Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1861-02-26
From tle Grant County Herald.
SHALL THE STATE DIG y HOLE ?
DEEP MINING

NR EDIroE j have always admired
your zeal n defending truth, justice and
progress. l have also admired the firm
ness with which you have exposed and op-
posed error and corruption, IN whatever
TORN or place Itpresenged itself But while
L have admired your paper III these re
spects and have endorsed your opinion
OF most points, | must beg 10 aiiIer from
you in your views on the state Hole in the
Herald of the 9Th inst and inasmuch Is
this Is 4 question That involves the interest
OF the miners and the State, YOU are will
ING, no doubt, 70 have the subject CAREFUL
" examined. But before / give nv views
on the subject, perI9it me 10 say / have 10
interest IN the appropriation nor promise
OF reward, aE not influenced by friends
! knew nothing of the project until | saw
it about two weeks ago IN the Mineral
Point Tribune.
l very wei remember your protest
against q similar project some years ago
And perhaps you Will remember, also, my
protest at the same time against the same
project | protested against it then. not
because | had nc confidence in the lower
magnetism lime rock but because we
were not then III possession of the facts
necessary to decide on the best place to
sink such Il shaft It was my opinion then
and it Is my opinioA now. that il is only
a waste OF money but the height Of folly
t. sink a shaft to see the lower magnetism
line rock without proper respect to the
place rvein on which to sink / cannot
agree with you that the proper place to
prove the lower formation Is ON the Wis
cOnsin and Mississippi bluffs, where this
rock crops out IL VIII not do for us 10
take our agricultural views along with US
when we enter the mineral region. and
suppose because we find the same soil
producing the same class Of vegetation
everywhere, that mineral bearing rock
must produce mineral everywhere The
laws that preside over the yc@et-
able and mineral kingdoms are not the
same | wish here to state ono fact that
ought to be impressed upon every one in
terostcd IN this question, that Is. it i not
so much the chemical constitution Of the
rock that renders 1t q niuerai-bcaring
rock, rs 1t is the physical forces and chem
zeal action 10 which it has been expo>rd.or
its relative position 70 other rocks. Hence
the question to be decided Is not Is the
lower magnetism lime rock chemically u
mlneralbcaFlny ro-, but has 1t been act
ed upon by the same forces and exposed
to the same agencies that made and filled
other question: Have the upper iorma-
tions been acted upon bv agencies from
above or below? That the lower 1lagncs-
ian lime rock is chemically mineralhcar-
ing rock is admitted by all scientific men,
and 1t is folly To attempt farther To prove
it But whether it has been exposed to
and acted upon by the same agencies, re
mains to be proved and to prove this is
the object | suppose, Of The application to
the Legislature for this appropriation
A"I whcrc, ! would ask amy thinking man
can we find q better place to prove this
than Immediately below where these phys
zeal forces have rendered the upper mag
n"slan lime rock 50 productive And who
has greater interest in this experiment
than the State2 And who j. better able
10 sustain the los-.-if loss i TO he sus-
taincd-than tire State2 And think the
time mas c ONE when with a proper ar
rln-ament Of the facts III the possession
Of the mining region. the place may be
liked On and the experiment made This
question. At all events. ought To be discus
sed and the facts on both sides collected
and brought out, SO that our mineral re-
zion may stand before the world in its
proper li4ht And for the purpose OF
bringing this subject before the State and
the world. in il, proper Ii cht | challenge
any man IN the State. or out practical or
scientific, to bring forth any COOP reason
why the lower magnetism lime rock is Nor
Il good mincralhcarinr rock, or that the
mineral veins Of the lead rcgiau VIII Not
extend to and become productive in it,
And if the FACTS when presented. show
stronger evidences against than for dccn
mining lct the Legislature act accor ling