine shaft about two hundred
and fifty feet, are the we'll known Hendrick dig
gings, from which has been taken about two mil
lion pounds of The position of this bunch
Of mineral is somewhat similar to that one on
which the engine shaft is sunk. The mineral, it
is true, did not assume that tilted form, conse-
quently not found SO near the surface. But
it was by no means horizontal. Ii had dip east
and south. What is very remarkable this
ground, is, the dip of the bunch of is
| west, while that o. the western one is east. And
if they continue down at the same angle will in
tersect each other meet at the upper pipe clay
or glass rock opening. That they connected
below is evident from the fact, that although on
the surface, there is two hundred and fifty feet OF
rock, and, so far we have sunk down, this rock
is almost impervious to water, yet, in pumping
/ from one, we sink the water just as fast in the
other This shows evidently that the water must
have free access from the one 10 the other some
where below The Hendrick diggings are about
thirty or forty feet TO the north of these and
west crevices on the surface. But it has DIP
south as we'll as east, which, at the same angle
will bring 1t on the same course in one hundred
feet deep. Another fact of no small impoT lance
in favor of this being true mineral vein, is found
in this bar of rock that divides these two bunch
es of ore. In the upper portions of this rock
the crevices are small as to be almost imper
ceptible to the closest observer. yet in depth be
come so enlarged as to have every appearance o.
being true veins and afford strong evidence of be
ing productive below. This fact is fully develop
ed in our engine shaft. We commenced the shat
where we thought there ought to be strong crew
ice, but nothing but very small seam i:
the rock for fifty feet. Below this ii began t,
look a little better; we had 4 lille sheet of min
al, no bict Of Nbep ahou
sixty feet deep the crevice begun to open. a
seventy. (the bottom of the shaft) it is from two
to four inches wide filled with ochre, occasionally
miner i in it. In reviewing these facts, the truth
of which may ne seen by examining the ground
we find three places along these crevices that hav
been acted upon by still more powerful agency
than that which produced the crevices Or per
haps it would be more in accordance with la
truth to say, in these places we have stronger man
ifestations of the same power What is Their
then in these facts that new or strange to tn
observing minera 1t is true the position and char
acter of the rock and the consequent modification
and appearance of the lode may seem new AM
strange to the man that has been accustomed Il
the trap rock of Lake Superior, the limestone am
toad stone OF Derhyshire, the GRANTEES, POI
phyr:eS and elvans of Cornwall. But in the fact
above referred to he viii at once recognize tn
fundamental principles of mineral vein. Il
what cause, then, shall attribute those promi
nent features, the existence of which we canno
deny2 To say these places casual cavite
promiscuously illed with injected matter frop
above, is 10 me, a violation OF common sens,
since the material with which they filled
| the rock through which the crevices pass. TIL
greater part decomposed, il is true, but still lea,
ing some in It's original state TO tell its own In
por,ant history, though Wondering in It's own ash
s es. ! am disposed however TO think that, wit
: these facts and thousand others that NAV
j. gathered from this mining region, and in this Ell
lightened age, when the ligh, of science is pen,
trating darkness and bringing TO light things .ha
+, lay wrapt in darkness and mystery TO generatiau
gone by, no one viii deny but tina, these crevice
are produced By some cause, and that these prom